Should We Be Worried About Bioterrorism From Africa?

US Senator Richard Lugar with Director of the Kenya Medical Research Institute Dr Solomon Mpoke during a press conference after he toured laboratories at the institute in Nairobi, November 12, 2010. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI

Why Senator Lugar Is Worried About Bioterrorism In East Africa -- Christian Science Monitor

Pentagon and congressional officials who toured a Kenyan medical laboratory are concerned that terrorist groups could get their hands on disease samples stored there.

On one side of the 7-foot brick wall, topped with rusting barbed wire and a four-strand electric fence, lies Africa’s largest slum – a barely policed square mile of tin-roofed shacks that is home to 700,000 people.

On the other is Kenya’s premier medical research laboratory, where samples of diseases considered among the biggest threats to humanity – including plague, anthrax, and Ebola – are studied and stored.

But not stored safely enough, according to a team of senior Pentagon and congressional officials who visited the facility Friday during an East Africa tour focused on the increasing threat of bioterrorism.

Read more ....

More News On The Fears Of African Labs Producing Bio-Weapons For Terrorism

US wants top security for Kenya’s germ labs -- Saturday Nation
US Senator in Kenya To Evaluate Security Threats to Biological Research Facilities -- Voice of America
US team tours Africa to boost bioterror safety -- AP
US senator voices bioterrorism fears over E.African labs -- AFP
US team on Africa bioterror prevention tour to study ways to stop future attacks -- Canadian Press
Uganda Seen as a Front Line in the Bioterrorism Fight -- New York Times
Lax Security at Ugandan Anthrax Labs Poses US Security Threat -- AolNews
U.S. Delegation Sees Security Risks at Ugandan Biolabs -- Global Security Newswire
Dick Lugar Wants to Save You From a Hideous, Horror-Movie-Style Death -- Swampland/Time Magazine

My Comment: Viruses, deadly epidemics, exotic diseases, dangerous influenza strains .... this has been a part of history since the beginning of time, and will continue to be with us long into the future. Fears of converting certain pathogens into weapons is an area of concern, but if I was to be REALLY concerned .... my focus will be on cases like this one.