CBR Weapons and WMD Terrorism News- August 16, 2006

Austin company to fight bioterrorism

“Austin-based Luminex Corp. is getting involved in the war on terror. The 11-year-old company develops systems that quickly test blood and other fluids for multiple substances for customers such as drug companies, clinical research labs and major hospitals. But in the past month, it has received two contracts that involve applying the technology to fending off terrorist attacks with biological weapons. On Tuesday, the company said it is a subcontractor in a deal with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to develop an early-warning system to detect biological weapons in the air. Luminex is charged with creating a ‘trigger’ sensor that works like a smoke alarm, testing the air for pathogens, said Harriss Currie, the company's chief financial officer. Existing technology is too slow and requires too many samples, Currie said. The Luminex trigger sensor could cut the time and number of samples needed to test for the presence of biological weapons.” (Statesman.com, 16Aug06, Lilly Rockwell) http://www.statesman.com
/business/content/business/stories/other/08/16luminex.html

Biosecurity Research Institute to Provide Research for Food Safety and Security Efforts

“The Biosecurity Research Institute, near completion on the Kansas State University campus, is a comprehensive biosafety level 3 facility that will provide scientists a secure location in which to study pathogens and pests that threaten animal and plant-based agricultural systems, and to develop intervention strategies to minimize impacts on the nation's food supply and economy. The Biosecurity Research Institute will be unique among biocontainment research facilities in several important ways, Stack said. researchers will be able to evaluate actual processing conditions and determine if there are safer methods -- researchers will be able to look at the plant or animal all the way to the product. The institute will be one of only a few labs in the world with such capabilities. ‘Food production and distribution systems are often referred to as farm-to-fork systems; these systems are complex and integrated,’ he said. ‘BRI will be the only containment research and training facility within the U.S. that integrates plant pathology, food safety, entomology, veterinary medicine and molecular biology, allowing for comprehensive research programs concerning high-consequence pathogens and pests that threaten our food production systems.’” (Newswise, 15Aug06, Kansas State University) http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/522618/

Cornell's new lab to fight bird flu: State contributing $50 million for project to research animal diseases

“Cornell University plans to build an $80 million laboratory that will make it the state's only facility with large diagnostic space to handle risky pathogens that cause diseases in animals such as the Asian avian flu and mad cow disease. Gov. George Pataki flew into Ithaca for a brief stop Monday to announce that the state will kick in $50 million for the project. ‘It's critical for the health of human beings and the agricultural industry,’ Pataki said. Not only are avian flu and mad cow disease potentially lethal to people, outbreaks can take a costly toll on farms and food processing centers. The new facility, which Cornell officials have pushed for since 1992, will bring facilities to Ithaca with Biosafety Level-3 clearance, which is necessary for handling pathogens and toxins that are either highly contagious or potential bioterrorist weapons. Cornell's diagnostic facilities are scattered in 12 buildings on campus and in the Ithaca area. Its Animal Health Diagnostic Center already tests 150,000 samples a year from throughout the United States and Canada. ‘The facilities are not good enough for the 21st century,’ Pataki admitted. Researchers' jobs became even more difficult after a 2002 bioterrorism law designated a list of ‘select agents’ potential bioterrorism material that included many common animal disease pathogens and required they be handled in BSL-3 labs.” (The Post-Standard, 15Aug06, Rebecca James)
http://www.syracuse.com
/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1155633494297740.xml&coll=1

Scientists look at airplane air quality

“Scientists are taking part in a U.S. study, examining airplane cabin air quality and assessing chemical and biological threats in airliners. Kansas State University scientists participating in the research say air quality and safety is of utmost importance in a tightly enclosed area, such as an airplane cabin. Potential threats include accidental contamination, as with pandemic influenza, and deliberate contamination with biological agents, such as anthrax, during a terrorist attack. Also taking part in the research are scientists from Auburn, Purdue, Harvard and Boise State universities; the University of California-Berkeley; and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Kansas State engineering Professor Byron Jones said the center's mission is to address air issues to ensure air travel is healthy, and, at the same time, keeping it economical. In addition, the center is examining safety during deliberate attempts to contaminate the air in-flight.” (Daily India, 15Aug06, United Press International)
http://www.dailyindia.com
/show/51599.php/Scientists-look-at-airplane-air-quality

What's wrong in the fight against anthrax?

