Bioterrorism Week articles from January 2004

Bioterrorism Week archives from January 2004

Human antibodies from immunized donors protect against anthrax.
January 5, 2004... 2004 JAN 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Human antibodies from immunized donors are protective against anthrax toxin in vivo. "A panel of Fabs that neutralize anthrax toxin in vitro was selected from libraries generated from human donors...

Lymphocytic vasculitis associated with anthrax vaccine.
January 5, 2004... 2004 JAN 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Lymphocytic vasculitis has been associated with the anthrax vaccine. According to published research from the United States, "Anthrax is caused by the spore-forming bacteria Bacillus anthracis. It...

Spatial technology company launches food safety system.
January 5, 2004... 2004 JAN 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Global Technology Resources (GTR) has introduced a new system designed to detect, track, and manage food safety threats across the supply chain. Combining web-based global positioning system...

U.K. scientists create medical and food safety tool from virus.
January 5, 2004... 2004 JAN 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.K. scientists have found a way to explode deadly food-poisoning bacteria using an agent found in viruses. Professor Mike Gasson from the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, England, discovered...

U.K. company to work with U.S. Naval Medical Research Center on oral anthrax vaccine.
January 5, 2004... 2004 JAN 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.K.-based biotechnology company Microscience has entered into a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC). The collaboration will...

Tiny nanowire could be next big diagnostic tool for doctors.
January 5, 2004... 2004 JAN 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A tiny nanowire sensor - smaller than the width of a human hair, 1000 times more sensitive than conventional DNA tests, and capable of producing results in minutes rather than days or weeks - could pave...

Company produces whole genome map of Francisella tularensis.
January 5, 2004... 2004 JAN 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- OpGen, Inc., has added a genome map of the Category "A" pathogen, Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia, to its genome map database. The organism poses a potential biothreat...

Additional patent granted on cartridge technology for DNA analysis.
January 5, 2004... 2004 JAN 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cepheid (CPHD) announced that it has been issued U.S. Patent No. 6,660,228, "Apparatus for performing heat-exchanging, chemical reactions." This patent covers the design of the reaction chambers...

Pharmaceutical and USAMRIID collaborate on molecule-screening program.
January 5, 2004... 2004 JAN 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Kemin Pharma announced the formation of a collaborative molecule-screening program with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). Under the terms of the...

Vaccine victims can seek payment.
January 5, 2004... 2004 JAN 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Emergency response workers who developed health problems from smallpox vaccinations can seek compensation from the U.S. government, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department says. More than...

Leukocyte DNA fragmentation may be diagnostic for low exposure to nerve agent.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Leukocyte DNA fragmentation may be detectable for weeks following low exposure to the nerve agent soman. According to a study from the United States, "the objective of the present study was to...

Scientists discover how anthrax creates its deadly spores.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In the age-old battle between man and microbe, it pays to know your enemy. This is especially true for Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax. Tiny spores of this highly infectious...

Potassium iodide should be available to people living near nuclear power plants.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Potassium iodide (KI) pills should be available to everyone age 40 or younger - especially children and pregnant and lactating women - living near a nuclear power plant, according to a new report from...

First FDA-cleared laboratory test for Bacillus anthracis.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Tetracore, Inc., has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for RedLine Alert, an antibody-based test kit for use as an aid in the clinical laboratory identification...

Judge halts forced military anthrax shots.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A court ruling against forcing U.S. soldiers to take anthrax vaccinations raises the question of whether officials should reconsider the punishments given those who refused the shots. Ruling that...

Researchers develop approaches to stop anthrax toxin action.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Development of treatment for anthrax is an urgent task, especially given the threat of its use in bioterrorism. Two papers in the January 2004 issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology have...

Publication provides guidance for shipping biological agents.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) has released a new publication designed to help scientists understand and comply with the rules and regulations governing the shipment of biological and...

U.S. Department of Defense awards $3.2M contract for antimicrobial nanoemulsions.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NanoBio Corporation (NanoBio) will use a $3.2 million contract by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to support the development of antimicrobial nanoemulsions. The award will help fund clinical...

Opsonophagocytic assay may be a useful test for safe enterococcal strains.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Opsonophagocytic assay may be a useful test for safe enterococcal strains for use in commercial food preparation. According to published research from the United States, "enterococci are commonly...

Hospital gets grant to screen downwinders for cancer.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George, Utah, has been awarded a $313,000 federal grant to develop a cancer-screening program for people who lived downwind from the aboveground nuclear weapons...

Population database may aid cancer research.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Utah's health-information databank may help researchers determine why some people exposed to radiation from the government's atomic weapons program developed cancer or other deadly diseases while...

