Awarded to the Medical College of Wisconsin The new integrated device the researchers are developing may allow cost effective, point-of-care diagnosis of these agents within one to two hours, according to principal investigator Kelly Henrickson, M.D., professor of pediatrics and microbiology at the Medical College. Dr. Henrickson is also a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.
Dr. Henrickson previously developed the Hexaplex diagnostic test, using specialized reagents and genetic data for rapid, accurate simultaneous detection of the seven most common lower respiratory viruses, including several varieties of influenza. This technology is the basis for an array of products for physicians worldwide to rapidly detect the microbes responsible for a variety of illnesses such as aseptic meningitis, chicken pox, chronic cough syndrome, encephalitis, herpes, influenza, pneumonia, SARS, shingles, and West Nile virus.
"Our laboratory has pioneered a flexible, rapid, sensitive and specific method of simultaneously detecting multiple pathogens," says Dr. Henrickson. "We have recently developed two BioTplex assays that detect many (15) category 'A' bioterrorism agents. However, new amplified DNA detection and nucleic acid purification methods beyond those used in the Hexaplex diagnostic test allow for the development of a single 'point-of-care' device that may enhance the speed, flexibility, throughput, and cost effectiveness of multiplex assays."
Infectious agents identified to pose the greatest potential threat (Category "A" agents) include Variola major (smallpox), Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), Yersinia pestis (plague), Clostridium botulinum toxin (botulism), Francisella tularensis (tularaemia), and a group of RNA viruses that cause hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs).
Another agent of grave concern is avian flu. Additional concern exists over bird-to-human spread of avian flu and the potential adaptation for human-to-human spread. Terrorists could take advantage of avian flu's flexibility and engineer more virulent strains, capable of causing worldwide pandemics. Current diagnostic assays are directed to the common human isolates of influenza A, but no assay is available to detect all of the avian varieties of influenza A, according to Dr. Henrickson.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-01/mcow-ngt011807.php
Al-Qaida-linked insurgents in Iraq claimed responsibility on Thursday for ambushing a three-vehicle convoy in western Baghdad on Wednesday during which three foreigners and an Iraqi were killed.
The insurgents posted a statement on a website regularly used by Al-Qaida in Iraq, saying that in an attack with light and medium weapons and RPG rockets in the Yarmouk area in Baghdad on Jan. 17 ... two vehicles belonging to Israel's Mossad were destroyed and a third one severely damaged.
The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.
Excerpted
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-01/19/content_5624610.htm
Bush renews freeze on bin Laden assets
1/18/07
President George W. Bush renewed for one year an asset freeze on terrorist chief Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda network as well as groups like Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.
Excerpted
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070119/pl_afp/usattacksbushfunds
Fighting in Jolo Kills 13; Arroyo Vows to Wipe Out Terror (Philippines)
ZAMBOANGA CITY, 19 January 2007 — At least 13 Abu Sayyaf militants and soldiers were killed in fierce fighting that erupted yesterday in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, where security forces were battling the Al-Qaeda-linked terror group, officials said.
Officials said two Abu Sayyaf gunmen were also captured by soldiers in the hinterland village of Timpook in Patikul town, where a gunbattle broke out shortly before noon.
“Troops killed at least 10 enemies and captured two others, but three of our soldiers also died in the fighting in Patikul town. The fighting is still raging in the area,” army Maj. Eugene Batara, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, told Arab News.
Excerpted
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=91114&d=19&m=1&y=2007