Recent News

By Category: Public Health

World Health Organization warns of “spreading” yellow fever outbreak in Darfur

(CBS News) A yellow fever outbreak has hit Sudan’s Darfur region, infecting up to 350 people and killing 107 in the last six weeks, the World Health Organization announced Tuesday. The WHO warns that the disease could spread all over the country. As of Nov. 11, the WHO said in a statement there were 329 Read More »

November 14, 2012
| Filed under Africa, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, and Public Health
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DHS Official Opposes Next-Gen Biowatch Sensors

(Global Security Newswire) A senior official does not believe the Homeland Security Department should proceed with plans to develop a third generation of sensors for identifying acts of biological terrorism, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday. Undersecretary for Science and Technology Tara O’Toole has advised her boss, Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano, that the planned Read More »

November 14, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Cornell’s New Test Spots Salmonella in Cattle

(Food Safety News) Veterinarians may now test for a certain Salmonella strain affecting cattle populations in the United States thanks to a test developed by researchers at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, the Ithaca Journal reports. The new test tracks antibodies in cattle to help identify asymptomatic carriers of Salmonella Dublin, a strain that Read More »

November 13, 2012
| Filed under North America, Public Health, and Research
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DHS Tries Monitoring Social Media for Signs of Biological Attacks

(Global Security Newswire) The Homeland Security Department has commissioned Accenture to test technology that mines open social networks for indications of pandemics, according to the vendor. The $3 million, yearlong “biosurveillance” program will try to instantaneously spot public health trends among the massive amount of data that citizens share online daily, company officials said in Read More »

November 13, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Public Health, and Research
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FDA Employee Speaks on Counterterrorism

(The Tower) Luciana Borio, a counterterrorism expert for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), spoke about her involvement in the prevention of bioterrorism and emergent diseases at Catholic University on Monday. Towards the beginning of the presentation, the audience was informed that the FDA is on point when it comes to the safety and purity Read More »