“Almost five years after a deadly series of mailed anthrax attacks prompted warnings that a new anthrax vaccine was ‘urgently needed,’ the nation's nearly $1 billion effort to develop the drug at a Bay Area company, VaxGen, is in trouble. The company is about a year behind schedule on its latest contract, the first and biggest under the federal anti-terror program Project BioShield. And the delay could grow by at least another year because of a dispute with the government over how the vaccine should be tested. Although federal officials consider VaxGen's vaccine promising, critics have questioned why the small Brisbane company won the contract. It has no commercial products, flopped at making an AIDS vaccine and has been delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market since 2004 because of its fouled-up financial records. Yet the government had little choice, because major vaccine manufacturers declined to bid. VaxGen blames much of the criticism it has received on a campaign orchestrated by its business competitor, and it claims it is making progress on the drug. But if it can't deliver the vaccine to federal specifications, the country will have to rely on the existing vaccine -- one that some soldiers have refused to take because of its side effects, and that needs improvement, according to health experts. Some people also fear VaxGen's contract flap could discourage the biotech industry -- already wary of doing government business -- from participating in future anti-terror efforts.” (Herald Today, 15Aug06, Steve Johnson, Mercury News) http://www.bradenton.com
/mld/bradenton/business/industries/15279387.htm

An alternative vaccine to combat Anthrax

“A vaccine researcher at the Saint Louis University published his findings on a better substitute to the currently available anthrax vaccine, this month. According to peer-reviewed research published in Vaccine this new vaccine could elicit the kind of immune response doctors were looking for. In its first human testing, the vaccine was given to 100 volunteers at four sites around the United States, said Geoffrey Gorse, M.D., a Saint Louis University researcher who was the main author of the paper. ‘This type of research, five years after 9/11, continues to be very important to pursue,’ Gorse said. ‘We need a better vaccine to help protect people from anthrax infection, whether the vaccine is given before or soon after exposure to anthrax spores.’ Gorse said the study was able to answer some important questions about this candidate vaccine. "We were able to demonstrate in this study that the investigational anthrax vaccine produced an immune response that justifies further testing in larger studies," he said. ‘We'll be using this data to help design strategies for testing of this vaccine in the future.’ Gorse indicated that the investigational vaccine, made by VaxGen Inc., demonstrated a clear relationship between the amount of vaccine administered and the subsequent immune response.” (MedIndia, 15Aug06)
http://www.medindia.net
/news/view_news_main.asp?x=13357
Man dies from 'rare anthrax bug'

“The man, named locally as Christopher "Pascal" Norris, died in July and later tests showed the acute infectious disease was the most likely cause. NHS Borders said his home at Black Lodge in Stobs, near Hawick in the Scottish Borders, had been cordoned off and an incident control team set up. The victim made drums with materials such as untreated animal hides. Mr Norris, an artist, died on 8 July in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. After a series of tests at laboratories in England, experts identified anthrax as the most likely cause for septicaemia.” (BBC News, 16Aug06, Associated Press)
http://news.bbc.co.uk
/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/4797513.stm

Canada To Help Fund Russian Chemical Weapons Destruction

“Canada has pledged millions to help fund the destruction of Russia's chemical weapons arsenal, the international body charged with overseeing the process announced Wednesday. The 100 million Canadian dollars ($88.8 million) will be spent on two special weapons destruction facilities in Russia, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a statement. Canada joins other international donors including the U.K. in helping fund a new plant being built in Kizner, 1,000 kilometers east of Moscow, where 2 million artillery shells and munitions loaded with 5,700 tons of nerve agent are to be destroyed. Some of Canada's latest donation also will go to another plant in the Urals. Canada already has spent more than C$100 million on the Shchuch'ye plant in the Urals.” (Easy Bourse, 16Aug06, Associated Press)
http://www.easybourse
.com/Website/dynamic/News.php?NewsID=42769&lang=fra&NewsRubrique=2

