BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS UPDATE
27 July 2006
In this issue:
Previous editions of Biological Weapons Update are available
at: http://www.basicint.org/update/bwu.htm.
International bioterrorism convention
The
Americas Regional Workshop on Preventing Bioterrorism workshop,
sponsored by Interpol with participants from 26 countries,
was held July 10-12 in Santiago, Chile. It discussed the importance
of inter-agency cooperation at the regional, national and
international levels in stopping terrorists from carrying
out a biological attack. The meeting also marked the launch
of the Interpol
Bioterrorism Incident Preparedness and Response Guide.
Laboratories news
Cox News Service
reported July 3 that Texas might be well positioned to
land a $450 million Department of Homeland Security laboratory
to combat threats to people and the food supply from a biological
attack. Homeland Security officials are considering four Texas
proposals, three from San Antonio and one from Texas A&M
University. Scientists from across the country submitted 29
proposals to build the laboratory. Homeland Security officials
are expected to pare the list to perhaps half a dozen in September
and choose a site in 2008.
On June 30 the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector
General issued a final report on its review
of 15 universities' compliance with select agent regulations
for the period November 2003 to November 2004. The report
found that each of the 15 universities had appointed a Responsible
Official to provide management oversight of its select agent
program. However, at 11 of the 15 universities, certain other
controls did not comply with Federal regulations. The 11 universities
had weaknesses in at least one control area that could have
compromised the ability to safeguard select agents from accidental
or intentional loss.
Smallpox research
Purdue University scientists published in the July issue
of the Journal of Virology
their discovery that smallpox-related illnesses progress by
latching on to a protein in the nucleus of a target or host
cell. That protein, called TATA-binding protein, hits a trigger
within the smallpox virus, allowing the virus to move to the
second and third stages of development. This allows the smallpox
virus to gain control of the host cell, spreading the disease
throughout the body.
Bird Flu vaccine breakthrough
GlaxoSmithKline Plc announced on 26 July
that it had developed a bird flu vaccine for humans that uses
only a very low dose of active ingredient. GSK said it was
ready to start manufacturing by the end of 2006 and could
make hundreds of millions of doses next year, assuming the
product is approved by regulators. It is also in talks with
major donors to make the drug available cheaply available
in poorer countries.
Proposals to strengthen the BTWC
The July/August issue of Arms Control Today featured
an article on how
to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention by building
confidence building measures through greater transparency,
and analysis of members' states' data submissions by the United
Nations, and underlining the need for universal participation.
Publications
Fourth Report of the United Kingdom House of Commons Foreign
Affairs Committee on "Foreign Policy Aspects of the War Against
Terrorism". Click
here for the section on the Biological and Toxin Weapons
Convention. June 21, 2006
By Chas.Pfizer and Co., Inc., under contract to the Army's
Chemical Research and Development Laboratories, Pfizer's Chemical/Biological
Weapons Report. "Research on New Chemical
Incapacitating Agents. Part 1," 30 June 1964.
Engineering Bio-Terror
Agents: Lessons from the Offensive U.S. and Soviet Biological
Weapons Programs," House Committee on Homeland Security,
July 13, 2005.
Julian Palmore, A clear and present
danger to international security: Highly Pathogenic Avian
Influenza, Defense and Security Analysis, Volume
22 Number 2, June 2006.
Jocelyn Kaiser, "BioShield Is
Slow to Build U.S. Defenses Against Bioweapons," Science,
Vol. 313. No. 5783, July 7, 2006.
Strategic Study on Bioterrorism,
June 2006.
Bruce A. Knutson, Xu Liu, Jaewook Oh, and Steven S. Broyles,
"
Vaccinia Virus Intermediate and Late Promoter Elements Are
Targeted by the TATA-Binding Protein," Journal of Virology,
July 2006, p. 6784-6793, Vol. 80, No. 14.
Identification, Characterization,
and Attribution of Biological Weapons Use, Remarks of
Paula A. DeSutter, Assistant Secretary for Verification, Compliance,
and Implementation, U.S. Department of State, at the Kings
College London Centre for Science and Security Studies, July
12, 2006. Colonel Frank William Sherod II,
Avian Influenza Pandemic May Expand The Military Role In Disaster
Relief, U.S. Army War College, March 15, 2006.
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