Disease Expert Warns That Terrorists Could Make A 'Dirty Bomb' Containing Ebola

Terrorists Could Use Ebola To Create Dirty Bomb To Kill Large Numbers In The UK, Says Cambridge University Disease Expert -- Daily Mail

* Dr Peter Walsh says group such as Al Qaeda could use virus to create bomb
* Biological anthropologist says risk of Ebola reaching UK is small
* 'Bigger risk' is that terrorists manage to harness virus, says expert
* Bomb could cause 'large number' of horrific deaths

The deadly Ebola virus could be used by terrorists to create a dirty bomb capable of killing large numbers of people in the UK, a Cambridge University disease expert has warned.

As fears grow over the spread of the disease across parts of West Africa, biological anthropologist Dr Peter Walsh said that although the risk of it reaching the UK was small, a group such as Al Qaeda could use the virus to create a weapon.

There is currently no vaccine and no cure for Ebola, which kills up to 90 per cent of its victims.

Read more ....

More News On Reports That terrorists Could Build A 'Dirty Bomb' Containing Ebola

Disease Expert Warns Terrorists Could Make Dirty Bomb Containing Ebola -- CBS News
Could Make Dirty Bomb Containing Ebola -- Zee News
Terrorists could use Ebola virus to make bomb, says anthropologist -- DNA
UK raises fears of Ebola “dirty bomb” as doctor Kent Brantly ‘improves’ after taking experimental antibody serum -- News.com.au

My Comment: I have doubts that such a weapon is feasible .... and even if it was .... I doubt that it will be effective in making a significant number of people sick. But the psychological impact of such a bomb going off in a major populated city would be completely off the scale.

Because Of Terrorism Fears, Research On 'Armageddon' Bird Flu Virus Will Not Be Published

Dangerous: It is feared if new details of the avian flu is published, it could be used for bioterrorism.

Scientist Who Created Deliberately Created 'Armageddon' Bird Flu Virus In Lab Says He Will Not Publish Details -- Daily Mail

A super-strain of bird flu that could infect and wipe out millions will not be published by the virologist developers.

Dutch scientists who created ‘probably one of the most dangerous viruses you can make' have agreed to leave out details on how to construct the virus from published reports.

The decision was made after the US government warned releasing the details could be kill millions of people if it was used as a weapon of biological warfare.

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More News On The Decision To Censor And Not Publish Info On How To Develop A Super Flu-Bug

US government urges scientists to censor findings on new strain of bird flu -- The Guardian
Dutch Scientist Agrees to Omit Published Details of Highly Contagious Bird Flu Findings -- ABC News
Request to suppress information on man-made ‘monster virus’ not ‘censorship’: U.S. -- National Post/AFP
Details of Lab-Made Bird Flu Won't Be Revealed -- FOX News/AP
Security in Flu Study Was Paramount, Scientist Says -- New York Times
Bird flu strains should be secret, government says -- SFGate/AP
Gov't wants bird flu research kept under wraps, away from terrorists -- CBS/AP
Bird flu terrorism fear over study’s publication -- Toronto Star
Bird flu: Research row as US raises terror fears -- BBC
Bird flu bioterror risk seen increased by censorship -- Reuters
When it comes to bird flu, nature is the greatest bioterrorist -- Mark Honigsbaum, The Guardian
Should Journals Describe How Scientists Made a Killer Flu? -- Bryan Walsh, Time

My Comment: Talk about a flu pandemic that will end all other flu pandemics. I understand the scientific reasons on why this research was done .... but it is still a horrifying thought that a strain of bird flu now exists that can easily wipe out (within a year) 50% - 70% of the human population. It would make the Black Death of the Middle Ages puny in comparison.

A Bioterror Weapon That Can Easily Kill Billions

Dangerous: It is feared if new details of the avian flu is published, it could be used for bioterrorism. Daily Mail

UW Bird Flu Research Seen As Bioterror Threat -- JSOnline

A University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist who is an expert on the avian flu virus is under scrutiny because of concerns his new research may fall into the wrong hands.

The scientist is Yoshihiro Kawaoka, an eminent professor of virology in the School of Veterinary Medicine who has done research on H5N1, also known as the avian bird flu. His work and similar research independently done by a Dutch scientist have raised concerns in science journals and on an NBC News report that aired Thursday night that touched on such controversial issues as bioterrorism and scientific freedom.

