Stephan Monroe, PhD, who has been the CDC's acting head of lab safety since May, will report directly to the CDC director.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today finalized the first two of seven major rules for implementing the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)—those covering prevention steps for both human and animal food.
The Pentagon today announced a moratorium on work with dangerous pathogens such as the bacterium that causes anthrax at its nine biodefense labs, USA Today reported. The action comes in the wake of the discovery of live anthrax spores outside of containment at a military lab in Utah and an ongoing investigation by USA Today into problems at the nation's high-containment labs.
Federal regulators have privately threatened to revoke permits to study select agents (potential bioterror pathogens) from at least six labs for safety and security violations, including at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, the University of Hawaii-Manoa (UHM), and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), USA Today reported late last week in its continuing probe of US lab biosecurity
Lassa virus (LASV) genome sequences have revealed that the although the virus was only discovered in 1969, it originated more than a thousand years ago in present-day Nigeria and continues to undergo significant evolutionary change, according to a National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded study yesterday in Cell.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported 3 new MERS-CoV cases in Riyadh including 1 in a healthcare worker, bringing to 10 the number of cases confirmed in the city in the past 5 days.
In an ongoing trickle of MERS-CoV cases, especially from the Riyadh area, Saudi Arabia's health ministry today reported another infection. The latest case involves a 38-year-old Saudi man, and though he is from Riyadh, it's not clear whether his illness is part of recent transmission occurring in the city's hospitals or is from the community.
Also, a Nature editorial says the DoD's anthrax missteps highlight regulation inequalities.
The transfer of potentially live B anthracis by an Army lab involved 575 shipments in 10 years, an official said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) waited until last week to set a policy to centralize reporting of all lab mishaps within the agency despite previous high-profile lab accidents and promises of change, according to a USA Today story yesterday.