Biosecurity News and Research

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Biosecurity is a set of preventive measures designed to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases, quarantined pests, invasive alien species, living modified organisms.

Bird flu updates

The latest bird flu virus that killed a 39-year-old bus driver in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen over the weekend is not yet transmissible between humans, Chinese health authorities said. The man, who lived in Shenzhen just across the border from Hong Kong, died from multi-organ failure on Saturday, a week after being admitted to hospital with a fever brought on by the virus, state media reported.

3 Jan 2012

Federal officials seek to keep details on bird flu study secret

A federal board has asked two scientific journals to restrict access to details of a genetic study of the bird flu in which researchers altered the virus to be more easily transmittable between humans.

23 Dec 2011

First Edition: December 22, 2011

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including articles on the Capitol Hill stalemate that threatens to cut Medicare payments to doctors and government efforts to keep details of a research experiment on bird flu secret.

22 Dec 2011

U.S. Science Advisory Board asks Science, Nature to omit data from bird flu studies amid security concerns

The U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity on "Tuesday asked two scientific journals to leave out data from research studies on a lab-made version of bird flu that could spread more easily to humans, fearing it could be used as a potential weapon," Reuters reports.

22 Dec 2011

Virus with potential for bioterrorism created – Experts worried

Two major scientific journals are debating on whether to publish details of a man-made mutant flu virus that could kill billions, after a US government's science advisory committee advised them to withhold key details.

21 Dec 2011

Researchers get $7.5M grant to combat nerve agents

A $7.5 million award will help researchers harness the body’s own defenses to counteract nerve agents and create new types of antidotes for exposure to pesticides and other poisons.

14 Nov 2011

Panel backs anthrax vaccine testing on children

An important panel of government advisers Friday recommended that the government should sponsor a controversial study to test the anthrax vaccine in children to see whether the inoculation would protect young Americans against a bioterrorist's attack.

31 Oct 2011

Anthrax defenses need to be strengthened: Experts

It has been a decade since the anthrax attacks brought home the reality of bioterrorism and the nation now has a stockpile of some basic tools to fight back against a few of the threats that worry defense experts the most.

28 Sep 2011

PharmAthene completes 1,500 liter engineering production run for SparVax anthrax vaccine

PharmAthene, Inc. announced today that it has achieved significant progress in the development of its second generation anthrax vaccine, SparVax.

12 Sep 2011

Protein that allows Ebola virus to attack cells discovered

A U.S. research team has discovered a protein called Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1), which they found was responsible for allowing Ebola virus to enter and replicate within cells.

26 Aug 2011

PathoGenetiX receives $4.0 million in first close of Series B financing

PathoGenetiX Inc., today announced that the Company has received $4.0 million in the first closing of its Series B financing.

1 Aug 2011

Hendra virus continues in Queensland

Experts have confirmed the eighth outbreak of the deadly Hendra virus in Queensland in a horse on the western Darling Downs. It is not known yet if a large number of people have been exposed to the sick animal, with passers-by and neighbours possibly having stroked it on the Chinchilla property where it lived as a pet.

24 Jul 2011

Queensland authorities try to contain Hendra virus outbreak

The Queensland authorities have stepped up their efforts to contain an outbreak of the deadly Hendra virus on a farm near Beaudesert, south of Brisbane.

29 Jun 2011

Disaster-response planning raises challenges for mental health services, bioethicists say

Johns Hopkins University bioethicists say disaster-response planning has generally overlooked the special needs of people who suffer from pre-existing and serious mental conditions.

24 May 2011

Johns Hopkins bioethicists urge disaster preparedness for mentally impaired

Johns Hopkins bioethicists say disaster-response planning has generally overlooked the special needs of people who suffer from pre-existing and serious mental conditions. Survivors already diagnosed with schizophrenia, dementia, addictions and bipolar disorder are vulnerable long before a disaster strikes, they point out.

23 May 2011

Scientists sequence Clostridium botulinum genome that produces neurotoxin

Scientists on the Norwich Research Park have sequenced the genome of a novel strain of Clostridium botulinum, one of the most dangerous pathogens known to man. The strain produces an unusual botulinum neurotoxin, known as type A5 neurotoxin, which was isolated by the Health Protection Agency, following a case of wound botulism.

8 Mar 2011

ASM to host 2011 Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) will host its 2011 Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting February 6-9, 2011 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC.

25 Jan 2011

Six new experts join National Biodefense Science Board

Six experts from outside the federal government will join the National Biodefense Science Board (NBSB), a federal advisory committee which provides expert advice and guidance on preventing, preparing for, and responding to adverse health effects of public health emergencies to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). The new members replace members whose 3-year terms expire Dec. 31.

4 Jan 2011

Wright County Egg receives FDA concurrence to sell shell eggs

FDA today notified Wright County Egg LLC of Galt, Iowa, that the company has FDA's concurrence to begin shipping shell eggs directly to the consumer market from two hen houses on one of its six farms. The firm has not shipped eggs to the consumer market since August 2010, when the company's eggs were associated with the multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE).

2 Dec 2010

Sen. Lugar highlights potential bioterrorism threat posed by unsecured medical facilities in East Africa

Senator Dick Lugar on Friday said that poorly secured medical laboratories in East African countries, which host insurgent groups linked to Al Qaeda, are vulnerable to bioterrorism, Agence France-Presse reports.

16 Nov 2010