Bioterrorism Week articles from February 2003

Bioterrorism Week archives from February 2003

Tiny cell-based chemical detectors have protection potential.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A highly sensitive, inexpensive "lab-on-a-chip" that provides warning within seconds of even trace amounts of toxic chemicals in water was designed and demonstrated recently by National Institute of...

Science panel urges clear warnings, patience with inoculation.
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Bush administration should tell health workers being offered the smallpox vaccine that it carries real risks and they are likely to receive only minimal compensation if they are injured, scientific...

UAB selected to develop terror response messages.(University of Alabama at Birmingham)
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has been selected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to participate in a year-long project to develop messages for dissemination...

Security concerns encourage advances in chemical and biological detection.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The federal government has moved to respond to the events of September 11, 2001. Agencies that support and perform R&D have been instructed by the White House to redouble their efforts at developing...

Ricin-free castor plants to reduce bioterrorism threat.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Arcadia Biosciences (Arcadia), an agriculture biotechnology company, is developing a ricin-free castor plant to reduce the plant's bioterrorism potential and to create a new, safe cash crop for farmers...

Company announces new developments on ricin toxin vaccine.(DOR BioPharma, Inc.)
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- DOR BioPharma, Inc., announced that it has executed an exclusive option with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern) in Dallas to license patent applications pending in the...

Producers must protect fertilizer inventories.
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Fertilizer security has become an issue in recent years due to an increase in the use of fertilizers to manufacture explosives and drugs. "These are vitally important topics in our world today, and...

CDC director announces new executive leadership team.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Julie Gerberding announced her executive leadership team during a meeting with CDC employees at the main headquarters on Clifton Road...

Former WebMD executive producer joins NewsRx.
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A former WebMD executive producer and medical editor has joined Atlanta-based NewsRx, along with three board-certified editors. Dominique Walton Brooks, MD, with WebMD until 2001, will serve as...

Record quarterly product sales reported.(Igen International, Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Igen International, Inc., announced that it had record product sales of $5.7 million in its fiscal 2003 third quarter ended December 31, 2002, an increase of 27% over the prior year's third quarter. ...

Vaccine makers' protection will be eliminated, Republicans say.
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Republicans say they will reverse several favors to special interests in the Homeland Security law, including a much-criticized provision to limit lawsuits against vaccine makers. House and Senate...

British scientists develop simple test for plague.
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have developed a simple and reliable test to rapidly diagnose plague, a sometimes deadly disease that authorities fear could be used in a bioterror attack. Experts say the new test could...

Professor held without bond for lying to FBI.
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A university professor charged with lying to federal agents when he claimed that 30 vials of deadly plague bacteria had vanished from his laboratory was ordered held without bond and was barred from...

Administration says those who give, get vaccine not liable for damages.
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Any health care workers or others vaccinated against smallpox who accidentally infect someone close to them will not be liable for damages, the Bush administration has decided. The administration...

Germany to stockpile vaccine.(smallpox vaccine)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Germany plans to stockpile enough smallpox vaccine by the end of the year to protect its entire population of 82 million from a terrorist attack with the virus, the government says. The government...

Health care unions want delay on vaccinations.
February 3, 2003... 2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Citing safety concerns, America's two largest health care unions want a delay in smallpox vaccinations. But the Bush administration said it will move ahead as planned, with inoculations set to begin in...

Oral anthrax and plague vaccine to be developed for U.S. Department of Defense.
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Avant Immunotherapeutics, Inc. (AVAN) has been awarded a subcontract to develop for the U.S. Department of Defense an oral combination vaccine against anthrax and plague using Avant's proprietary...

CDC begins shipping smallpox vaccine to the states.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention )
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has begun distributing smallpox vaccine to state and local governments that will coordinate the vaccination of smallpox response teams. ...

Device detects nerve gases and blister agents.(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A half-ounce "sniffer," intended to ride on small aerial drones to detect possible gas attacks on cities and military bases, has been created by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories,...

Minimum vaccination is best strategy for now, experts say.(smallpox vaccination )(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The current smallpox vaccination policy of vaccinating a very limited number of first responders to a potential smallpox outbreak and avoiding mass vaccination is the best vaccination strategy, say two...

Denmark, which hasn't pledged troops for Iraq, giving some vaccine.(anthrax vaccine)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Denmark's military started issuing anthrax vaccine to some of its troops, although the NATO member country hasn't committed any troops for possible military action in Iraq. Surgeon Gen....

Vaccine found on British beach.(anthrax vaccines)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Several boxes of anthrax vaccines from the Ministry of Defense were found washed up on a southern British beach January 20, 2003, officials said. Investigators were checking if the boxes were from...

Identix announces strong performance in latest study.
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Identix Incorporated (IDNX), the world's leading multi-biometrics security technology company, said today that it demonstrated strong performance in Round Four of International Biometric Group's (IBG)...

Feds retooling EPA monitors to detect bioterror agents.(Environmental Protection Agency)
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. government is adapting environmental monitors scattered across the nation to detect bioterrorism, hoping they will provide early warning if smallpox, anthrax, or other deadly germs are...

Veneman announces Bush food safety plan.(Ann Veneman, George W. Bush)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- President Bush will seek an 11% increase in the U.S. Agriculture Department's (USDA) 2004 budget to strengthen protections against harmful bacteria in food and increase security at laboratories,...

Healthcare organization says workers will face unnecessary risk.(smallpox vaccines)
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ignoring health professionals' mounting concerns, president Bush confirmed that health workers will be the first to receive the controversial smallpox vaccine but refused to take steps to protect them,...

