Why Biological Warfare Is A Real Fear In The Mideast

Scent Of ‘Germ’ Warfare Raises Fear In he Mideast -- Washington Times

Iran, Syria and North Korea step up work on biological weapons

The sectarian war in Syria reportedly has claimed more than 60,000 lives and spawned concerns in the Middle East and the West about access to chemical weapons by non-state actors such as al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles are of immediate concern to Israel, Jordan and the United States, whether in Syrian President Bashar Assad’s hands or those of terrorist organizations. Yet the locations of chemical weapons munitions and Scud missiles equipped with chemical warheads in Syria have been identified and are continually monitored. That is not the case with the arguably more dangerous biological weapons being developed by the nexus of Iran, Syria and North Korea.

Read more ....

My Comment: A part of me likes to believe that this story is just speculation and based on rumor. But I grew up in the former Soviet Union and I read the same stories about the Soviet Union's biological warfare programs .... I discounted them then but .... we now know that they were true.

I do not know if Iran and North Korea are operating a biological warfare division .... but we have to assume the worse .... and be prepared for the worse.

Three New Biodefense Centers In The U.S.

Photo: Texas A&M University moves to the forefront of the US biodefense effort (credit: Texas A&M University)

U.S. Launches Three Biodefense Centers -- Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today awarded contracts for the creation of three new centers tasked with responding to the threat of future pandemics and biological attacks, Nature News Blog reports.

Based in Maryland, North Carolina and Texas, the three “Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing” are the first tangible result of a review concluded by HHS in 2010.

Read more ....

My Comment: Pandemics, biological attacks .... this has all been known for a very long time. But why the rush to build the centers now?

Small Pox Fears?

'Bizarre Bits' Exhibition Took a Strange Turn When Feds Arrived -- Wall Street Journal

A 135-Year-Old Piece of Skin Launches a Smallpox Scare at a Virginia Museum.

An outbreak of smallpox was the farthest thing from Paul Levengood's mind when his staff at the Virginia Historical Society put together an exhibit of "bizarre bits" in the society's collection since its founding in 1831.

There was Confederate President Jefferson Davis's cigar, confiscated by Union troops. There was a fungus carving of Robert E. Lee on his horse Traveller and a wreath made of human hair.

Then someone mentioned a letter, handwritten and dated 1876, with what appeared to be a smallpox scab pinned inside—light brown, about the size of a pencil eraser, and crumbling.

Read more ....

Update: 135-Year-Old Piece of Skin Triggers Smallpox Scare At Virginia Museum -- FOX News

My Comment: Small Pox has been one of history's worst scourges .... stories like this one should always raise our eyebrows and make us grateful that small pox epidemics are a thing of the past. As to this story .... I doubt that small pox will ever turn to plague mankind .... but it is another wake-up call on why we should always be vigilant.

How The U.S. Army Plans To Combat Biological Attacks

Replacing the Needle for Innoculations in the Field In an effort to increase its ability to respond to biological attacks in the field, the Army wants a DNA vaccination device that blasts gene-filled gas right through the skin then delivers electric shocks to coax cells into accepting it. U.S. Army

The Army's Wants a Genetic Vaccinator that Blasts Doses of DNA Right Through the Patient's Skin -- Popular Science

Biological threats -- everything from malicious biological weapons to naturally occurring pandemics -- are tricky threats to approach. Pathogens' ability to emerge rapidly and spread even faster over large populations is particularly worrisome, as our usual method of developing medicines and vaccines takes nothing if not time -- lots and lots of time. But the army is looking for a simple procedure -- a quick pffft! of air followed by a short bzzzz! of electrical pulse -- encapsulated in a single tool that can deliver a cocktail of DNA vaccines to troops or civilians quickly, efficiently, and as painlessly as possible.

Read more ....

U.S. Announces A Strategy To Counter Biological Weapons And Threats

U.S. To Unveil Biological Threat Strategy -- Washington Post

Administration affirms Bush stance against global monitoring.

The Obama administration has decided not to support a global monitoring system for biological weapons, a move that affirms an earlier determination by the Bush administration but that will disappoint some nonproliferation experts.

The decision will be reflected in the administration's new strategy for countering biological threats, which is due out Wednesday, officials said. Its release comes amid growing concern about the number of nations -- and potentially terrorists -- developing the scientific expertise to create biological weapons.

Read more ....

More News On Countering Biological Threats And U.S. Strategy

Obama Administration Takes a New Approach to Biological Weapons -- New York Times
U.S. Announces New Strategy for Biological Weapons Convention -- Global Security Newswire
U.S. rejects biological weapons checks -- Reuters
US wants tough bioweapons ban, but no verification -- AP
US still opposed to bio-weapons checks mechanism -- AFP
Preventing Biological Weapons Proliferation and Bioterrorism -- U.S. Department of State
Unbelieveable - The Ignorance -- Armchair Generalist

Anthrax Attack Aftermath: Feds To Increase Scrutiny Of Workers At Biodefense Labs

A hazardous material worker sprays his colleagues after searching for anthrax at Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. (Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

From Popular Mechanics:

In an effort to safeguard labs working with dangerous biological materials, the U.S. government is looking at ways to ensure that the workers themselves do not pose a threat. In early April the advisory board tasked with boosting security measures will hold a meeting at a hotel near an Army base to solicit opinions from experts on the effect these steps might have on research into treating and preventing deadly infectious diseases.

The risk posed by an "inside man" with access to deadly diseases has been at the forefront of the scientific research community since the FBI traced the anthrax attacks of 2001 to Bruce Ivins, a researcher at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick in Maryland; he killed himself in 2008, before being charged.

Read more ....

My Comment: I am very skeptical that this will work. There are too many in the industry .... both in the public and private industries.