Snippets: "Americans see it as a potential bioterrorism weapon that's why (the department of) Homeland Security are funding research into viruses in bats," Dr Reid said.
"There is no effective treatment or vaccine for Hendra or Nipah and the mortality rate is high. "Bats are quite accessible and in the wrong hands it can pose quite a threat. Bats are the host of both viruses, with the Nipah virus being the deadlier of the two, having killed hundreds in Malaysia, Bangladesh and India.
The virus was originally known to transfer from bats to pigs and from pigs to humans but there have also been bat to human transmissions and human to human transmissions, with a 70 to 75 per cent mortality rate.
Iraqi Supreme Court - 460 foreign companies sold chemical weapons to Saddam
To this day, people from Halabja still suffer the aftereffects of the gas attack.
Four-hundred and sixty foreign companies sold chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein's ousted Iraqi regime, yet the current Iraqi government-despite vowing to pursue those companies has filed no lawsuits in court against them, says Goran Adham, chief prosecutor in Iraq's Supreme Criminal Court.
Waiting on Administration input, lawmakers delay vote on biosecurity bill
Snippets: The Homeland Security and Government Affairs put off for at least a week the mark-up of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Prevention and Preparedness Act of 2009 to allow the Obama administration additional time to comment on the bill, said panel Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.).
Committee member Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said yesterday it would be a "mistake" to take up the bill because several agencies -- including the Homeland Security and Defense departments and the National Security Council -- had not weighed in on the proposals.
Thank you MamaDearest for the ping.
I appreciate it.
Thanks for the ping MamaD - seems all this govt does is wait and talk wait and talk while people die - military in particular.
There was a beautiful tribute to a fallen soldier in Afghanistan in our town - just about the whole town lined the streets with flags, it was an amazing thing to see. There were cranes with flags above several of the roads I was on going to Walmart. All the fire trucks were out with their lights on - sheriff, police even the electric co.