Botulism

Jul 8, 2011

(CIDRAP News) – A federal advisory committee is recommending that 11 bacterial species and viruses on the current "select agent" list, including anthrax and Ebola virus, be singled out for special safeguards and that another 19 agents be dropped from the list entirely.

(CIDRAP News) – German government officials today lifted their recommendation against eating cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce, and showcased evidence that puts sprouts front and center in their investigation of a massive Escherichia coli outbreak, though the outbreak strain has not yet been found in sprouts.

(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.

Editor's note: This story was revised Mar 17 to include additional information about the number of claims filed and processing steps.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has so far received 386 claims of injuries related to the 2009 pandemic H1N1 vaccine and related pandemic countermeasures, HHS officials reported today.

May 11, 2010

(CIDRAP News) – The US government needs much closer collaboration with private industry—like the arrangements used in building aircraft carriers and putting men on the moon—in order to improve the nation's medical defenses against biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear threats, says a report from a federal advisory panel.

(CIDRAP News) – Xoma Ltd., a Berkeley, Calif., pharmaceutical company, recently announced that it received a $65 million multiyear federal contract to fund work on botulinum antitoxins, one of which it hopes to put through safety and efficacy tests starting in 2009.