Warning of chemical attack in the Capital

“Warned of a possible chemical attack in the Capital, major hospitals in the city including Safdurjung, LNJP and Ram Manohar Lohia have been equipped with specially designed enclosures to disinfect and start specific first-line treatment of victims. Orders to prepare for a possible chemical attack were issued over the weekend after top health officials met heads of various hospitals in the Capital. Accordingly to a health official, meetings are being organised every day to chalk out, update and review the action plan in case of a medical emergency. While this is the first time that medical establishments have been specifically told to prepare for an attack of this nature, training to deal with this began over two years ago with medical personnel being trained to combat nuclear biological and chemical warfare.” (The Hindu, 15Aug06, Bindu Shajan Perappadan)
http://www.hindu.com
/2006/08/15/stories/2006081518010300.htm

Britain's Muslim Clerics Command Secret Militias

“Now that radical imam Abu Hamza is a convicted felon and probably will be extradited and face terror charges in the United States, clerics from other mosques are finally coming forward to tell the world how Hamza sent teams of young supporters -- his own private militia -- in Britain with orders to takeover other mosques. Several clerics told stories of being threatened by gangs claiming to be members of Abu Hamza’s Supporters of Sharia group. Some of the clerics were beaten inside their own mosques, and worshippers were bullied into finding new places to pray -- and the police refused to intervene, they claim. One police official, under condition of anonymity, said that law enforcement executives in Britain were overly cautious about their interaction with Muslim leaders and their mosques. He claims that several radical Islamic clerics possess their own private militias -- fully armed and operating in total secrecy. Police came underfire when they swarmed one mosque with search warrants in hand. To their credit they uncovered a cache of weapons, forged identity documents and recipes for chemical weapons such as the highly dangerous Ricin; all of it hidden in the mosque. The stash of equipment included chemical warfare protection suits, or NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) suits, as they are technically known. British detectives believe the equipment and weapons were being used in terror training camps located somewhere within the United Kingdom.” (American Chronicle, 16Aug06, Jim Kouri)
http://www.americanchronicle.com
/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=12503

Barratt receives poison-package threat

“Barratt employees in England and Scotland have received packages claiming to contain the deadly toxin ricin. The threatening packages, which have sparked a major police investigation, are understood to be the work of an objector to a Barratt Homes development on a brownfield site in the Midlands. One of the letters, sent to a Barratt office in Northampton, included the message ‘Death to All Barratt Employees’ and a claim that the package contained the deadly poison. So far, the posion-pen letters have been sent to 10 different Barratt offices and there are fears that more such packages will be sent to all the company’s UK divisional headquarters. A Barratt spokesman confirmed: ‘We have received letters containing white powder at a small number of offices. ‘The powder is entirely harmless and the matter is now in the hands of the police.’” (Contract Journal, 16Aug06, Brian Warner) http://www.contractjournal.com
/Articles/2006/08/16/51884/Barratt+receives+poison-package+threat.html

VIASPACE Subsidiary Captures Navy Contract for Miniature Chemical Sensor System

“VIASPACE Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VSPC - News), a company that works to transform proven space and defense technologies from NASA and the Department of Defense into hardware and software solutions, announced today that its subsidiary, Ionfinity LLC, has been awarded a Phase I STTR contract by the U.S. Navy to develop a novel, miniaturized chemical sensor system capable of detecting chemical and biological weapons, explosives, and illegal drug residues in the holds and storage bays of suspect vessels. The goal is to develop a miniature field-qualified, battery-operated, non-contact chemical sensor system to detect these dangerous and illegal substances at low concentration levels within 10 seconds. The Navy contract will be pursued jointly with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), managed by Caltech, and Imaginative Technologies, LLC (IT). The proposed sensor system is based on IT's Differential Mobility Spectrometer and Ionfinity's patented Soft Ionization Membrane.” (Yahoo Finance, 15Aug06, VIASPACE Inc.)
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews
/060815/latu041.html?.v=66