Vaccinations for Florida health workers delayed.(smallpox vaccine)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The first phase of a plan to give the smallpox vaccine to thousands of Florida's health care workers didn't begin in January 2003 as planned. The first phase of the plan to begin vaccinating about...

Vaccine choice a complex issue.(smallpox vaccine)
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The needle that delivers smallpox vaccine is only about 3 inches long, with two tiny prongs at one end. But for legions of health care workers nationwide, it symbolizes a complex personal choice. ...

Virus sent to state lab as bioterror test.(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... 2003 FEB 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. health officials are sending a new genetic test for smallpox and small fragments of the virus to the Colorado health department's Denver laboratory as part of a bioterrorism preparedness test. ...

CDC to monitor healthcare data for signs of bioterrorism.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
February 17, 2003... 2003 FEB 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is developing a computerized network to gather a broad variety of information on illnesses to provide an early warning of a bioterror attack....

Vaccines for category A bioterrorism diseases discussed.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... 2003 FEB 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to a review from researchers in the United States, "Vaccination programs are very successful as a preventive strategy against many infectious diseases which have had a major impact on human...

FDA proposes prior notice of imported food shipments.(Food and Drug Administration)
February 17, 2003... 2003 FEB 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a proposed regulation that would require that prior notice be given to FDA before food is imported or offered for import into the United...

Connecticut begins vaccination of health care workers.
February 17, 2003... 2003 FEB 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) has taken delivery of 6,000 doses of smallpox vaccine and has begun implementation of its Prevent Smallpox Vaccination program. This implementation is...

ILC Dover launches new escape hood.
February 17, 2003... 2003 FEB 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Delaware-based Space Suit designer ILC Dover, Inc., has begun production of a new chemical-biological escape hood targeted for the civilian and homeland security markets. As the designer and...

Pennsylvania launches statewide program to combat bioterrorism.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... 2003 FEB 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Siemens Medical Solutions, a unit of Siemens USA, announced the commencement of implementation of a "Health Surveillance Network" that will link emergency rooms across the state of Pennsylvania. ...

CWA urges delay in smallpox inoculation for first responders.(Communications Workers Association)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... 2003 FEB 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Serious concerns about the safety and effectiveness of the plan to inoculate healthcare, public safety, and other civilian professionals against smallpox has prompted a call by the Communications...

Researchers recount lessons learned from Boston smallpox epidemic.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... 2003 FEB 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The manifestations of smallpox during an epidemic that occurred in Boston in 1901 have been recounted by a group of researchers from the United States. "Clinical records of 243 patients with...

FDA encourages NDAs for Prussian blue as treatment for radiation poisoning.(Food and Drug Administration)
February 24, 2003... 2003 FEB 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called for manufacturers to submit marketing applications for Prussian blue, a mineral compound known as ferric hexacyanoferrate(II), that has been shown to...

Protection project launched to counter bioterrorism.
February 24, 2003... 2003 FEB 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Oxford University, with the generous support of IBM and other partners, has launched a project to develop new drugs that for the first time would combat the smallpox virus after infection. The...

FDA approves pyridostigmine bromide as pretreatment.(Food and Drug Administration )
February 24, 2003... 2003 FEB 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced approval of pyridostigmine bromide to increase survival after exposure to Soman "nerve gas" poisoning. The product is approved for combat use...

Computers worldwide speed search for drugs.
February 24, 2003... 2003 FEB 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A major computer project has been launched to analyze millions of different chemicals in the search for drugs to combat the bioterrorist threat of smallpox. The smallpox research project will use...

CEL-1000 is a potential agent against bioterrorism.(Cel-Sci Corporation)
February 24, 2003... 2003 FEB 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cel-Sci Corporation (CVM) is currently pursuing the development of its new CEL-1000 compound as a possible drug/vaccine against various bioterrorism agents. "Although the peptide is currently in...

Paladin Capital invests $10.5M in AgION.
February 24, 2003... 2003 FEB 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Paladin Capital Group's Homeland Security and Partners' Funds announced a $10.5 million investment in AgION Technologies, Inc., a provider of engineered antimicrobial solutions that continuously...

SBIR contract granted to continue development of system for DOD.(Defense Department)
February 24, 2003... 2003 FEB 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- 3rd Millennium announced that is has received a $730,000 phase II SBIR contract from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The contract is to develop a next generation microarray information...

President's vaccine funding announcement gets positive reception.
February 24, 2003... 2003 FEB 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Antex Biologics, Inc., (ANX) commented on president Bush's proposal, outlined in his recent State of the Union address, to appropriate almost $6 billion to "quickly make available effective vaccines...

Bonfils selected to provide blood to the military.(Bonfils Blood Center)
February 24, 2003... 2003 FEB 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bonfils Blood Center will supplement the military's blood supply during wartime, if and when additional blood is needed. Bonfils Blood Center is one of six hub centers across the country...

FDA must refocus proposed rules on prior notice, NFPA says.(Food and Drug Administration, National Food Processors Association)
February 24, 2003... 2003 FEB 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Rules proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for implementation of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 have set forth impractical...

WHO urges government to act against terror risk to food.(World Health Organization)
February 24, 2003... 2003 FEB 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The World Health Organization has urged governments to draw up "farm to fork" contingency plans to protect against the risk of terrorists using the food chain as a potentially devastating weapon. ...

R&D agreement with U.S. Navy signed for vaccine development.
February 24, 2003... 2003 FEB 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (BISP) announced that it has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Navy's Naval Medical Research Center's (NMRC) Malaria Program...