Bioterrorism

(CIDRAP News) – Two public health advocacy groups this week warned that recent cuts in US preparedness funding could hamstring the nation's response to a health emergency such as a bioterrorism attack, flu pandemic, or natural disaster.

(CIDRAP News) – A Senate committee began work on reauthorizing the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) yesterday by calling federal and public health officials before them to testify about gaps and what steps are needed to better prepare the nation against flu and bioterror threats.

(CIDRAP News) – Delegates from 193 countries met today in Geneva at the start of the World Health Assembly (WHA), which will address several infectious disease topics, including a report from an independent pandemic review committee, a virus-sharing agreement, and the fate of the world's remaining smallpox virus stocks.

May 13, 2011

(CIDRAP News) – A report from the National Research Council (NRC) calls for some changes in a US Army immunization program for lab researchers who work with dangerous pathogens, saying the vaccines need to be made more accessible to civilian scientists.

May 10, 2011

(CIDRAP News) – Federal funds provided through the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) have enabled hospitals across the nation to make substantial advances in preparedness for many kinds of public health emergencies, including epidemics, according to the first state-by-state report on the program, released yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says two new regulations to take effect in July will give the agency more power to detain unsafe food and identify potentially hazardous imported foods.

The regulations are the first to be issued by the FDA under new authorities it gained with passage of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act in January, the agency said in an announcement yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – The National Research Council (NRC), in a letter report, has advised the US Army to prepare a more comprehensive risk assessment than it initially proposed for a biodefense laboratory to be built at Ft. Detrick in Frederick, Md.

(CIDRAP News) – A federal advisory board meeting in Washington, DC, today approved a set of recommendations that would help mobilize the scientific response in the wake of major public health events such as the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.