-
NSF international marks Food Safety Education Month
NSF, founded in 1944, is a veteran in the food safety business; September is U.S. National Food Safety Education Month, and NSF highlights its different activities aiming to improve food safety
-
-
Pennsylvania bio-terror laboratory fails inspection
Pennsylvania-based BSL-3 BioLab fails, yet again, a safety inspection; the facility was finished in 2007 but has been beset by an assortment of delays, poor construction, and breakdowns
-
-
New business model for researching, producing vaccines
Relying on venture capital-funded biotech research is problematic when it comes to vaccines for pandemics and bioterrorism; an expert proposes a private-public partnership within the HHS Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority
-
-
U.S. pays $31 million for development of smallpox treatment
Florida company awarded $31 million to to produce an inhaled version of an existing smallpox drug; Danish company in negotiations with the U.S. to develop a freeze-dried form of its smallpox vaccine
-
-
Swine flu still poses a deadly threat
While H1N1 mostly causes mild disease, some people — estimates suggest fewer than 1 percent — become deathly ill, very fast; experts warned that these cases could overwhelm hospitals
-
-
Better immune defense against anthrax
Scientists discover a gene in anthrax-causing bacteria may help defend against this form of bio-warfare
-
-
FDA requires faster food safety reporting
FDA unveiled a new electronic database where manufacturers must notify the government, within 24 hours, if one of their products is likely to cause sickness or death in people or animals
-
-
-
Scientists closer to a safer anthrax vaccine
The currently available, 40-year-old anthrax vaccine, can prevent disease, but it has significant drawbacks: Immunity is temporary, and five injections over the course of eighteen months are needed to sustain it; one in five vaccine recipients develop redness, swelling, or pain at the injection site, and a small number develop severe allergic reactions; researchers offer a better vaccine
-
-
Obama administration emphasizes prevention in bioterrorism strategy
Experts say that the Obama administration’s approach to combating bioterrorism differs from that of the Bush administration; Bush emphasize crisis management — the ability to detect a biological event in process and to reduce its scope; prevention emphasizes actions that could be taken to stop an attack before it occurs
-
-
Agro-terrorism threat is real
Tim Downs: “Experts have estimated that for a terrorist group to develop a nuclear weapon could cost them a billion dollars….But to develop a very good biological arsenal you would need about ten million dollars and a very small lab and a master’s degree in chemical engineering”
-
-
Google analyzes flu Web searches to create early warning system
Google’s public Flu Trends system, for example, is designed to pick up early clues by tracking and analyzing Internet searches for flu information
-
-
New iPhone app locates, reports H1N1 outbreaks
New app pinpoints outbreaks that have been reported in the vicinity of the user and offering the opportunity to search for additional outbreak information by location or disease
-
-
Swine flu virus does not mutate into "superbug"
Researchers find that some of the worst fears about a virulent H1N1 pandemic flu season may not be realized this year, but does demonstrate the heightened communicability of the virus
-
-
Swine flu: 10 things you should know
A White House report from an expert panel suggests that from 30 percent to half the U.S. population could catch swine flu during the course of this pandemic and that from 30,000 to 90,000 could die
-
