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By Category: Public Health

Anthrax Scare: Big Response, Wrong Powder

(The Patch) On Oct. 12 at 11:46 a.m., Tarrytown police responded to their first Anthrax scare in years, said Lieutenant William Herguth. A call came in from County Fire Control reporting that an Independence Street resident had contacted the Health Department stating she believed her bottle of Aspirin contained Anthrax. Officers responded along with Greenburgh Read More »

October 24, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, and Public Health
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Cranking Up Biosecurity

(The Scientist) Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made the decision to list the SARS virus as a select agent, along with recently discovered haemorrhagic-fever viruses, Lujo and Chapare. This classification, which classifies pathogens or toxins as having the “potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety,” Read More »

October 24, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, Public Health, and Research
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Marburg haemorrhagic fever in Uganda

(WHO) As of 21 October 2012, nine (9) probable and confirmed cases, including 5 deaths have been reported with Marburg haemorrhagic fever in Kitumba sub-county, Kabale district in South-western Uganda. Of these, 3 have been laboratory confirmed by the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). An investigation into the outbreak is ongoing. Preliminary investigations indicate that Read More »

October 23, 2012
| Filed under Africa, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, and Public Health
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HHS Rules Out Funding Approach for Developing Biodefense Medicines

(Global Security Newswire) A blueprint aimed at helping to finance the development of new medicines for use against biological-weapon agents has failed to pass muster within the Obama administration, Bloomberg reported on Sunday. The recommendation — put forward in 2011 by Maryland-based PharmAthene and other biological defense enterprises — calls for Washington to end use Read More »

October 23, 2012
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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To lurk in soil, anthrax spawn in amoeba

(Futurity) Until now, experts have widely believed that anthrax spores remain dormant in soil until eaten by cattle, then germinate and cause the deadly disease. But researchers have found that the spores can attack, and reproduce in, a common soil and water amoeba, Acanthamoeba castellanii. “These amoeba normally eat bacteria and kill them, but Bacillus Read More »