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More News On The Development of H5N1

Deadly bird flu with potential to infect millions is grown DELIBERATELY in laboratory -- Daily Mail
Scientists Spark Fears by Creating Highly-Contagious Airborne Strain of Bird Flu -- FOX News/Newscore
Terror Fear As Scientists Create Killer Flu -- SKY News
Alarm as Dutch lab creates highly contagious killer flu -- Independent
Global alarm as Dutch lab creates highly contagious killer flu -- Times of India
Terrorism Fears After 'Mutant Strain' Of Bird Flu Created That Can Be Transmitted Between Humans -- Business Insider
Avian flu breakthrough raises question of potential risk -- Medical Press
Could mutant bird flu strain be used by terrorists? -- Aol

My Comment: I covered this story 2 weeks ago .... and not surprisingly .... it is still a hot story today.

Every Bioterrorism Expert's Worse Nightmare: Recent Man-Made Super-Flu Could Kill Half Humanity

This transmission electron micrograph taken at a magnification of 150,000x, reveals the ultrastructural details of an avian influenza A (H5N1) virion, pictured by the United States government's Centre for Disease Control.

Armageddon Super Virus Recipe: Keep Secret Or Publish? -- Sydney Morning Herald

To publish or not to publish?

That is the question gripping scientists after virologists said they had developed a bird flu virus - with a 60 per cent human mortality rate - that could spread as easily as the common cold.

Some fear the virus, if it fell into the wrong hands, could be modified by bioterrorists into a weapon that kills billions of people.

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More News On The H5N1

'Anthrax isn't scary at all compared to this': Man-made flu virus with potential to wipe out many millions if it ever escaped is created in research lab -- Daily Mail
Man-made super-flu could kill half humanity -- RT
Super Virus Report Might Make or Break Biosecurity -- Top News
New manmade super virus? New bird flu has 60% human lethality -- Digital Journal
Canberra Vaccine Expert Urges Censorship on Bird Flu Strain Mutant Research -- IBTimes
“Bird Flu” Virus Experiment Sparks Controversy and a Biosecurity Review -- Decoded Science
US fears Dutch research could be biological weapon -- Radio Netherlands
Deadly man-made strain of H5N1 bird flu virus raises controversy -- Digital Journal
Should a New Recipe for Engineered Bird Flu, Potent Enough to Kill Millions, Be Published? -- Popular Science
Scientists Brace for Media Storm Around Controversial Flu Studies -- Science Insider
Deadly Man-Made Flu Won’t Kill Everyone Unless It Escapes From the Lab -- Gawker

Bioterror Fears Is The Reason Why Smallpox Is Still Kept In Our Labs

Bioterror Fears Prompt U.S. to Keep Its Smallpox Cache -- Wall Street Journal

The U.S. and Russia will fight international efforts this week to set a deadline to destroy the last known stocks of smallpox, saying the deadly virus is needed for research to combat bioterrorism.

Members of the World Health Organization meet on Wednesday to begin debating the future of what is left of what was one of the world's most lethal viruses before it was eradicated more than 30 years ago: samples kept in tightly guarded freezers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and a Russian government lab near Novosibirsk.

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My Comment: I always get the shivers when I read about small pox. This disease has killed and maimed hundreds of millions of people (if not more) throughout history .... its final eradication is something that should go forward.

Update: Russia, U.S. to Resist Eliminating Smallpox Strains -- Global Security Newswire

Can India Be A Source Of Bioterrorism?

India Could Face Bioterror Attack, Cables Say -- Global Security Newswire

Indian intelligence points to terrorists' interest in using lethal pathogens such as anthrax to carry out strikes against the South Asian state, the London Guardian reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 4).

In a U.S. diplomatic dispatch obtained by the antisecrecy group WikiLeaks, a high-ranking Indian official told the U.S. Embassy in India in 2006 that worries about biological warfare materials were "no longer" theoretical, as intelligence indicated terrorists were more avidly studying disease warfare.

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More News On Fears Of A Bioterror Attack In India

US Fears Biowarfare Stemming From India -- Voice of America
Leak: US fears theft of bioweapons from India labs -- AP
India facing bio-terror threat: Leaked US cables -- India Express
US feared India was a potential bio-terror target -- Times Of India
India source of bioterrorism? -- UPI
Leak: US Fears Theft of Bioweapons From India Labs -- ABC News

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.

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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.

The U.S. Is Unprepared For Bioterrorism: WMD Panel

WMD Panel Gives an F to Obama and Congress for Failing to Prepare for Bioweapons Attack -- Newsweek

The Obama administration and Congress get an F for failing to prepare for a biological terrorist attack—a “national security” risk that is getting greater “by the day,” according to the director of a blue-ribbon federal panel set up to study the issue.

