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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: bioterrorism

bioterrorism stories: 13 news summaries

(Newser) - US counterterrorism officials are worried that al-Qaeda may mount a biological attack from Mexico and could even seek to collaborate with domestic terrorists, the Washington Times reports. The fears are bolstered by a February video from Kuwait al-Qaeda recruiter Abdullah al-Nafisi. In the video, Nafisi boasted that anthrax “... More »

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Mexico • Hezbollah • homeland security • Mexican border • anthrax • al-Qaeda • terrorist attack • bioterrorism • Abdullah al-Nafisi

(Newser) - The H1N1 flu outbreak spotlights a public-health infrastructure ill suited to respond to a pandemic or its close cousin, a bioterror attack, D.A. Henderson writes for Newsweek. We must “sharpen our health-care response. Rapid diagnosis and response are critical,” he writes. The “interconnected world we... More »

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public health • epidemic • epidemiology • panic • anthrax • pandemic • bioterrorism • swine flu • scare

opinion

An Insect Bioterror Strike?
Sounds Overblown


Jan 5, 09 8:49 PM CST
(Newser) - Sure, bug swarms can spread nasty things, but using them to unleash bioterror isn't as easy as they say, Robert Roy Britt writes in LiveScience. One expert said in the Telegraph today that dispersing insects as weapons is "relatively easy"—but consider that terrorists would have to team... More »

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chemical weapons • terrorist • insects • bioterrorism

Terrorists Up to Dangerous New Tricks Next 5 Years: US

Report predicts increase in homegrown terrorists, growing danger of biological attack

Dec 26, 08 2:23 AM CST
(Newser) - The number of homegrown Islamic militants in the US is expected to increase sharply over the next 5 years, according to a Homeland Security assessment obtained by AP.  A pool of "terrorist wannabes" will be recruited online and used to carry out attacks, including sophisticated cyberattacks for which... More »

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cyberattack • Michael Chertoff • terrorist attack • bioterrorism • Homeland Security

 Obama to Fill 
 WMD Post 
 Bush Ignored 

Dem has long focused on stopping proliferation of nuclear, chemical arms

Dec 3, 08 2:24 PM CST
(Newser) - President-elect Obama will hire an official to oversee efforts to stop terrorists from gaining nuclear and biological weapons, the Boston Globe reports, a position the Bush administration approved but left unfilled. Such efforts are currently spread among many agencies, and a report predicting a deadly attack within 5 years using... More »

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Iran • Bush administration • nuclear proliferation • Joe Biden • North Korea • terrorism • Pakistan • nuclear weapons • WMD • Janet Napolitano • bioterrorism • President Obama

(AP) - The US can expect a terrorist attack using nuclear or more likely biological weapons before 2013, reports a bipartisan commission in a study being briefed tomorrow to Vice President-elect Joe Biden. It suggests the Obama administration bolster efforts to counter and prepare for germ warfare by terrorists. "Our margin... More »

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chemical warfare • WMD • biological warfare • bioterrorism

Mutant Anthrax Cells Led, Slowly, to Ivins

FBI probe required inventing new type
of forensic science

Oct 27, 08 8:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - The anthrax poisoning case against Bruce Ivins won't be made in court, but it is compelling, the FBI says. Although the late Army scientist's lawyer dismisses the case as “heaps of innuendo,” federal records reveal a far-reaching, exhaustive investigation that required newly invented technology and depended on mutant... More »

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FBI • federal investigation • forensic science • anthrax • Bruce Ivins • bioterrorism

 Senate Grills FBI 
 on Anthrax, Ivins 

Lawmakers raise doubts that suspect acted alone

Sep 17, 08 2:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - Senators cast strong doubts today on the FBI's conclusion that Bruce Ivins acted alone in the 2001 anthrax scare, reports the Washington Post, with many demanding a more public vetting of the investigation into America’s largest bioterror attack. "There are others out there who should be... More »

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investigation • FBI • Robert Mueller • Patrick Leahy • anthrax • DNA evidence • Bruce Ivins • bioterrorism

Captured MIT Grad Linked to Trove of al-Qaeda Secrets

Pakistani was carrying maps, target lists—and emails

Aug 13, 08 4:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - A suspected al-Qaeda operative arrested in Afghanistan last month could provide a treasure trove of intelligence about terrorist sleeper cells in the US and abroad, government sources tell ABC News. MIT graduate Aafia Siddiqui, 36, was captured carrying maps of New York, a list of potential targets, information on chemical... More »

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Afghanistan • terrorism • al-Qaeda • Islamic terrorism • detainees • bioterrorism • Aafia Siddiqui

Ivins Borrowed Anthrax-Drying Machine

Device was made to render spore powder from culture samples

Aug 5, 08 10:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - The government’s lead suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks, Bruce Ivins, borrowed a device from his Army bioweapons lab designed to turn germ cultures into dry powder, the Washington Post reports. The machine, known as a lyopholizer, was not commonly borrowed, and had to have been formally checked out—... More »

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anthrax • Bruce Ivins • bioterrorism

Anthrax Suspect Was Obsessed With Sorority

Link to Kappa Kappa Gamma helps explain some puzzling details

Aug 4, 08 4:05 PM CDT
(AP) - The top suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks was fixated on a sorority that has a chapter within 100 yards of the New Jersey mailbox from which the toxin-laced letters were sent, the AP reports. Federal officials say scientist Bruce Ivins had been obsessed with Kappa Kappa Gamma since his... More »

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sororities • anthrax • Bruce Ivins • bioterrorism • Fort Detrick • Kappa Kappa Gamma

 DNA Links Scientist
 to Anthrax Attacks

Anthrax traced to flask in Ivins' Maryland lab

Aug 4, 08 6:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - Investigators have DNA evidence that links biodefense expert Bruce Ivins to the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, but the case is largely circumstantial, the New York Times reports. Prosecutors have linked the anthrax used in mailings targeting news networks, newspapers, and Congress with a flask used by Ivins at his Maryland... More »

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anthrax • DNA evidence • 9/11 attacks • Bruce Ivins • bioterrorism • Fort Detrick • US Army Medical Institute of Infectious Diseases • biodefense

Is Bioresearch Making Us
Less Safe?

Scientist's suicide highlights easy access to burgeoning field

Aug 3, 08 9:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bruce Ivins was one of a handful of scientists with access to deadly agents of biowarfare—until the 2001 anthrax attacks in which he was suspected. In the wake of the researcher's suicide, the New York Times takes a look at the nation’s bioterror infrastructure—which has ballooned in... More »

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research • anthrax • Bruce Ivins • bioterrorism

13 Stories


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