According to CNN, “an envelope that tested positive for the deadly poison ricin was intercepted Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Capitol’s off-site mail facility in Washington, congressional and law enforcement sources tell CNN”.
Politico has reported through anonymous sources that the letter was addressed to the office of Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss. More news to come.
When: 12:00 – 1:30PM, Thursday, April 18th
Where: Research Hall, Room 163 George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Come and hear Dr. Allison Macfarlane, Chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, discuss the intersection of environmental policy and the NRC. Dr. Macfarlane is speaking as a part of the 2013 Harold Gortner Distinguished Speaker Series in Public Administration.
Recently re-appointed to serve a second term leading the NRC, Allison Macfarlane is on leave from GMU where she is an Associate Professor in the Environmental Science and Policy Program. She is co-author of the book Uncertainty Underground: Yucca Mountain and the Nation’s High-Level Nuclear Waste.
A reception will follow—please join us!
Our next Biodefense Policy Seminar is this Thursday! The Biodefense Policy Seminar is the D.C. area’s premiere speaker series focused on biodefense and biosecurity issues. The monthly seminars – free and open to the public – feature leading figures within the academic, security, industry, and policy fields of biodefense.
This Thursday’s seminar, “Health Threats in a Security World”, features Dr. Alexander Garza, Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Homeland Security. Join us at 7:20 PM in the Meese Conference Room in Mason Hall, Thursday April 18th!
Monday, April 15th
North Korea and Policy Priorities for the United States
Brookings Institute
10:00AM – 11:30AM
On April 15, Foreign Policy at Brookings will host a discussion on the policy priorities for the United States in dealing with North Korea during and after the current crisis. Brookings experts will debate the threat to the United States and its allies and analyze steps that the United States can take to mitigate the danger, including sanctions, engaging allies and neighbors in the region, nonproliferation efforts and, if necessary, responding to aggressive actions by North Korea.
The Future of the U.S. Nuclear Deterrent: A Conversation with Amb. Linton Brooks
American Security Project
12:30PM – 1:30PM
The future form of today’s U.S. deterrent could change. Many call for reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal while plans for the future triad are in flux. 2013 could be a critical year for many of these issues. Join us for a conversation with Linton Brooks, Ambassador and former Administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Linton F. Brooks is an independent consultant on national security issues, a senior adviser at CSIS, a distinguished research fellow at the National Defense University, and an advisor to four of the U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories.
Tuesday, April 16th
The Syrian Conflict: Challenges & Opportunities for WMD Counterproliferation
Georgetown Law
12:00PM – 1:00PM
Public symposium and panel lecture on Syrian weapons of mass destruction.
Foreign Policy Panel Series: “Are North Korea’s Threats of War Real?”
World Affairs Council
6:30PM – 8:00PM
The recent threats of war by North Korea’s Kim Jong-un have caused serious alarm in the international community and tensions to rise on the Korean peninsula. This is not the first time such threats have been made. Should they be taken seriously, or are they part of a pattern of diplomatic strategy? How real is the threat of war from North Korea?
Wednesday, April 17th
‘Avoiding Armageddon: America, India, Pakistan, to the Brink and Back’
Hudson Institute
12:00PM – 2:00PM
Long-term stability in South Asia is critical to American national security. In the last 20 years, successive U.S. administrations have diplomatically intervened to keep tensions between the nuclear-armed nations of India and Pakistan from escalating into full-scale war. Moving forward, the health of the relationship between New Delhi and Islamabad will determine whether the region has a future of general stability and peace or chronic conflict. In light of this, Hudson Institute is pleased to invite you to a discussion between Senior Fellow and former Ambassador of Pakistan to the U.S. Husain Haqqani and Bruce Riedel, a Brookings Institution scholar and author of Avoiding Armageddon: America, India, and Pakistan to the Brink and Back. Lunch will be served.
Strategic Options for Iran: Balancing Pressure with Diplomacy
Woodrow Wilson Center
12:15 – 2:00PM
Former senior national security officials, military officers and experts with decades of Middle East experience have joined to present a balanced report on the strategic options for dealing with Iran. Moving the debate past politics and unexamined assumptions they argue that the time has come for Washington to strengthen the diplomatic track in the two track policy of pressure and diplomacy that has characterized current U.S. policy.