Borrowing a page from the 9/11 Commission, the bipartisan WMD panel is today issuing a “report card” on how the U.S. government has responded to its December 2008 recommendations for steps needed to prepare for the threat that terrorists will strike using nuclear or biological weapons.

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Update: Report: U.S. Unprepared for Bioterrorism -- Time Magazine/AP

My Comment: Reading about bioterrorism issues for the past few years reminds me of all the reading that I have done on nuclear terrorism issues. Everyone talks about it, everyone provides plans and programs to counter it .... but in the end nothing happens.

On a side note, one my favorite blogs that covers Bioterrorism issues and who poo-poos all the fear rhetoric on this issue is Armchair Generalist. The link to his blog is here.

Can Botox Be Used By Terrorists?

Officials Fear Toxic Ingredient In Botox Could Become Terrorist Tool -- Washington Post

In early 2006, a mysterious cosmetics trader named Rakhman began showing up at salons in St. Petersburg, Russia, hawking a popular anti-aging drug at suspiciously low prices. He flashed a briefcase filled with vials and promised he could deliver more -- "as many as you want," he told buyers -- from a supplier somewhere in Chechnya.

Rakhman's "Botox" was found to be a potent clone of the real thing, but investigators soon turned to a far bigger worry: the prospect of an illegal factory in Chechnya churning out raw botulinum toxin, the key ingredient in the beauty drug and one of world's deadliest poisons. A speck of toxin smaller than a grain of sand can kill a 150-pound adult.

Read more ....

My Comment: I give this a zero chance of Botox being banned in the US. But it does reveal how many of the ingredients that we use and/or have available to us everyday can be converted into weapons that terror groups can use.

The Anthrax Attacks Of 2001 Remain Unsolved -- A Commentary

Getty Image

A Commentary From Edward Epstein, Wall Street Journal:

The FBI disproved its main theory about how the spores were weaponized.

The investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks ended as far as the public knew on July 29, 2008, with the death of Bruce Ivins, a senior biodefense researcher at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Fort Detrick, Md. The cause of death was an overdose of the painkiller Tylenol. No autopsy was performed, and there was no suicide note.

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My Comment: The key point in this commentary (and one that has the potential to impact each and everyone of us) is the last paragraph ....

.... So, even though the public may be under the impression that the anthrax case had been closed in 2008, the FBI investigation is still open—and, unless it can refute the Livermore findings on the silicon, it is back to square one ....

A Shift On Bioterrorism Strategy

Obama Shifts Bioterrorism Strategy To Preventive, But Congress Slow To Move -- The Hill

The Obama administration’s new biological threat strategy has put the U.S. back in the forefront of the international community striving to thwart biological terrorist attacks, after spending years on the fringes, but Congress’s role remains to be seen.

Ellen Tauscher, the State Department’s undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security, announced on Wednesday the new strategy that aims to forge a deeper relationship with other countries at a meeting of the Biological Weapons Convention in Geneva, Switzerland.

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More News On Bioterrorism

Administration affirms Bush stance on biological threats -- Washington Post
Obama’s Biodefense Strategy is a Lot Like Bush’s -- The Danger Room
US wants tough bioweapons ban, but no verification -- AP
US still opposed to bio-weapons checks mechanism -- AFP
U.S. rejects biological weapons checks -- Reuters
Obama Administration Supports Bush Rejection of Biological Weapons Inspections -- AllGov.com
US urges support for bioweapons treaty, but no verification scheme - December 09, 2009 -- Nature
U.S. Announces New Strategy for Biological Weapons Convention -- Global Security Newswire
Wash DC Gets More CB Junk -- Armchair Generalist
A bad bioweapons decision -- L.A. Times editorial

National Security, One Microbe At A Time

From The Danger Room:

We’ve entered an era where security threats can be hidden in a microorganism and pandemics can be mitigated from a laboratory. Biotechnology means new dangers, whether to personal health, international relations or in combat - but the same technology can also offer new solutions.

World Politics Review has assembled a series of features on national security in the bio-era. Josh Michaud evaluates the recent cooperation among public health officials grappling to contain H1N1. At first glance, the international community did a bang-up job - but emerging diseases are still an ongoing global threat, and the 193 member countries of the World Health Organization haven’t mastered the necessary response.

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My Comment: My brother works in this field. He always gives me chills when he talks about how easy it is for a lab with sufficient funds (a few million) to be able to concoct something terrible.

Should We Be Worried About Bioterrorism Attacks?

