8/16/11 - Anthrax Cases Reported in NE China

Two more cutaneous anthrax infections were reported in northeast Liaoning Province, bringing the total number of people who were hospitalized for the disease to 32, health authorities said Tuesday. The two cases were found Monday in Donggang City, more than 100 km away from the city where the disease was first reported, the Liaoning Provincial Health Department said in a statement. Health experts noted that all the cases originated from the same source. As of 8 p.m. Monday, four cases have been confirmed while 28 others were still being investigated, according to the health department. An initial investigation by local health authorities showed that the patients contracted the disease after direct contact with diseased cattle.

6/15/11 - Anthrax scare: Swab Tests Found Positive

INDIA: Anthrax is fast spreading in different villages of Tumudibandh block in Kandhamal district. The outbreak was first reported in Sanaguchuka village in Gumma panchayat and 10 days later, it has spread to 10 more villages under Bilamala and Belaghar panchayats. The swab and blood tests of four persons from the affected villages were found positive on Monday. Even the blood samples and swabs sent for tests last week were found positive. The disease has so far affected 25 persons. Meanwhile, health camps have been opened in Badaguchuka and Sanaguchuka. The health officials informed that steps have been initiated to disinfect water bodies in the affected areas and the inhabitants have been asked not to consume dry meat. Condition of the affected persons who were admitted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital is stated to be stable.

6/15/11 - Scientists Shed Light on Germany's Deadly Pathogen

As the devastating outbreak of E. coli began unfolding in Germany, there was an urgent need to learn more about the unusual pathogen that was making hundreds of people sick. So data from the genome sequencing of the rare E. coli serotype O104 were instantly released via the Internet to researchers around the world, and a flurry of information swapping followed.

6/13/11 - Water Decontamination Test Delayed at Japanese Nuclear Plant

Toyko Electric Power said it intends on Tuesday to start vetting a critical new water decontamination mechanism at its Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, days after the trial was originally slated to begin, Kyodo News reported. The company has battled to prevent radioactive contaminants from escaping the six-reactor Fukushima facility following a March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left more than 20,000 people dead or missing in Japan. Delays to the testing mean the cleaning system will not enter operation by the middle of this month as intended, raising the risk that radiation-tainted water collecting at the plant will exceed the site's holding capacity. The plant operator on Sunday said the discovery of possible blockages in a cesium filter had forced postponement of the decontamination trial initially scheduled to start last Wednesday. Personnel as of Sunday were finished patching breaches in the gear that had been discovered two days earlier.

6/13/11 - Social Media Join Toolkit for Hunters of Disease

On a chilly February night in Los Angeles, attendees at the DomainFest Global Conference crushed together in a tent at the Playboy Mansion for cocktails and dancing. Two days later, Nico Zeifang, a 28-year-old Internet entrepreneur from Germany, woke up with chest pains, chills and a soaring fever. Four colleagues shared his symptoms, Mr. Zeifang soon learned. So he did what any young techie would: He logged on to Facebook and posted a status update. “Domainerflu count,” it said. “Who else caught the disease at D.F.G.?” Within hours, 24 conference attendees from around the world added themselves to Mr. Zeifang’s Facebook list; within a week, the number climbed to 80. Many of them “friended” him to get information and to compare notes on their fevers and phlegmy coughs. Almost everyone, it seemed, had a theory about the source of the infection. Many suspected the artificial fog that permeated the tent.

6/6/11- U.K. Agency Warns of Terrorist Threat to Food Supply

The British government is warning food producers and sellers that extremists could seek to cause significant harm by tainting the country's food chain. The security advisory by the Center for the Protection of National Infrastructure calls on grocery stores, along with food and drink companies, to increase protective measures at their production and storage sites and to search for weak points in their distribution systems. "The U.K. suffers from a low level of malicious contamination of food by the bad, the mad and the sad," said one CPNI official at a food safety meeting. "Now it has to consider the possibility of food supplies being disrupted by politically motivated groups."

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