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Calif. Woman Positive for West Nile Fri Sep 6, 7:09 PM ET By ANDREW BRIDGES, AP Science Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) - A California woman has tested positive for the West Nile virus ( news - web sites) in what could be the first human case contracted in the western United States, health officials said Friday in announcing preliminary test results. AP Photo Conclusive results won't be known for another week. However, Los Angeles County health officials were calling it a "probable case of locally acquired West Nile virus infection." The case suggests that the virus may have completed its...

Evidence Indicates Al Qaeda Had Russian Help Developing Anthrax; Al-Zawahiri Believed Involved in Bin Laden's Biological Weapons Program NEW YORK, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- A U.S.-based cell of the Al Qaeda terror network nearly launched an attack on a major target in Washington, D.C. after September 11, Newsweek has learned. Intelligence sources say a Qaeda "sleeper cell" in the U.S. was poised to launch the attack -- perhaps against the Capitol Building. The sources believe that the FBI, in its sweep against visa violators and other illegals of Mideast backgrounds, picked up members of a "support cell" tasked with providing ...

Not long ago, bioterrorism wasn't on the minds of most Americans. But one year ago -- after terrorists turned commercial airliners into weapons of mass destruction and others subsequently launched an anthrax attack through the U.S. mail -- we all became acutely aware of the potential for all kinds of terrorism on American soil. As a U.S. senator -- as well as a doctor, a specialist in infectious diseases, and a member of the Senate's subcommittee on public health -- I spent a lot of time after those horrifying events talking to frightened Americans about how to best prepare for...

CASTRO´S HELP ON THE WEST NILE VIRUS EPIDEMIC? Por Ernesto F. Betancourt 8/25/02 On August 23, 2002, the mouthpiece of the Castro regime, GRANMA, carried a strange official announcement about the West Nile virus. The government was informing Cuban citizens about an epidemic that has not affected Cuba, but the United States. After revealing substantial familiarity with transmission of the virus by the culex mosquito and the impact of migratory birds on its dissemination, it makes the following offer to US public health authorities: The Cuban government is willing to cooperate to its fullest capacity with public health authorities in...

Thursday November 01 02:13 PM EST Spores, Additives Raise Iraq Questions By ABCNEWS.com Suspicion of an Iraqi link to anthrax attacks in the United States grows.   Former U.N. weapons inspectors tell ABCNEWS they've learned the anthrax spores found in a poison letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle are nearly identical to those discovered in Iraq in 1994. ABCNEWS has learned that at least two European chemical companies make aluminum-free bentonite, meaning further tests are needed to rule out the presence of the troubling additive in an anthrax-laced letter that was mailed to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Though ...

<p>October 22, 2001 -- A cunning woman scientist who heads Saddam Hussein's bio-terrorism team may be the mastermind behind the world's anthrax scare, a leading American germ warfare expert says.</p> <p>Rihab Taha, 45, is so notorious that United Nations weapons inspectors have nicknamed her "Dr. Germ" for deadly experiments she conducted.</p>

Norway probes four refugees suspected of al-Qaeda links Monday, 26-Aug-2002 4:40AM      Story from AFP Copyright 2002 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) </CLARI-ITEM HEADER>OSLO, Aug 26 (AFP) - Norway's intelligence agency PST has launched a probe into four refugees suspected of having links to the al-Qaeda network, Norwegian daily Verdens Gang reported Monday.One of the four being investigated at the request of British and US intelligence agencies is Mullah Krekar, a Kurd presumed to be the leader of the suspected bio-warfare group Ansar al-Islam, which is linked to al-Qaeda.The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration confirmed last week that Krekar has had...

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba offered on Friday to help the United States contain an outbreak of West Nile virus because it says the disease could spread to the Caribbean and Central America when infected birds begin migrating south in the autumn. "The government of Cuba is prepared to cooperate in any way it can with the authorities of the United States and other countries in research and efforts to counter this new danger to the health of the population of this hemisphere," the Cuban government said in a statement. Cuba has made major advances in tropical medicine and recently controlled...

The latest news, as reported by UPI and carried in the NewsMax.com wires, has not underestimated the seriousness of the infection caused by the West Nile virus. Indeed, in Louisiana, which has already reported five deaths so far, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who doubles as the head of the state's tourism agency, announced on Aug. 6 that cans of insect repellent will be made available free of charge at visitor centers located near the state's borders. And yet, so far only NewsMax.com, the Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the appendices in my book "Cuba in...

EXCERPTS BELOW: WASHINGTON — Should Americans be allowed to make an informed choice to receive the smallpox vaccine? I believe they should and that individual choice should become the central component of a new national policy aimed at protecting us from the possible use of smallpox as a weapon of mass destruction by terrorists. ..... I believe the threat of a smallpox attack outweighs the risks of providing smallpox vaccinations to a well-informed public. Along with the phased-in vaccination of military personnel and first responders, every American should be given this option. Such a policy is a sensible public health...