U.S. Bioterrorism Efforts Criticized -- Washington Post

The United States is failing to address the threat of bioterrorism, according to leaders of a bipartisan panel that warns that an attack worldwide is more likely than not by the end of 2013.

The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, created by Congress in 2007, said in an interim report Wednesday that the administration and lawmakers have underfunded efforts to develop vaccines and drugs and have not named a high-level National Security Council appointee to improve biodefenses.

"The clock is ticking," said former senator Bob Graham (D-Fla.), the commission's chairman.

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More News On Bioterrorism Threats

Report: White House neglecting bioterrorism -- USA Today
Report: Bioterrorism safeguards lagging -- UPI
Commission Report Finds U.S. Unprepared for Bioterror Attacks -- Politics Daily

My Comment: I hate it when politicians use terms like .... "The clock is ticking". But this bipartisan panel is of the strong belief that the world will be hit with a bio-terrorism attack in the next 5 years .... how can one argue against that?

Disease And Terror -- A Commentary

From Newsweek:

The swine-flu outbreak caught health officials completely by surprise—just as a bioterror attack would.

A complacent America, growing ever less concerned about the threat of pandemic bird flu, was startled last week by the sudden appearance of a major epidemic of swine flu in neighboring Mexico. Cases were soon reported from New York, California, Texas and Ohio, as well as France, New Zealand, Canada and Britain. So far, the apprehension and confusion about what to expect resembles the early days of the anthrax attacks of 2001, when a fine powder of weaponized anthrax bacteria showed up in the U.S. mail. Then, as now, health authorities were taken completely by surprise, and the public panicked out of all proportion to the actual threat.

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My Comment: Even if people were to die off like flies, this Government and its politicians will be more concerned about their image and how they are going to present themselves to the world than to do what is necessary to fight off the disease. The lackadaisical approach to the Swine flu case in Mexico .... the unwillingness to do what any epidemiologist would say needs to be done (close the borders even during the infection phase) .... and having the President himself say that "when the horses are out of the barn, it is too late to close the door !?!?!?! .... nope .... I have no confidence at all.

The height of hypocrisy was having Department of Homeland Security lead off in making news announcements .... not the CDC .... when uncertainty and concern first started to percolate to the public's conscious and when the first news of the outbreak started to be announced in the U.S.

Sigh .... I want doctors and specialists telling us what to do .... not politicians and bureaucrats.

America's Bioterrorism Labs Under the Microscope

A biological researcher puts on her Biosafety Level 4 suit inside an infectious
disease lab at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md.

From FOX News:

President-elect Barack Obama's plans to combat bioterrorism have yet to address the future of high-security labs in the country that handle the most deadly viruses like Ebola, anthrax, smallpox and the plague.

Some of the deadliest viruses and bacteria known to mankind -- Ebola, anthrax, smallpox and the plague -- are housed on American soil in facilities known as Biosafety Level (BSL) 4 labs. But concern is growing about the safety of these labs following last week's alarming report by a congressional panel that predicts terrorists are "likely" to deploy biological or nuclear weapons in the next five years.

And the greatest bio-terror concern appears to be whether America"s BSL-4 facilities could be the source of a first strike.

That vulnerability came to light in an incendiary October report from the Government Accountability Office that revealed inadequate security systems at two of five BSL-4 facilities inspected, though the Centers for Disease Control disputes the findings.

Read more ....

My Comment: This is America's Achilles heel .... and I can bet you that Al Qaeda and its supporters know that.

Bioterrorism Attack Likely In U.S. Before 2013, Experts Tell Biden

From Houston Chronicle:

WASHINGTON — The United States can expect a terrorist attack using nuclear or more likely biological weapons before 2013, reports a bipartisan commission in a study being briefed today to Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

It suggests the Obama administration bolster efforts to counter and prepare for germ warfare by terrorists.

"Our margin of safety is shrinking, not growing," states the report, obtained by The Associated Press. It is scheduled to be publicly released Wednesday.

The commission is also encouraging the new White House to appoint one official on the National Security Council to exclusively coordinate U.S. intelligence and foreign policy on combating the spread of nuclear and biological weapons.

Read more ....

My Comment: Technology changes are not only happening in the electronic, computer, internet, and chemical areas .... but also in biological/biochemical areas. These technological advances have not only helped in advancing new products and discoveries .... but it has also made it even easier for terrorists to develop bio-weapons. I received my eye-opener on this situation from a friend (who knows what there is to know in the bio-tech field), that with a million dollars and the proper lab he could easily develop agents that can be incredibly destructive.

A million dollars and a wmd product as the result. This is very scary .....