• India to test anthrax vaccine

    India is worried about bioterror attacks by Islamic extremists; it starts testing the potency of U.S.-manufactured vaccine; initially enough doses will be stored to protect military personnel

  • Tyson destroys 15,000 chicken infected with H7N3

    Arkansas poultry giant destroys 15,000 hens after routine tests discover antibodies to H7N3, a mild strain of avian flu; company says there is no threat to humans

  • OSHA issues guidance regarding storage of face masks, respirators

    OSHA requests comments on proposed guidance on workplace stockpiling of respirators and face masks for pandemic influenza

  • Florida stocks cyanide antidote

    Minute quantities of cyanide in smoke contribute to the death from smoke inhalation of 10,000 civilian and firefighter in the United States each year; Florida emergency services decide that emergency units will now be equipped with cyanide antidote

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  • UN: World failing to monitor biotech trade: U.N.

    Efforts to control to spread of biotechnology know-how which could provide terrorists with the building blocks of biological weapons are insufficient; only $135 million, a fraction of the amount needed, had been spent on helping developing countries to build up skills to monitor a rising use of biotechnologies in the past fifteen years

  • Avian flu by the numbers

    Two Los Alamos National Laboratory theorists have developed a mathematical tool which could help health experts and crisis managers determine in real time whether an emerging infectious disease such as avian influenza H5N1 is poised to spread globally

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  • New grants to create fabrics which render toxic chemicals harmless

    New fabrics made of functional nanofibers would decompose toxic industrial chemicals into harmless byproducts; potential applications include safety gear for soldiers and first responders —and filtration systems for buildings and vehicles

  • Nanotechnology-based biosensor

    NASA develops nanotechnology-based biosensor that can detect trace amounts of specific bacteria, viruses, and parasites; New York-based Early Warning, Inc. will initially market the sensor to water treatment facilities, food and beverage companies, industrial plants, hospitals, and airlines

  • Boston biolab: Panel urges review of possible lab threats

    As community opposition to the almost-complete Boston University biolab continues, a panel of experts says neighborhood’s concerns — and safety — should not be excluded from consideration of final approval for lab opening

  • CDC biolab not ready after 2 1/2 years

    A new CDC biosafety lab was supposed to open in the fall of 2005; it is still not open, and legislators begin to wonder why; they note that at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, it took less than seven months for its BSL-4 lab to become operational after construction was finished

  • Is the threat of bioterrorism exaggerated?

    William Clark, professor and chair emeritus of immunology at UCLA, says it is

  • A dead end for free trade? I

    Tightening border security along the U.S.-Canada border is hampering trade, experts say; delays owing to security checks have cascading effects, as supplies and raw materials are late arriving at manufacturing plants

  • Chicago firm recalls beef products due to E. coli contamination fear

    E. coli scare causes large beef recall: Chicago firm distributed the suspect beef product to processing plants in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin

  • GSK gets EU green light for bird flu vaccine

    Sanofi Pasteur, the joint venture between Sanofi Aventis and Merck, has produced a vaccine that targets one strand of H5N1; GSK argues that their new vaccine — Prepandrix — is the first to target several strains of the virus; Prepandrix contains an adjuvant, an ingredient that allows a low level of the vaccine’s active ingredient to be used in each shot

  • Detailed studies of U.S. disaster preparedness offer recommendations

    Critical care panel tackles disaster preparation, surge capacity, and health care rationing; some recommendations require largely greater budgets; other pose profound ethical and moral questions