(CIDRAP News) Confirming earlier unofficial reports, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson today named infectious disease expert Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH, as the new permanent director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She becomes the first woman to lead the agency.
July 1, 2002 (CIDRAP News) About half of the nation's supply of anthrax vaccinepreviously dedicated almost entirely to military usewill henceforward be set aside for civilian use in the event of another anthrax attack, federal defense and health officials announced Jun 28.
(CIDRAP News) Caught between the unknown risk of a smallpox attack and concern about adverse vaccine reactions, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) yesterday recommended that only healthcare workers assigned to deal directly with a smallpox outbreak be vaccinated against smallpox.
(CIDRAP News) – Researchers at the University of Texas report that they have engineered antibodies that can protect rats from the effects of the anthrax toxin, possibly pointing the way toward development of similar antibodies that could protect humans.
(CIDRAP News) President George W. Bush yesterday signed a far-reaching bioterrorism bill designed to strengthen the public health system, tighten controls on dangerous pathogens, and protect the nations food and water supplies.
(CIDAP News) – Blood serum tests have confirmed the suspected case of cutaneous anthrax in a Texas laboratory worker that was first reported in early April, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
(CIDRAP News) A mathematical model developed by two researchers suggests that six letters used in last fall's anthrax attacks spread anthrax spores to more than 5,000 other pieces of mail and led to the deaths of two women who had no known exposure to the pathogen.
(CIDRAP News) – The federal government is pouring billions of dollars into public health, but the effort to improve the nation's preparedness for bioterrorism faces a severe shortage of people trained in public health disciplines, according to Donald A. Henderson, MD, a top federal adviser on public health preparedness.
Federal health authorities provide opportunities in the next month for input as they revise the current policy regarding vaccination of the general population.
(CIDRAP News) A lengthy report by an expert panel on anthrax generally echoes treatment and prevention recommendations made by federal health officials last fall while highlighting how little is known about the epidemiology of the disease, especially how many spores it takes to cause infection.