Public Presentation with Nils Daulaire, Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Americas Society/Council of the Americas
3:15PM – 4:30PM
Please join the Council of the Americas for a public, on-the-record presentation by Dr. Nils Daulaire, assistant secretary for global affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. With vast experience in public health in the world’s poorest communities, Daulaire will outline the United States’ health priorities in the hemisphere and highlight several key initiatives that are improving health in the region. Prior to his appointment at HHS in 2010, Daulaire served for more than a decade as president and CEO of the Global Health Council and as deputy assistant administrator for policy and senior international health advisor at USAID.
Thursday, April 18th
National Security & Foreign Policy Priorities in the FY 2014 International Affairs Budget
U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (Senate Dirksen 562)
9:30 AM
Witnesses: The Honorable John F. Kerry, Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State
Disaster Risk Reduction and Conflict Prevention
US Institute of Peace
1:00PM – 3:00PM
As the United Nations debates a new set of development priorities for the post-2015 revision of its Millennium Development Goals, USIP’s Center of Innovation for Science, Technology & Peacebuilding and the National Academy of Engineering jointly invite you to a discussion of the new challenges for peacebuilders presented by the interplay of these “natural” and political risks.
Health Threats in a Security World
Meese Conference Room, Mason Hall, George Mason University
7:20PM – 8:30PM
As the second speaker in the Biodefense Policy Seminar series, Dr. Alexander Garza will discuss emerging health threats in his capacity as the assistant secretary for health affairs and chief medical officer of the Department of Homeland Security. His bio includes managing the Department’s medical and health security matters, oversees the health aspects of contingency planning for all chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear hazards, and leads a coordinated effort to ensure that the Department is prepared to respond to biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction. Prior to joining the Department in August 2009, Dr. Garza spent 13 years as a practicing physician and medical educator.
Friday, April 19th
Nukes, Missiles, and Feints: The Real Deal on Iran and North Korea
Center for National Policy
9:30AM – 10:45AM
The rhetoric from North Korea has become increasingly hostile. Last Friday, April 12th, the country warned that “nuclear war is unavoidable” and declared that Tokyo would be its first target in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula. This statement is just the latest in an escalating war of words and rising tensions between North Korean officials and the U.S. Join Truman Project President, just back from Japan, Rachel Kleinfeld and an expert panel as they discuss the current situation in North Korea, how the situation differs from that of Iran, and how we can better understand Asian hard security and the nuclear challenge.
April Seminar: ”Health Threats in a Security World”
Speaker: Dr. Alexander Garza
When: 7:20PM, Thursday April 18th, 2013
Where: Meese Conference Room, Mason Hall, George Mason University
The Biodefense Policy Seminar is the D.C. area’s premiere speaker series focused on biodefense and biosecurity issues. The monthly seminars – free and open to the public – feature leading figures within the academic, security, industry, and policy fields of biodefense.
About the Speaker: Dr. Alexander Garza is the Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Homeland Security. He manages the Department’s medical and health security matters, oversees the health aspects of contingency planning for all chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear hazards, and leads a coordinated effort to ensure that the Department is prepared to respond to biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction. Prior to joining the Department in August 2009, Dr. Garza spent 13 years as a practicing physician and medical educator.
Refreshments will be available!
Highlights include the H7N9 update, funding for the NBAF, using flight patterns to stop pandemics, North Korean biosurveillance, and why biotech companies matter. Happy Friday!
Report on 3 in China Who Died From Bird Flu Points to Severity of Strain
Update: 43 cases, 10 fatalities
H7N9 continues apace in China, with the total number of cases up to 43. The virus is especially difficult to track because birds are asymptomatic carriers. While the number of laboratory-confirmed cases is closely monitored, it’s possible there are many more human cases going unnoticed due to a milder disease presentation. Still, there have been no confirmed cases of person-to-person transmission, and scientists in the US have just received the first batch of the virus, and are working on developing a diagnostic.
New York Times – “A report on three of the first patients in China to contract a new strain of bird flu paints a grim portrait of severe pneumonia, septic shock and other complications that damaged the brain, kidney and other organs. All three died…During a telephone news briefing on Thursday, Nancy J. Cox, of the influenza division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that several features of H7N9 were particularly troubling: it causes severe disease, it has genetic traits that help it infect mammals and humans probably have no resistance to it.”
