Assessing the Biological Weapons and Bioterrorism Threat

[AdamG]

The Obama administration held a meeting today in Washington with the representatives of more than two dozen countries on how to confront “a perfect storm of converging threats from infectious disease epidemics.”

For once, the current administration seems ready to consider ways to prevent, detect and respond to infectious diseases where they originate:

- See more at: http://acdemocracy.org/could-rabbit-....osFZgX42.dpuf

[AdamG]

A major French biomedical research body, the Pasteur Institute, have launched an investigation into the disappearance of some 2,300 test tubes containing samples of the SARS virus. The loss was discovered during an inventory.

The Pasteur Institute filed a so-called 'complaint against X' on Monday over the lost SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) samples. According to French law, such complaints allow law enforcement agencies to investigate a certain case, without targeting specific individuals or companies.

The distinguished research body has also announced it has closed its P3 laboratory, where the samples of the potentially deadly virus were kept.

"Human error is the most probable reason, but we do not exclude anything,” the Institute’s Director General, Christian Bréchot, said, according to AFP.

http://rt.com/news/lost-sars-samples-france-608/

[davidbfpo]

Once again research scientists take a risk, yes one within their standard defences and thsi time @ University Wisconsin-Madison.

The article starts:

Scientists have created a life-threatening virus that closely resembles the 1918 Spanish flu strain that killed an estimated 50m people in an experiment labelled as "crazy" by opponents.

US researchers said the experiments were crucial for understanding the public health risk posed by viruses currently circulating in wild birds, but critics condemned the studies as dangerous and called on funders to stop the work.

A British scientist's view:

The work they are doing is absolutely crazy. The whole thing is exceedingly dangerous...Yes, there is a danger, but it's not arising form the viruses out there in the animals, it's arising from the labs of grossly ambitious people.

Link:http://www.theguardian.com/science/2...MCNEWEML6619I2