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WASHINGTON, DC— Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) issued the following statement regarding the threat of bioterrorism: "The President singled out bioterrorism as a top priority for homeland security immediately after September 11th. He has increased spending on research and preparedness for bioterrorism by more than $4.8 billion since taking office and has provided an additional $4.5 billion to states, local governments and hospitals to assist them in preparing for possible bioterror attacks. "John Kerry’s political attacks on the President and failure to acknowledge these historic gains are just another example of Kerry playing politics with national security. After voting six times...

This is the second time this week that John Kerry has embraced policies that were initiated by President Bush to fight and win the War on Terror. John Kerry's speech was more me-tooism and ignored the reality that funding for biodefense has increased 1,600 percent since President Bush took office." -Steve Schmidt, Bush-Cheney '04 Spokesman President Bush's Historic Funding Increases For BiodefensePresident Bush Has Increased The Federal Bioterrorism Budget By More Than 1,600 Percent, From $294 Million In FY 2001 To $5.2 Billion In FY 2004. He has expanded bioterror research by an even greater margin, from $53 million...

Bioterrorism threat said real Oct 17, 2002 12:00 PM, Harry Cline There are 7,000 unaccounted for former Soviet Union biological warfare scientists and technicians in the world today. Before 9/11/01, that fact would be filed away under "So what...just left over Cold War paranoia." Now, though, that fact is cause for considerable concern to Americans, and a panel of experts on bioterrorism and radical environmental groups speaking at the recent California Plant Health Association and CropLife America joint annual convention in Palm Desert, Calif., only served to heighten that concern when they addressed biological warfare issues facing America today. According...

<p>Canberra, , May. 1 (UPI) -- Australia is planning for the possibility of terrorists infecting themselves with deadly germs and then spreading the disease through the population.</p> <p>This new concept of suicide bioterrorism will be discussed during a closed-door Monday workshop in Canberra by the director of terrorism studies at the Australian National University, Clive Williams, the Australian reported Saturday.</p>

  Government Leaders Detail Biodefense Plan, Initiatives By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USAAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 29, 2004 -- The government's new plan to counter a bioterrorism attack on the United States was announced at an April 28 news conference here. The announcement came as part of President Bush's directive to integrate anti- bioterrorism efforts across all government agencies. "We've done a good job so far, but you haven't seen anything yet," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, after he gave reporters a tour of the department's new mobile command center. Thompson, who...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President George W. Bush, who has made national security the centrepiece of his campaign for re-election, has signed an order to help protect America from hostile states or terrorists who might attack with biological agents. "Biological weapons attacks could cause catastrophic harm," an unclassified version of the directive says. "They could inflict widespread injury and result in massive casualties and economic disruption." The directive, which Bush approved last week, was jointly announced Wednesday by the departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and Defence. The actual directive, which is classified, works to co-ordinate what the government...

ROGUE scientists who use their knowledge to create deadly biological agents are a danger to small, densely populated countries such as Singapore. Issuing this warning last night, Dr Tony Tan, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Security and Defence, called on the international community to guard against this threat. His remarks on people who might try to exploit biotechnology for 'malicious ends' came amid recent government warnings for Singaporeans to be vigilant as terrorists could strike using any means ranging from bombs on MRT trains to attacks at sea. 'The risk of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) falling into...

BOSTON - Nearly 150 scientists and scholars asked city officials Tuesday to block the building of a bioterrorism lab in the heart of the city, saying it could pose "catastrophic risks" to the community. The scientists, along with neighborhood and environmental groups, sent a letter to Mayor Thomas Menino and city councilors asking them to reject Boston University's plan to do research on deadly agents in Boston's South End. "There are real and potentially catastrophic risks to the health and safety of people in the local and surrounding communities," the letter said. Menino spokesman Seth Gitell said the mayor supports...

BERLIN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - It was one of the world's most deadly plagues, and some fear it might again be unleashed on mankind if bio-terrorists could get their hands on the virus. A quarter of a century after the last known case of smallpox, scientists at a heavily-guarded installation called Vector, deep in Siberia, are still conducting research on 120 strains of the virus. Responsibility for safeguarding the stockpiles lies with men like Sergei Netesov, Vector's deputy general director. "We feel it, very heavily," the soft-spoken, bespectacled Russian scientist told Reuters in an interview at a security conference in...

The prospect of a terrorist, self-infected with a deadly disease at a stage before it shows its symptoms, boarding an aeroplane to infect tens or hundreds of other passengers is what risk experts call a "low likelihood, high impact" threat. Despite sounding as unlikely as the plot of a trashy novel, the threat was considered real enough on Saturday for the American government to refuse security clearances for six flights to America. It is deemed "low likelihood" because of the difficulty terrorists would face in obtaining or manufacturing a viable biological agent, yet "high impact" because of the ease with...