Obama proposes $714M for Kansas biodefense project
The National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility has received the strongest funding endorsement to date from the Obama Administration, with $714 million included for the lab in the President’s FY2014 budget. The lab is slated to replace Plum Island as the nation’s premier research center on agricultural pathogens.
Wall Street Journal – “Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas said the recommendation signals the administration’s support for building the $1.15 billion lab, which will study large animal diseases and develop measures to protect the nation’s food supply…Roberts said the proposal will require additional financial commitments from Kansas, which will be worked out by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and legislators…Kansas agreed when it was awarded the project to contribute 20 percent of the cost of construction. Thus far, the state has issued $105 million in bonds and $35 million from the Kansas Bioscience Authority.”
New tool to identify air travelers with infectious disease developed
Researchers in Toronto, after studying the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, developed basic guidelines for passenger screenings during a pandemic. The results are relatively intuitive – screening passengers as they leave a region in which the pathogen is spreading is more useful than screening them upon arrival at their final destination.
Medical News – “Dr. Khan used his experience analyzing air traffic patterns to review the flights of the nearly 600,000 people who flew out of Mexico in May 2009, the start of the H1N1 pandemic. He found that exit screening would have caused the least disruption to international air traffic. In fact, all air travelers at risk of H1N1 infection could have been assessed as they left one of Mexico’s 36 international airports. Exit screening at just six airports in Mexico coupled with entry screening at two airports in Asia (Shanghai and Tokyo) would have allowed for screening of about 90 per cent of the at-risk travelers worldwide.”
APG working on biosurveillance in response to North Korea threats
Anything that is related to biological warfare and is also called the Kracken is automatically included in the Pandora Report. Here, the Kracken is a 15ft high thermal, acoustic, and infrared sensor.
Baltimore Sun – “While the danger of missiles is more pressing, Army officials said developing better capabilities to detect biological warfare threats has also been a priority for the past six years. The Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense is working with APG’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center on the program, which is called the Joint United States Forces Korea Portal and Integrated Threat Recognition, or JUPITR. The program will also serve to detect naturally occurring biological threats. A key part of the program is the Kraken, which Army officials described as ‘a massive, multifunctional, all-seeing sensor suite designed to rapidly establish a defensive perimeter.'”
Funding Issues Stymie Pandemic Preparation
Collaboration between the biotech industry and the US government has been notoriously difficult, starting with the threat of breaking Bayer’s patent on Cipro during the Amerithrax attacks and continuing into today. While relations have improved, and the hurdles to a successful working relationship are significant, we can’t afford to not work on this.
Genetic Engingeering and Biotechnology News – “Despite product success Acambis has had a bumpy ride with its funding. ‘Any biotech that believes developing products to serve public health emergencies is access to easy money needs to think again,’ Dr. Lewin cautioned. ‘Collaborating with the U.S. government is different from working in the biotech world. You have to produce a proposal for the government to digest, a cost of around $400,000, and if you don’t get the contract that’s all money down the drain.'”
This week’s image come via Microbiology and Immunology, and is of cell lytic enzymes attached to nanoparticles, which are then used to kill listeria!
“Fighting Listeria with Nanobiotechnology: Using nature as their inspiration, the researchers successfully attached cell lytic enzymes to food-safe silica nanoparticles, and created a coating with the demonstrated ability to selectively kill listeria—a dangerous foodborne bacteria that causes an estimated 500 deaths every year in the United States. The coating kills listeria on contact, even at high concentrations, within a few minutes without affecting other bacteria. The lytic enzymes can also be attached to starch nanoparticles commonly used in food packaging.”
Read more here.
Highlights include H7N9, China’s SARS lessons, H5N1, the seminal UN global arms treaty, bird flu bureaucracy, and the problems with the term “WMD”. Happy Friday!
H7N9 Update: 14 cases, five fatalities, no evidence of person-to-person transmission
Scientists race to gauge pandemic risk of new bird flu
We’re keeping a very close eye on news about the H7N9 avian flu strain emerging from China. To date there have been fourteen cases with five fatalities. Unlike the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, this is the first time we’re seeing H7N9 in humans. It’s pandemic potential is still considered low due to its current inability to transmit person-to-person. However, although there have been no confirmed cases of person-to-person transmission, it’s been reported that a person caring for one of the people who died of H7N9 has since developed similar, flu-like symptoms.
