Copyright 2008 Medical News Today Latest Bio-terrorism / Terrorism News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/bioterrorism/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/120357.php Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) announced that it has received a contract from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for over $24.3 million to fund the further development of Emergent's anthrax monoclonal antibody AVP-21D9. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/119459.php University of Leicester experts have held discussions with military personnel in Afghanistan following the discovery of new technology to identify fingerprints on metal. Dr John Bond, a forensic research scientist at the University of Leicester and scientific support manager at Northamptonshire Police, has worked with a team from the University Department of Chemistry to develop the novel technique. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/119165.php Fairway Medical Technologies, Inc. has received a $900,000, 3-year contract from the Department of the Navy to apply its optoacoustic technology to the real-time detection of blood borne pathogens and biological warfare agents under battlefield conditions. This grant is part of a larger, $3 million project led by Prof. Randolph Glickman, Principal Investigator from the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) at San Antonio. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Sun, 24 Aug 2008 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/119065.php They have worked for almost seven years in secret. Most people did not know that the work in Ray Goehner's materials characterization department at Sandia National Laboratories was contributing important information to the FBI's investigation of letters containing bacillus anthracis, the spores that cause the disease anthrax. The spores were mailed in the fall of 2001 to several news media offices and to two U.S. senators. Five people were killed. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/118994.php Dangerous disease often spreads faster than it takes to diagnose it in the lab. To remedy that, researchers at Kansas State University have developed a test to bring that time from days down to hours. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/118849.php Hospitals can now identify the most important strengths and weaknesses in their disaster response plans using a new tool from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Ensuring that hospitals are prepared to respond appropriately during any type of disaster situation - manmade or natural - is a priority for HHS. Public Health Sun, 10 Aug 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/117607.php Fingerprints can reveal critical evidence, as well as an identity, with the use of a new technology developed at Purdue University that detects trace amounts of explosives, drugs or other materials left behind in the prints. The new technology also can distinguish between overlapping fingerprints left by different individuals - a difficult task for current optical forensic methods. A team led by R. Biology / Biochemistry Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/117708.php A new chemical probe can rapidly detect ricin, a deadly poison with no known antidote that is feared to be a potential weapon for terrorists and cannot quickly be identified with currently available tests. The probe, developed by chemists at UC San Diego, glows when bound to a ricin-damaged part of the body's protein-making machinery, they report in the international edition of the journal Angewandte Chemie. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Mon, 04 Aug 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/117107.php Dr Bruce E Ivins, the 62-yar-old US biodefense scientist who was reportedly going to be charged with killing five people by mailing them letters containing finelly milled anthrax spores in 2001, was planning to kill his co-workers, a therapist told a Maryland court on 24th July, a week before Ivins committed suicide. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/117008.php Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) announced that it has submitted a proposal in response to a request for proposal (RFP) issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for a recombinant protective antigen anthrax vaccine (rPA). Emergent's rPA vaccine candidate is a reformulated and more stable form of the rPA 102 vaccine originally developed at the U.S. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/116672.php A University of Central Florida researcher may have found a defense against the Black Plague, a disease that wiped out a third of Europe's population in the Middle Ages and which government agencies perceive as a terrorist threat today. UCF Professor Henry Daniell and his team have developed a vaccine that early research shows is highly effective against the plague. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/116313.php Scientists hope a vaccine is on the horizon for tularemia, a fatal disease caused by the pathogen Francisella tularensis, an organism of concern as a potential biological warfare agent. Until recently we knew very little about this bacterium. However, according to the August issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology, research on the bacterium has been reinvigorated and rapid progress has been made in understanding how it causes disease. Infection with F. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/115919.php Millions of people each day rely on transit, yet few urban area emergency plans have focused on its role in an emergency evacuation, says a new report from the National Research Council's Transportation Research Board. Transit systems could play a significant role in transporting carless and special needs populations in times of emergency, but these groups are inadequately addressed in most local emergency plans and evacuating them could easily exceed limited transit resources. Aid / Disasters Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/115291.php Protective clothing worn by firemen and other emergency workers may soon get a germ-fighting upgrade. Researchers in South Dakota report progress toward the first Kevlar fabrics that can kill a wide range of infectious agents, including bacteria, viruses, and the spores that cause anthrax. Their study is scheduled for the August 6 issue of ACS' Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, a bi-weekly journal. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/114991.php 'Cats & Dogs Take Priority In New London Poison Strategy' Unite calls on government to save Guy's Poisons Unit The welfare of cats and dogs will come before the fall-out from any terrorist attack in London under the capital's new poison strategy. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/114009.php Bacteria that cause pneumonic plague can evade our first-line defences, making it difficult for the body to fight infection. In fact, a signature of the plague is the lack of an inflammatory response. Now, scientists have discovered a way to protect against death following infection with plague bacteria, by using molecules that can mimic the pathogens. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113487.php Researchers at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) have identified a cell type believed to play a role in controlling the early infectious process against Francisella tularensis, a respiratory pathogen and bioterrorism agent that is the cause of tularemia. Respiratory / Asthma Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113082.php Terrorist organisations are using the internet increasingly to recruit and radicalise potential supporters. This is the finding of Dr Lorraine Grieve from Leeds Trinity and All Saint's University College who presented her findings on Thursday 26 June 2008 at the British Psychological Society's Division of Forensic Psychology's Annual Conference which was held at the Edinburgh Conference Centre, Heriot-Watt University. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/112926.php Researchers have shown that a new class of ultraviolet photodiode could help meet the U.S. military's pressing requirement for compact, reliable and cost-effective sensors to detect anthrax and other bioterrorism agents in the air. IT / Internet / E-mail Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/112535.php The Health Protection Agency and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) are to collaborate on a major £3.5million research programme to combat the threat of chemical terrorism. Agency and Dstl scientists will join forces to develop new and improved ways of protecting the public from the accidental or deliberate release of toxic substances. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Sat, 21 Jun 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/112021.php Emergency room workers will be the first line of defense in the event of a disease pandemic and will be forced to deal with the chaos that inevitably comes with treating thousands of sick and dying. In order to protect themselves and allow them to care for the public, these first responders need to be fully prepared by getting available vaccines now. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/111364.php For many residents of Lower Manhattan, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, had lasting psychological consequences. New findings, released by the Health Department's World Trade Center Health Registry, show that one in eight Lower Manhattan residents likely had posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) two to three years after the attacks. The findings show that Lower Manhattan residents developed PTSD at three times the usual rate in the years following 9/11. Anxiety / Stress Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/111100.php Security and law enforcement officials may some day have a new ally - a universal detection system that can monitor the air for virtually all of the major threat agents that could be used by terrorists. This type of system is under development by a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers, and has already been tested in laboratory and field experiments. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/110924.php The 97h Annual Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) will be held at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta from Wednesday, June 18 through Sunday, June 22, 2008. Approximately 750 psychoanalysts, students, and other mental health professionals are expected to attend. Psychology / Psychiatry Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/111051.php BioNeutral announced the results of tests utilizing its Ygiene(TM) formulation to kill anthrax spores on contact. This chemical technology is designed to be used by the military and first responders in conjunction with any suspected anthrax exposure. "The Ygiene(TM) formulation killed all anthrax spores exposed to the formulation in as little as 15 seconds," said Dr. Philip Tierno, the Principal Investigator on the project. Dr. Bio-terrorism / Terrorism