The anthrax attacks in the United States in the autumn of 2001 were a reminder that bioterrorism is no longer science fiction. These incidents, and the rapidly expanding global biotechnology industry, have redefined bioterrorism as a credible threat to security. However, the world has been slow to wake up to the new challenge. The U.S. policy to mitigate the biological weapons threat encompasses a number of initiatives, among them the national implementation of biosecurity - that is, security systems and practices to protect dangerous biological materials in legitimate research facilities from theft and sabotage. By mitigating the biological weapons threat...

'Super-TB' created by scientists TB is a major world killer A virulent form of tuberculosis was created in the laboratory by experts trying to alter its genetic structure. The mutant form of the bug multiplied more quickly, and was more lethal than its natural counterpart. Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, US, had actually been trying to disable genes and make the bacterium less deadly. "This is one of the very few hyper-virulent organisms ever created," said scientist Dr Lisa Morici. Tuberculosis is one of the world's biggest killers, and scientists are probing its genetic structure in a...

TORONTO (CP) - Thank God it was only a simulation. A multi-country bioterrorism exercise held earlier this year highlighted critical weaknesses in intergovernmental communications capabilities and national response capacities, a report on a mock smallpox attack reveals. The sheer volume of e-mail traffic generated during Exercise Global Mercury caused a crucial Canadian server to crash, putting it out of commission for four hours. Teams from France and Mexico ran smack up against a language barrier. And despite repeated efforts, no one was able to mount a single all-party conference call in which all players could communicate. "Information overload was a...

The moment the meek and disheveled image of the Iraqi tyrant appeared on TV screens around the world, an old friend of mine announced that he got the message and said he would disclose his weapons of mass destruction. As chief of Romanian foreign intelligence, I worked closely with Libya's Muammar Khaddafi before I became, in 1978, the highest-ranking spy from the Soviet bloc to defect to America. I was Khaddafi's handler as he was gearing up these same weapons programs. Moscow had decided in 1972 to use three leftist Arab governments — Libya, Iraq, and Syria — plus Arafat's...

London, Dec 28. (PTI): Libyan leader Maommar Gadhafi, who recently abandoned his country's weapons of mass destruction programme, had armed al-Qaeda terror network with germ bombs, a report claimed today. Libyan intelligence chief Musa Kusa told British secret service agency Mi5 that tens of thousands of weapons had been produced at 10 secret sites in the country, the Sunday Express said. Kusa has named 500 al-Qaeda terrorists in Britain and the information he gave is being checked, it said. Libya was closer than Syria, Iran and Iraq to producing a nuclear bomb but last week Gadhafi surrendered his weapons of...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Homeland Security officials have enhanced their ability to monitor the air for biological warfare agents in 30 cities, one of several ways the government is preparing for possible terrorist strikes during a high, Code Orange alert.The alert also has activated special disaster response teams, while federal officials have been conferring with foreign governments to prevent terrorists from boarding international flights bound for the United States."People have their antennas up," said Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department.President Bush kept abreast of terrorism threats from the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland as he celebrated Christmas...

<p>The largest threat to national security is too small to see -- the microbes and viruses of bioterrorism. Biological agents are almost an ideal weapon for terrorists because of the relative ease with which they can be made and dispersed. It is little wonder that al Qaeda operatives have tried to acquire them. It is probably just a matter of time before they do.</p>

Thomas Butler was a sought-after plague expert, with a clinical trial in Tanzania that promised important results for biodefense. Then he was charged with mishandling plague samples and lying to the FBI. This month, a jury convicted him of financial wrongdoing. Who is Thomas Butler, and what lessons do his trials hold? Sitting on an airplane preparing to take off from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, American microbiologist Thomas Butler had some time to reflect on his rising fortunes. Stowed in the plane's belly was a footlocker containing carefully packed specimens from more than 60 Tanzanian bubonic plague victims. His journal...

Hundreds of doctors, nurses and back-up staff are being identified and trained to run emergency nursing and vaccination centres in the event of a smallpox terror alert. Many of them would have to be ready to work in special isolation units next to big hospitals within 24 hours of a small pox case being confirmed anywhere in the world. Schools, church halls and polling stations are among buildings likely to be earmarked for vaccination programmes, while hotels and university residences could be commandeered to house close contacts of smallpox victims who refuse vaccination or cannot be immunised because it might...

OTTAWA (CP) - Fear of a terrorist attack involving anthrax-laced cargo has prompted the federal government to explore the purchase of custom-tailored biological agent detectors. The contraband detection section of Canada's customs agency has invited companies to pitch products capable of screening containers and other shipments for toxic biological substances. A notice posted by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency says the portable equipment would preferably weigh less than 28 kilograms, work in extreme temperatures and be able to quickly extract air samples from containers, packages and vehicle trunks. The aim of the $10,000 pilot project is to evaluate various...