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By Category: Public Health

The Man Who Tracks Viruses Before They Spread

(WFSU) The New Yorker once called virologist Nathan Wolfe “the world’s most prominent virus hunter.” Wolfe, the director of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative, spends his days tracking emerging infectious diseases before they turn into deadly pandemics. In The Viral Storm, Wolfe describes how most of those emerging infectious diseases originally start out in animals Read More »

October 15, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Public Health, and Research
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Activists warn over synthetic biology

(Deccan Chronicle) In genetic engineering, a gene or two are manipulated. What if scientists indulge in digital writing of genetic code and tinker with plants and animals? Environment activists warn that synthetic biology or extreme genetic engineering is a fast emerging threat to biodiversity, as it will change the genetic make-up of species concerned. Extreme Read More »

October 15, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Dr. Ian Lipkin Addresses Concerns over Potentially Hazardous H5N1 Influenza Research

(Health Canal) Last year, two independent research groups bred new strains of H5N1 influenza with enhanced transmissibility in mammals. In nature, the global lethality of H5N1—kills nearly 60% of cases—is curbed only by its inability to easily spread from person-to-person. With biosafety concerns raised over the possible release of these H5N1 strains, via accident or Read More »

October 15, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Agents & Toxins, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Are You Prepared to Face Terror and Disaster?

(Newswise) How would you react to a natural disaster or bioterrorism? Two noted emergency medicine and bioterrorism experts from the Center for BioDefense at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) offer tips to educate both first responders and the general public on best practices for responding to Read More »

October 12, 2012
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, Public Health, and Research
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Race-specific Bio-weapon Similar to SARS in the Making

(Device Magazine) Though the world has stopped discussing about the SARS disease these days, it is still a horrible memory. Many have died of this horrible disease and the latest news suggests that a disease similar to SARS is likely to be used as a bio-weapon. The most significant fact about this is that the Read More »