Reuters – “Genetic sequence data on a deadly strain of bird flu previously unknown in people show the virus has already acquired some mutations that might make it more likely to cause a human pandemic, scientists say. But there is no evidence so far that the H7N9 flu – now known to have infected nine people in China, killing three – is spreading from person to person, and there is still a chance it might peter out and never fully mutate into a human form of flu.”
Ten years after SARS, what has China learned?
The short answer? It depends on whom you ask. China has improved its communication with the international and scientific community. However, there have been complaints about the lack of clear communication by the Chinese government with its own people, particularly at the time of the virus’ original emergence.
Xinhua – “The news of two men dying from a new variant of bird flu has reminded Chinese of the SARS pandemic that hit the country one decade ago. Many are wondering if the government will handle the situation any better than it did in 2003, should another pandemic break out…Now, on the 10th anniversary of the pandemic, fear is spreading following reports of two Shanghai men who died from H7N9 avian influenza, a strain that has not previously been detected in humans. That fear was aggravated this week after four more patients in neighboring Jiangsu Province were confirmed to have contracted the virus. All four are in critical condition.”
Cambodia reports 10th bird flu case this year
In all the chatter about H7N9, H5N1 seems almost tame. While it may seem high, ten cases in four months is in keeping with expected numbers.
Xinhua – “A six-year-old boy from Southwestern Kampot province was confirmed to have contracted with Avian Influenza H5N1, bringing the number of the cases to 10 and the death toll remained at eight in 2013, a health expert said Wednesday. ‘The boy was admitted to the Kantha Bopha Hospital in Phnom Penh on March 31 for severe pneumonia, and he was tested positive for H5N1 at the Instituts Pasteur on Tuesday,’ Dr. Denis Laurent, deputy director of the hospital, told Xinhua.’The boy is still alive, but in severe conditions (sic).”
UN general assembly passes first global arms treaty
Including everything from battle tanks to light weapons, this is the first UN treaty “aimed at controlling the trade in conventional weapons”, and prohibits the sale of conventional weapons to state in violation of arms embargoes, in support of terrorism, war crimes, genocide, or in use against civilians (it doesn’t regulate domestic sales of arms).
The Guardian – “The United Nations…vot[ed] it through by a large majority despite earlier being blocked by three countries. Member states represented in the UN general assembly voted by 154 to three, with 23 abstentions, to control a trade worth an estimated £46bn a year. The landmark deal went to a vote after Syria, Iran and North Korea – all at odds with the US – blocked its adoption by consensus….It is expected to come into force after the first 50 ratifications next year”
Clinical Notes: Bird Flu Vaccine Delayed at FDA
It’s been an avian-themed report. This piece included in commiseration with of all of us just now getting around to taxes – filing paperwork appropriately with the government is apparently as important for billion-dollar corporations as it is for the rest of us.
MedPage – “GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) human vaccine against H5N1 avian influenza did not win approval from the FDA, but only on technical grounds that should not keep it off the market for long, the company said. Called Q-Pan H5N1, the product is meant to be stockpiled in case the H5N1 virus becomes capable of causing a pandemic. It received a unanimous endorsement from an FDA advisory committee last November. Nevertheless, GSK said last week that it had received a so-called complete response letter from the agency, indicating that approval was not immediately forthcoming. The company said it was ‘triggered due to an administrative matter that has recently been rectified.'”
Soapbox we love: Let’s All Stop Saying ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ Forever
The title says it all. It was arguably too broad when it was just chemical, biological, radiological (mass destruction? a rad bomb? really?) and nuclear, and it seems to only be getting broader.
Wired – “In fact, as a fascinating paper by W. Seth Carus at the National Defense University shows, the Defense Department’s definition of the term has long been problematic. For years, its official definition included ‘high explosives,’ to make it consistent with the federal statute that Harroun ran up against. But ‘most military weaponry relies on high explosive charges,” Carus writes, ‘meaning that even the mortars and grenades used by infantrymen might qualify as WMD.’ The doctrinal answer was ultimately to limit the definition to “chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons capable of a high order of destruction or causing mass casualties.”
