(BBC) – An enzyme which can make bacteria resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics available has been found in UK hospitals. Although around only 50 cases of the NDM-1-infected bacteria have been identified in the UK so far, scientists and doctors fear the super-resistant strains could spread quickly. via BBC News – Drug-resistant ‘superbug’ [...]

(PhysOrg.com) – For 60 years, the French village of Pont-Saint-Esprit has been famous for the events of a few days in August, 1951, when dozens of villagers were struck with unexplainable and horrifying hallucinations of fire and snakes and beasts of all kinds. via PhysOrg.com Secondary article on this story can be read via Mail [...]

(CNN) — The FBI announced that it has concluded its investigation into the 2001 anthrax mailings, saying Friday that a biodefense researcher carried out the attacks alone. The anthrax letters killed five people and sickened 17 shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The letters, filled with bacterial spores, were sent to Senate Democratic [...]

(WIRED) — The Pentagon’s mad science arm may have come up with its most radical project yet. DARPA is looking to re-write the laws of evolution to the military’s advantage, creating “synthetic organisms” that can live forever — or can be killed with the flick of a molecular switch. As part of its budget for [...]

WASHINGTON (AFP) —  The US Post Office could play a key role in distributing medical aid in the event of a biological attack, according to an executive order released by the White House. The order signed by President Barack Obama directs government agencies, local law enforcement and the US Post Office to work on a [...]

(ARGONNE) — Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University have discovered that common bacteria can turn microgears when suspended in a solution, providing insights for designs of bio-inspired dynamically adaptive materials for energy. via Argonne

(RUSSIA TODAY) — British scientists suspect that swine flu virus has mutated in Ukraine. Some doctors say that flu in the country has shown unprecedented symptoms, creating the effect of “burnt” lungs, the Daily Mail reports. Sources said that while British scientists are running their tests of the virus samples from Ukraine, some doctors claim [...]

LAKE IN THE HILLS, ILLINOIS (NORTHWEST HERALD) -– Citizens infected with a fictitious pneumonic plague will line up outside Lincoln Prairie Elementary School on Saturday to help test the site as a medication dispensary in case of an emergency. The Lake in the Hills Police Department is carrying out the test as part of a [...]

HINT: Read this article with Ukraine in mind. — PID (INTERPOL.INT) — In September 2009, senior law enforcement officials, health care professionals and experts from international organizations joined their forces to confront a chilling crisis – the plague had just been unleashed on their countries by unknown evildoers. [Emphasis PID] A fictional scenario with a [...]

(RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE) — Ukraine is in a state of hysteria as a mystery flu epidemic grips the country in the run-up to presidential elections. Schools have been closed and there is a ban on public gatherings. The situation is so bad, the mayor of Kiev is even planning to have the Champions League football [...]

CHICAGO (WLS) — There was word Saturday that the death of a University of Chicago scientist may be linked to a bacteria that causes the plague. The researcher, who died Sunday, studied the genetics of harmful bacteria, including a weakened strain of yersinia pestis. via Bacteria linked to university scientist’s death – 9/19/09 – Chicago [...]

(DAILY MAIL) — /SNIP/ The letter from the Health Protection Agency, the official body that oversees public health, has been leaked to The Mail on Sunday, leading to demands to know why the information has not been given to the public before the vaccination of millions of people, including children, begins. It tells the neurologists [...]

[We will be discussing this article on tonight's PID Radio show -- don't miss it! -- PID] Novavax stock rallied as much as 21 percent in Wednesday trading after the company said it has successfully created a swine flu vaccine. The company made the vaccine at its new manufacturing facility in Rockville using technology that [...]

WASHINGTON — The government’s study of the risks of moving foot-and-mouth disease research from an island off New York to Kansas failed to adequately track the potential spread of the virus and its economic impact if accidentally released, congressional investigators said in a draft report. via Report questions choice of Kansas site for lab – [...]