(CIDRAP News) Several states have made progress preparing for a major public health emergency such as a pandemic or bioterror attack, but funding shortfalls at the federal level threaten to stall or even reverse recent gains, according to a report today from the nonprofit organization Trust for America's Health (TFAH).
(CIDRAP News) Amid controversy around the construction of a biodefense laboratory in Boston, a project risk assessment from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is funding the lab, has been condemned as unsound by the National Research Council (NRC).
(CIDRAP News) The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released a guide to help communities retool their health-related call centers into systems for meeting the needs of the public in homes or shelters during emergencies such as a pandemic or bioterrorist attack.
(CIDRAP News) – The White House recently issued a lengthy homeland security directive aimed at bolstering the response of federal, state, and local public health systems to national emergencies such as bioterrorist attacks, influenza pandemics, and natural disasters.
(CIDRAP News) – The US government recently awarded contracts totaling about $34 million to two companies for development of drugs to treat pneumonic plague, tularemia, and anthrax, three of the diseases terrorists are deemed most likely to try to exploit.
(CIDRAP News) A US House of Representatives committee today explored problems at the nation's biodefense labs, including a lack of coordinated federal oversight and even a lack of knowledge of how many high-containment labs exist.
These concerns have been highlighted recently by aggressive efforts from the Sunshine Project, a watchdog group that monitors biodefense research safety, and by other media reports.
(CIDRAP News) – Three University of Texas facilities have recently had laboratory accidents with dangerous pathogens, including the agents of anthrax, tularemia, and shigellosis, according to a statement yesterday from the Sunshine Project, a nonprofit group that monitors biodefense research safety.
(CIDRAP News) – The head of Texas A&M University today promised a vigorous effort to correct safety infractions uncovered by federal investigators in the university's biodefense laboratory and voiced a hope that research at the lab can resume by the end of this year.
(CIDRAP News) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday released a lengthy list of safety violations it found in an investigation of a biodefense laboratory at Texas A&M University, where research on dangerous pathogens was suspended 2 months ago after problems came to light.
(CIDRAP News) – The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced a one-time allocation of $75 million in grants to help states, territories, and four metropolitan areas prepare for an influenza pandemic.