This week’s image falls within one of our favorite topics here at GMU Biodefense – cells in space.
The picture, titled “Goldfinger” due to the placement of the immune cells on gold-coated slides, depicts monoctyes in zero gravity. Monocytes are critical immune defenders, helping fight off bacteria and viruses.
For more information on the image, check out the European Space Agency site.
(Image credit: ESA/MIA G.Pani)
Roundup of the week’s most interesting (and free) international security, science & technology, and health events.
Tuesday, April 2nd
Middle East Turmoil and American Decline: Views from Singapore and Asia
Middle East Institute
12:00PM – 1:00PM
The relationships between the Middle East and maritime Asia are becoming ever more extensive. Against the backdrop of this deepening cross-regional interdependence with Asian economies and middle classes expanding rapidly, the Arab Middle East is grappling with profound political changes and challenges, and the United States is engaged in strategic “rebalancing.” Dr. Michael Hudson will discuss how the political upheaval in the Middle East and US involvement in the Arab world are viewed in Singapore and, more broadly, in maritime Asia.
Wednesday, April 3rd
NATO’s European Allies: Military Capability and Political Will
SAIS
10:00 – 11:30AM
At a time when Europe really has to lead in its own region, is it able to do? This is the first in-depth analysis of this key question for the transatlantic relationship. Janne Haaland Matlary, professor in the Department of Political Science at University of Oslo in Norway and co-editor of NATO’s European Allies: Military Capability and Political Will, will discuss this topic.
Russian Security and Defense Policy: Why Russia Is Not Stuck in the Cold War and Why That Is a Problem
SIAS
12:30 – 1:45PM
Celeste Wallander, associate professor and director of the International Politics Program at American University’s School of International Service and former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, will discuss this topic.Note: Attendees are welcome to bring their lunch to the event.
Thursday, April 4th
Mitigating the National Security Impact of Cost Cutting: How to Ensure Innovation & Development in Lean Times
Ronald Reagan Building (hosted by Government Executive)
7:30AM – 9:30AM
Ever increasing global threats coupled with the financial constraints our nation is addressing make it imperative that agencies and private sector stakeholders have the resources and path forward for a critical component to ensuring National Security. Join Nextgov and INSA on April 4th and hear from key leadership at IARPA, DIA, and the Applied Research Laboratory, Penn State University who will address these issues and more
U.S. Foreign Policy: The Next Four Years
George Washington University
6:00PM – 7:15PM
Panel discussion
Friday, April 5th
U.S. Policy Priorities for Global Health Diplomacy and Multilateral Engagement in the Second Obama Term
Center for Strategic and International Studies
10:30AM – 12:00PM
During the first Obama term, global health diplomacy took on elevated importance as a U.S. foreign policy objective. Both the Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services appear poised to continue to raise the diplomatic profile of global health during the second Obama term. Over the next year, U.S. diplomats will be challenged to help ensure: smooth, sufficient replenishments of the GAVI Alliance, the World Bank International Development Association, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the articulation of a robust set of goals to advance the post-2015 Millennium Development agenda; and mutually beneficial relationships with emerging powers, many of which are active global health actors. This session will feature a lively discussion with high-level officials and experts from inside and outside the U.S. government.
Highlights include H5N1: to mutate or not to mutate, the Galveston Lab we’ve all shaken our heads at this week (we all lose a vial of virus sometimes), the UK stepping-up its bioterror prevention, the new foot-and-mouth vaccine (cloven-hoofed animals matter too – a lot, actually), antibiotic-resistant jumping from farm animals to us, and what may soon be a mumps outbreak in Richmond. Happy Friday!
H5N1 viral-engineering dangers will not go away
Technically we tweeted this story on Wednesday, but it presented such a nice summation against the gain-of-function research that we wanted to include it here. Not because we agree, but because the points are coherent and well-argued.
Nature – “Rather than use the avian flu moratorium to seek advice, listen and foster debate, many influenza scientists engaged in an academic exercise of self-justification. There was a single large open meeting, at the Royal Society in London, which engaged a wider audience, including bioethicists. The recent calling off of the moratorium by 40 flu researchers alone — not funders, governments or international bodies — says it all. The flu community simply hasn’t understood that this is a hot-button issue that will not go away.”
