Two high-ranking members of Congress have asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to assess whether the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acted properly in scrapping a multimillion-dollar contract for developing new technology for detecting bioterror agents, the Washington Post reported today.
Scientists at a biodefense lab at the Dugway Proving Ground, an Army installation in Utah, mistakenly shipped live Bacillus anthracis samples—the bacterium that causes anthrax—to labs in nine US states and South Korea, according to media reports today.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH), which reported 9 MERS-CoV cases on May 11, has added 3 more in the past 3 days and reported 2 deaths in previously reported cases as it is apparently grappling with a Web site failure, switching to a new—and detail-limited—reporting system, or both.
Veterinary officials in Burkina Faso and Turkey reported more highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu outbreaks, as their counterparts in Taiwan reported that highly pathogenic H5N2 has struck 10 more locations, according to separate reports to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued a proposed rule requesting additional scientific data to support the safety and effectiveness of certain ingredients used in over-the-counter healthcare antiseptics, the agency said in a news release.
The number of US measles cases since Jan 1 has reached at least 154, an increase of 13 in the past week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update, and 118 of those cases are linked to Disneyland in California.
A new case of MERS-CoV and one death in a previously reported case bring totals since June 2012 to 900 and 383, respectively, in Saudi Arabia, according to a report today from the country's Ministry of Health (MOH).
Highlights include funds for antibiotic resistance, bioterrorism preparedness, and a unified food safety agency.
Two laboratory accidents at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) within the past 16 months may have exposed nine workers to a bacterium and a virus regarded as potential bioweapons, according to a report yesterday in The Frederick (Md.) News-Post.
One mBio editorial defends federal pause, while another calls its language too vague.