Doctors in Afghanistan say rates of some health problems affecting children have doubled in the last two years. Continue reading…

If anthrax spores were used to contaminate drinking water systems, they would remain viable for extended periods of time despite conventional disinfection measures, according to findings presented Friday at the American Society for Microbiology 2006 Biodefense Research Meeting in Washington, DC. Continue reading…

A collaborative research team from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have made a major breakthrough in efforts to combat two deadly viruses that could be engineered for use as bioweapons. The team isolated the functional receptor for the Nipah and Hendra viruses -- naturally occurring and highly pathogenic paramyxoviruses for which no treatments or vaccines are currently available Continue reading…

In disease, as in war, offensive strategies can become weaknesses, if the defenders see the enemy coming and compensate for its weapons. By manipulating what is perhaps the most devastating trick in cellular weaponry of pox viruses like smallpox, ASU virologist and Biodesign Institute researcher Bertram Jacobs believes that he can turn the biochemical machinery of the pox viruses against themselves -- and protect the public against catastrophic bioterror attacks. Continue reading…

TOPEKA, Kan. - In nearly nine years as Kansas' top disease investigator, Dr. Gianfranco Pezzino devoted a growing amount of time to preparing for possible bioterrorist attacks and dealing with new and strange contagions. His work as state epidemiologist also cost Pezzino a lot of time with his wife and three children, so he recently traded the job for one at the private, nonprofit Kansas Health Foundation. Continue reading…

University of Chicago biochemist Wei-Jen Tang was researching antidotes to anthrax poisoning when out of the blue he received a call from a researcher working for a drug company. The researcher had read about Tang's work and suggested Tang try his company's hepatitis drug, Hepsera. Tang was skeptical, but the researcher's hunch turned out to be a good one. Continue reading…

US researchers are developing a vaccine that protects against the anthrax bacterium and the lethal toxins it produces. The experimental vaccine, which is being developed by Dr Julia A Wang from Brigham and Women's Hospital and colleagues, is unique as it combats both components of the disease. To make the vaccine the researchers joined a compound called poly-gamma-D-glutamic acid (PGA), which helps the anthrax bacterium multiply in the body, to a component of the toxin anthrax produces called protective antigen (PA). Continue reading…

US researchers have identified a group of molecules that inhibit a deadly toxin produced by inhalational anthrax. Dr Lewis Cantley and colleagues at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston hope their discovery will enable scientists to develop a drug that fights the anthrax toxin in a similar way to that of protease inhibitors that are used to combat the AIDS virus HIV. Continue reading…

The paint pigment Prussian blue could be used to protect citizens from radiation if terrorists stage a so-called "dirty bomb" attack. At present potassium iodide is the only commonly available medication for protection against radiation, although it only helps to protect the thyroid gland from radioactive iodine, and offers no protection to other parts of the body. Continue reading…

A VIRUS that kills every one of its victims, by wiping out part of their immune system, has been accidentally created by an Australian research team. The virus, a modified mousepox, does not affect humans, but it is closely related to smallpox, raising fears that the technology could be used in biowarfare. Continue reading…