Texas Biolab Loses Deadly Virus
Before everyone freaks out, it’s only Guanarito virus – yes, losing a vial of any virus from a BSL-4 lab is not great, and yes, if you’re going to lose a vial of something, it would be better if it didn’t cause hemorrhagic fever, but 1) Guanarito virus’ natural host is thought to be Venezuelan “short-tailed cane” mice, 2) it doesn’t replicate in US rodents, and 3) it’s not transmissible person-to-person. And before we start a heated discussion about the disturbingly impressive ability of viruses to evolve and adapt to new hosts, 4) the vial in question is thought to have been destroyed internally.
ABC News – “The Galveston National Laboratory lost one of five vials containing a deadly Venezuelan virus, according to the University of Texas Medical Branch, which owns the $174 million facility designed with the strictest security measures to hold the deadliest viruses in the country. Like Ebola, the missing Guanarito virus causes hemorrhagic fever, an illness named for “bleeding under the skin, in internal organs or from body orifices like the mouth, eyes, or ears,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
UK: Biological attacks ‘getting easier for terrorists’
Intelligence officials in the United Kingdom have prioritized the fight against bioterrorism, using lessons from the 2012 London Olympics to inform their revamped strategy.
The Telegraph – “Charles Farr, the Director of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism [in the United Kingdom], said that extremists have ever greater access to the information and technology required to create and spread germ agents or other biological weapons…Factors facilitating such attacks include the availability of formulae and other information on the internet; increasing teaching of biological sciences at universities, and ‘greater availability of technology,’ he said. Mr Farr, a former MI6 officer, declined to give further details of the threat, but the Home Office report hints at a range of new precautions.
Scientists develop new foot and mouth vaccine
Foot-and-mouth disease is like the be-all-end-all of animal diseases – it’s tremendously infectious, has a high mortality rate, and because we don’t vaccinate (for trade reasons – when you vaccinate an animal, when that animal is later tested for FMD it’s impossible to tell whether it has the antibodies because it was vaccinated or because it actually had the disease – if the latter, no one wants to eat it), the disease would spread like wildfire. Also, current policy dictates “containment” (read: mass culling) rather than “treatment”, which means mountains of burning carcasses. Very scary and very possible.
The Guardian – “Scientists have developed a new kind of vaccine that could prevent devastating outbreaks of foot and mouth disease among livestock. The “synthetic” vaccine was created by taking protein shells that encase the virus and strengthening them, so the vaccine can be used in warm countries without refrigeration. The technique overcomes major shortcomings of existing foot and mouth vaccines, which are made with live virus. The infectious risk means the conventional vaccine must be produced in high containment facilities, which are costly to build and maintain. Vaccines made from the live virus are also fragile, and degrade unless they are kept cool.”
Study Shows Bacteria Moves From Animals to Humans
Bessie the cow might just be another weapon in the arsenal of the superbug. This possibility is especially disturbing given our ongoing difficulties countering antibiotic-resistant bacteria we make ourselves.
The New York Times – “A new study used genetic sequencing to establish that a strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been transmitted from farm animals to people, a connection that the food industry has long disputed. Representative Louise M. Slaughter, Democrat of New York, said the study by researchers in Britain and Denmark, which drew on data from two small farms in Denmark, ‘ends any debate’ about whether giving antibiotics to livestock is a risk to humans”
LOCAL: Mumps virus infiltrates Richmond, VA campus
Before this launches a debate about the importance of vaccination, all but just six students on the Richmond campus have had the MMR vaccine. What this illustrates instead is that no vaccine is 100% efficacious in every instance (MMR is approximately 95%).
The Collegian – “As of Tuesday, 15 cases of mumps have been confirmed on campus, said Dr. Lynne Deane, the director of the Student Health Center. Mumps is a communicable viral illness and typically carries symptoms like fever, head and body aches, tiredness and swollen or tender glands in the jaw, according to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Web site.Tests administered to other students are still being processed, she said. In total, 39 students have been tested for the virus since January, Deane said…The cluster of mumps outbreaks has not been limited to Richmond. Loyola University, Maryland, has seen at least 12 cases of mumps arise in the past month, according to CBS news Baltimore.”
The Pandora Report 