CBW News Items - you may have missed
By Richard Price

1. Billions and billions (US). The US Administration requested $41.3 billion in the fiscal 2004 budget to fund domestic homeland security efforts. The budget figures include $36.2 billion for the newly created Department of Homeland Security.

2. Vaccina for all (Germany). The German Ministry of Health has stated that compulsory smallpox vaccination could be imposed on the population in the case of a terrorist attack using the deadly disease. "In an extreme case the whole population would have to be vaccinated," Health Ministry spokeswoman Elisabeth van der Linde told Reuters Health. She did say that precautions would be considered for those with compromised immune systems. Germany would like to accumulate 100 million doses of the smallpox vaccine by end 2003.

3. Slovakia joins with the Czech Republic in Kuwait. Soldiers from Slovakia are joining a Czech military nuclear-biological-chemical warfare unit stationed in Kuwait. Czech Defense Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik said 60 Slovak soldiers were to join the 358 Czech troops in the unit by Feb. 4, forming a joint battalion similar to a mechanized battalion engaged in peacekeeping in Kosovo.

4. Fielding of a New Nerve Agent Treatment Autoinjector (US). The first of the new generation autoinjectors are being readied for shipment to the field. The Antidote Treatment Nerve Agent Autoinjector (ATNAA) is a system that injects two nerve agent antidotes (atropine and 2-Pralidoxime chloride), through a single needle, replacing the two injectors in the currently fielded MARK I Nerve Agent Antidote Kit. The ATNAA delivers antidotes faster, is more compact, and is less expensive than the MARK I. Ultimately, the ATNAA will be a one-for-one replacement of the MARK I.

5. Anthrax - a new treatment (US). An anthrax-killing enzyme, now being tested by DOD, may one day be used as a medical treatment against the deadly bacteria. The enzyme, lysin, "is like a 'smart bomb' that kills anthrax, but doesn't kill anything else," noted Dr. John Carney, a pharmacologist with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). "This could be an unique treatment (against anthrax) that wouldn't cause side effects."
          Lysin attacks anthrax by dissolving a hole in the bacteria from the inside out. Water surrounding the ruptured anthrax cell rushes in causing it to burst. This new enzyme has the potential for fewer side effects because it would kill only anthrax bacteria.

6. US procedures for testing drugs are delaying approval of vital treatments for BW victims (US); Ken Alibek told UPI that although some existing drugs might be crucial to saving the lives of victims of anthrax and smallpox attacks, procedures of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the FDA are delaying their use for as many as five or six years.
          One example is a protein that Alibek's team developed to fight the anthrax infection. When combined with antibiotics, their experiments showed that the protein was 100 percent effective against anthrax in laboratory animals. According to Alibek, the US's whole apparatus for defense against BW should be revamped to speed defense against terrorist attacks. Bioweapons defense should be put under one national agency and under rules that would allow an urgent response to the dangers of a biological terrorist attack. The research should be or is currently split among the military at the US Army's Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, the NIH and private research groups. Alibek said private pharmaceutical companies can't find enough profit in producing vaccines and antidotes for biological weapons to make it worthwhile. He suggested the creation of a special biodefense scientific entity funded by tax dollars. (Sounds like Biopreparat)
          Dr. Dianne Murphy, director of FDA's Office of Pediatric Drug Development and Program Initiatives, said she understood Alibek's frustration and that the FDA did have various programs to accelerate approval for drugs for "life-threatening diseases". She stressed, however, that the important factor is the effect of the drug on humans. "You can't do studies on a few mice and say it looks good." Perhaps Ken Alibek's "Immune System Enhancer" is the answer.

7. Death - where is thy gentle sting? or Where have all the monies gone? The National Institutes of Health (NIH) must prepare for a much reduced spending increase from the 15% of recent years to perhaps as little as 2% for 2003/2004. Quoting from the Washington Post: "It will be shocking," said Donald C. Poppke, the NIH's acting associate director for budget. "The response will be fairly negative."
          The agency must face the realities of the still unsettled 2003 budget, which is expected to fall about $1 billion short of the president's supposed promise to complete or continue the five-year doubling of the NIH budget effort. The newly proposed 2 percent increase for 2004 would also cut by three-quarters the steady 7.5 percent to 8 percent growth rate the agency had enjoyed before the five-year effort. And the 4 percent annual "cost-of-doing-research" increases already promised for ongoing grants are to be scaled back to 1 percent per year.
          The NIH budget was 13.6 $ billion in 1998 and for 2004, the President is offering $27 billion plus change - not too bad really.

8. Chemical-Biological Defense Program (US). The President's FY 2004 budget calls for $1.1 billion for the total CB Defense program, with a $200 million increase to extend near-maximum chemical-biological protection to 200 installations, increase Army biological detection capabilities, and combat new chemical agent threats. The 2004 budget also provides $15.3 billion for the Defense Health Program.
          FY 2004 initiatives for force protection and combating terrorism include intrusion detection systems, blast mitigation measures, chemical and biological detection equipment, personal protection gear, waterside security enhancements, harbor patrol boats, regional command systems, mass notification systems, and initiatives to restrict access to DoD installations.

9. Smallpox Vaccine Shipments (US). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun distributing smallpox vaccine to state and local governments that will coordinate the vaccination of smallpox response teams. The teams are part of the nation's voluntary vaccination program to protect Americans from the potential threat of a terrorist attack involving the release of the smallpox virus. As of February 11, 2003, the total number requesting vaccine is 49 (45 states and 4 county and municipal health departments); total doses requested is 267,100. States/counties and numbers of doses shipped will be added to the list when the vaccine has been received by the state. Vaccine is shipped in accordance with state smallpox plans.
          According to the AP, by the end of this month only 1% of the targeted population will be vaccinated. Various groups are urging members to wait "until the government can guarantee compensation for anybody injured by the shot.
          Meanwhile the US Military is noting fewer side effects from the vaccine.

10. Nanoantennas Could Bring Sensitive Detectors, Optical Circuits (US). Engineers from Purdue University have demonstrated through mathematical simulations that nanometer-scale antennas with certain geometric shapes should be able to make possible new sensors capable of detecting a single molecule of a chemical or biological agent. The nanoantennas in the simulations are made of metal wires and spheres about 10 nanometers thick. They are an example of "left-handed" materials, meaning they are able to reverse the normal behavior of visible light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation. This unusual property could be used to create a so-called "super lens" that drastically improves the quality of medical diagnostic images. Scientists at the University of California at San Diego had proved two years ago that left-handed materials could be applied to devices that use microwaves, which are much longer than the waves needed for medical imaging, and for sensors used in spectroscopy to detect chemicals and biological agents.