FDA grants Cipro additional 6 months marketing exclusivity.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corp. an additional 6 months of market exclusivity for its fluoroquinolone antibiotic Cipro (ciprofloxacin) for having...

Long-term B cell memory found in humans after smallpox vaccination.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have found long-term B cell memory in humans after smallpox vaccination. According to published research from the United States, "Memory B cells are a central component of humoral...

Safety profile of anthrax vaccine for U.S. soldiers in Korea determined.
January 12, 2004... 2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The safety profile of the anthrax vaccine for U.S. soldiers in Korea has been determined. "Selected military personnel are immunized with an FDA-licensed anthrax vaccine unless there are clinical...

FDA clears lab culture test for anthrax.
January 19, 2004... 2004 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared a test kit for clinical laboratories to use with culture testing to help distinguish the organism that causes anthrax disease, Bacillus...

FDA issues final order on safety of bacterial vaccines and toxoids.
January 19, 2004... 2004 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- To complete the review of the safety and effectiveness of certain bacterial vaccines and toxoids licensed before July 1972, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule and order...

Anthrax mounts nuclear attack on glucocorticoid signaling.
January 19, 2004... 2004 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Anthrax mounts a nuclear attack on glucocorticoid signaling. According to recent research from the United States, "Anthrax causes profound inflammation and systemic shock. A recent study has shown...

Flow cytometric assay for responses to anthrax vaccine developed.
January 19, 2004... 2004 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have developed a flow cytometric assay using TNF-alpha detection to determine cellular responses to anthrax vaccine. "This study describes a four-color flow cytometric assay that...

Calcium may play role in folding pathway of anthrax protective antigen.
January 19, 2004... 2004 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Calcium may play a role in the folding pathway of the anthrax protective antigen. "Protective antigen (PA) is the central receptor binding component of anthrax toxin, which translocates catalytic...

Landmine sensor to be tested by U.S. Army.
January 19, 2004... 2004 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HiEnergy Technologies, Inc., (BULLETIN BOARD: HIET), a security and defense technology company, announced that the world's first stoichiometer landmine detector is scheduled to undergo in-field tests...

Safe room kit available for home protection.
January 19, 2004... 2004 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Charlotte, N.C.-based Home Guard, Inc., has developed a home safe room kit for a family's defense during a chemical release or terrorist attack. The barrier material is made of an engineered film that...

New system provides disease and pathogen detection in food.
January 19, 2004... 2004 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Global Technology Resources (GTR), a U.S.-based technology company specializing in the development of risk mitigation technology, has introduced a system designed to detect, track and manage food...

FDA and CBP announce their transitional compliance policy on food imports.
January 19, 2004... 2004 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have issued a compliance policy guide that describes their strategy for maintaining an...

Major cause of painful gastroenteritis under study at the Medical College of Georgia.
January 19, 2004... 2004 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- It may have made the B list for bioterrorism agents, but Campylobacter jejuni is on the A list when it comes to causes of painful gastroenteritis. Eating inadequately washed and cooked chicken is...

Researchers intrigued by century-old smallpox scabs.
January 19, 2004... 2004 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Government health researchers plan to conduct tests next year on the contents of a yellowed envelope apparently filled with scabs from 19th century smallpox vaccinations. The scabs, found in a New...

New device can help defend against novel biological agents.
January 26, 2004... 2004 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The ability to analyze and defend against novel biological agents has been strengthened by the development of a new device that can monitor the metabolism of living cells in near real time. "So...

Membrane-coated beads make sensitive assay for protein drug candidates.
January 26, 2004... 2004 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Microscopic glass beads wearing coats identical to the outer membrane of a cell provide a powerful assay for proteins that bind to cell membranes, such as protein drugs or drug candidates, according to...

Smallpox vaccination recommended for first-line medical personnel.
January 26, 2004... 2004 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Smallpox vaccination is recommended for first-line medical personnel who would be helping victims of a terrorist attack. "There is great concern that smallpox could be used for bioterrorism. The...

Judge OKs military anthrax vaccinations.
January 26, 2004... 2004 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A federal judge has allowed the military to resume anthrax inoculations, although he questioned the timing of a government announcement declaring the vaccine safe. U.S. District Judge Emmit...

CDC to lose top vaccine expert to Emory University.
January 26, 2004... 2004 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. government's top expert on immunizations will leave government service and join the faculty of Emory University, school officials say. Dr. Walter Orenstein, director of the National...

Immunotherapeutics company awarded $11.6M from NIH.
January 26, 2004... 2004 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Corixa Corporation (CRXA), a developer of immunotherapeutics, announced it has been awarded an $11.6 million, 5-year contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),...