Friday, January 9, 2004

Welcome! - Today's stories cover all the biodefense stories from January 1, 2004 - January 9, 2004. We intend to update the site on a daily basis in the future.

Iraq - ...In public statements and unauthorized interviews, investigators said they have discovered no work on former germ-warfare agents such as anthrax bacteria, and no work on a new designer pathogen -- combining pox virus and snake venom -- that led U.S. scientists on a highly classified hunt for several months...

• Washington Post: Iraq's Arsenal Was Only on Paper

Anthrax - The Pentagon is resuming anthrax vaccinations of troops after a federal judge removed a legal restraint on the program.

• Associated Press: Pentagon Resuming Anthrax Vaccinations

Anthrax - ...and the Pentagon has just purchased a new supply of anthrax vaccine...

• Reuters: US Army Buys $30 Million in Anthrax Shots

Anthrax - South Korea is taking precautions to guard against an anthrax attack.

• Associated Press: South Korea Orders Tightened Security

Anthrax - Research which may lead to the production of drugs to combat the deadly toxin secreted by anthrax bacteria.

• Harvard Crimson [Nature Structural and Molecular Biology]: HMS Researchers Find New Anthrax Treatment

Anthrax - Biologists have determined how toxin produced by anthrax bacteria blocks a person's normal immune response, a discovery that could lead to new treatments for anthrax infection.

• Science Daily [Journal of Immunology]: Study By UCSD Gives New Insight Into How Anthrax Bacteria Can Evade A Host's Immune Response

Anthrax - There is an outbreak of anthrax im Zimbabwe.

• The Herald: Vet Dept fights anthrax outbreaks in Masvingo

Public Health - The steps that India is taking to protect itself against bioterrorist attacks.

• The Times of India: An anti-WMD force to reckon with

Self-Defense - A Florida inventor has patented a germicidal mailbox that would let consumers sterilize their incoming letters through irradiation

• Reuters: Patented: Germ-zapping mailbox

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