10,000 may be infected West Nile virus infects many, but few fall ill By MIKE DUNNE mdunne@theadvocate.com Advocate staff writer While there are 58 known cases of mosquito-borne West Nile virus in Louisiana, one state health official estimated 10,000 to 12,000 other people have been infected, felt no symptoms and are now immune to the disease. West Nile virus has claimed four lives, two in East Baton Rouge Parish. Twelve of the 58 cases are from East Baton Rouge Parish. On Tuesday, Dr. Louis Cataldie, the parish's coroner, confirmed the disease caused the death of an 83-year-old woman, and now...

There is every reason to believe that Fidel Castro is manufacturing and exporting deadly biological weapons, and the U.S. should take advantage of Castro's offer made to President Carter to allow full inspection of Cuba's key biotech facilities, says a former State Department official who once headed the Department's Cuban Affairs section. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Dennis Hays, a former U.S. ambassador to Suriname, says, "We need to know if a nation 90 miles from our shores is experimenting with deadly biological agents." Hays spelled out the reasons for believing that Cuba is involved in biological warfare research...

Downright UnpatrioticBy James O. Page, Publisher Emeritus, FireRescue magazineWe’ve been talking and writing about weapons of mass destruction (WMD) for a long time. In the early 1960s, my fire company was sent to a four-day course on how to detect radioactivity with Geiger counters. At the time, we thought the Soviets were going to nuke us. We sat through four days of training that could have been taught in a day, and we still didn’t know what to do if we found dangerous levels of radiation.Forty years later, first responders are on the front lines again in a war against...

<p>ITHACA -- The arrest Sunday of a former Cornell University researcher accused of stealing biological materials will spark soul-searching on campus about whether to tighten research security, Cornell officials say.</p> <p>"Any time you have a violation of a clear policy ... it causes people to look again and see if what had been done made sense," said Henrik Dullea, vice president for university relations. "And that's going to occur here, also."</p>

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A Cornell University researcher traveling to China was detained by the FBI at Syracuse's Hancock International Airport after a suspicious substance was found in the family's luggage. Seven people, including a 4-year-old girl, were treated at University Hospital after coming into contact with the unknown substance. The girl was held overnight for observation and was expected to be released Monday, said hospital spokeswoman Doretta Royer. Doctors said none of the group displayed any symptoms and they were treated as a precaution, Royer said. "At this point, we don't know what it is," Royer said. "It's an unidentified...

Palestinians produced chemical and biological weapons to target Israeli population centers as well as national water reservoirs, a senior source" told the Ynet Hebrew news website. According to the source, Israeli troops discovered chemical and biological weapons during Operation Defensive Shield. The weapons were formulated from materials - including potash and cyanide - purchased within Israel.

TEL AVIV [MENL] -- The Palestinian Authority is said to have discussed projects for research and development of weapons of mass destruction. Israeli intelligence officers said PA documents captured by Israel's military contains interest in developing biological and chemical weapons. The officers said that no such program was actually launched. "We see at this stage an interest [to develop WMD]," Col. Miri Eisen, an intelligence officer, said. "We have to distinguish between biological and chemical and nuclear weapons. We're not talking about nuclear weapons. We see the interest in research and development in chemical and biological weapons." Over the last...

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Saudi Arabia is said to be seeking weapons of mass destruction. U.S. officials said Riyad has been seeking intermediate-range missiles as well as biological, chemical and nuclear weapons from Islamic allies. They said China and Pakistan have been the most prominent suppliers in the Saudi effort. The Saudi effort was reported in a recent hearing by a House subcommittee. Rep. Benjamin Gilman, chairman of the House Middle East and South Asia subcommittee said Riyad has attempted to obtain WMD from China. Gilman suggested that the effort is continuing. "In the past, it has attempted to procure weapons...

U.S. CONCERNED OVER SYRIAN SEARCH FOR NUKES WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has reiterated concern over what it terms Syria's search for nuclear weapons. U.S. officials said the regime of President Bashar Assad continues to negotiate with former East Bloc states and North Korea for nuclear expertise and components. They said Assad wants to build a nuclear infrastructure in a strategy similar to its ally Iran. "We remain concerned about Syria's intentions regarding nuclear weapons," CIA strategic and nuclear programs officer Robert Walpole said. So far, Walpole told a Senate subcommittee hearing earlier this month, Syria has succeeded in...

Feds Prepare for Smallpox Quarantine Federal Officials Ready Plan for Quarantine in Case of Smallpox The Associated Press A T L A N T A, July 8 — Federal health officials are quietly making plans for quarantining Americans who might be exposed to a highly contagious smallpox patient, addressing sensitive questions of how to hold people, possibly against their will, in case of a bioterror attack. The planning, still in draft form, addresses complex logistical and policy questions, including where people would be kept while waiting for officials to confirm a smallpox case and, if necessary, administer vaccinations."It's not pretty...