Recent News

By Category: Public Health

DARPA Develops Tiny Helpers To Spot Bioterror Attacks

(InformationWeek) The government might soon have at its disposal highly sensitive gas analyzers that can detect chemical or biological attacks, atomic clocks the size of chips, and micro-vacuum tubes. A group of researchers funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently developed a new class of powerful, tiny vacuum pumps that could be Read More »

June 14, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Update: Severe Respiratory Illness Associated with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

(CDC) CDC continues to work in consultation with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners to better understand the public health risk posed by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), formerly known as novel coronavirus, which was first reported to cause human infection in September 2012 (1–4). The continued reporting of new cases Read More »

June 14, 2013
| Filed under Europe, Middle East, North America, International, and Public Health
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University of Toronto breakthrough allows fast, reliable pathogen identification

(EurekAlert) Life-threatening bacterial infections cause tens of thousands of deaths every year in North America. Increasingly, many infections are resistant to first-line antibiotics. Unfortunately, current methods of culturing bacteria in the lab can take days to report the specific source of the infection, and even longer to pinpoint the right antibiotic that will clear the Read More »

June 13, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Countermeasures, Public Health, and Research
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Anthrax scare in Angul village, people refuse treatment – The New Indian Express

June 13, 2013
| Filed under Public Health
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You Say Potato, I Say Double-Stranded RNA

(ScientificAmerican) Amidst the outrage, puzzlement and theories caused by the finding of genetically-modified wheat in an Oregon field, USDA is considering whether to commercialize another dinnertime staple–the potato. Last month, Idaho-based J.M. Simplot asked the Agriculture Department to grant a deregulated status for a new variety of potatoes genetically engineered to reduce bruising and develop Read More »