Vector Vector

What's worse than malaria? Malaria with a syphilis shooter. But seriously--a Canadian company has just introduced several "rapid tests" that can instantly detect various combinations of tropical and sexually transmitted diseases.

MedMira this week launched its expanded line of Multiplo rapid tests at the U.S. military's Advanced Technology Applications for Casualty Combat Care Conference in St. Pete's Beach, Fla.

The Multiplo tests will be used to diagnose conditions such as HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, malaria and dengue fever in various combinations. This combo feature enhanced by, in some cases, instant results, is … Read more

A British company continues to offer a portable decontamination device that should come as breath of fresh air to a flu-weary public.

In fact the unit duplicates the ability of "outdoor fresh air" to destroy a wide range of airborne viruses and bacteria including the H5N1, influenza, and SARS, all within minutes of contact, according to Tri--Air Developments. "It's almost so good that nobody is going to believe it," admits Martin Wyatt, of the Buildings Research Establishment, a quasi-government agency that has been involved with the development.

The London based company claims it has already … Read more

As anybody who's watched the movie Outbreak knows, when it comes to raging epidemics, the military will get involved at some point, the question is: in what way (PDF)?

To answer that, the Department of Defense (DOD) has commissioned the development of a simulation-based planning and training software application--a game, in other words, albeit a "serious" one--to help it to prepare for the next influenza pandemic.

The game will allow health care professionals and the military to recognize early signs of an outbreak, practice response tactics, and plot "local mitigation strategies" to limit the spread … Read more

The world may be gaining ground in its war against the mosquito, specifically Aedes aegypti- the planet's main vector for dengue-thanks to a new trap developed by the US Army.

The Tiger Trap, created and marketed under license by Spring Star, Inc. exploits the Aedes' "irrepressible urge" to lay their eggs mainly on the sides of water filled containers. This characteristic allows them to be second guessed and lured into contact with a tiny dose (1 millionth of a kilogram) of lethal insecticide. Not only is this an improvement over the conventional method of spraying insecticide … Read more

In wars of yore, the slit-trench was state-of-the art field sanitation, filled to the brim and then maybe backfilled; but today, when even losers are litigious, it's not a good idea to leave that kind of mess.

Now, the Texas Research Institute for Environmental Studies (TRIES) at Sam Houston State University and PCDworks, a technology innovation firm, have developed a self-sustaining, portable and "smart" wastewater treatment system that promises to take over where the porta-potty leaves off. (PDF)

Housed in the ubiquitous 40-foot shipping container, the Deployable Aqueous Aerobic Bioreactor (DAAB,) can convert a battalion's worth … Read more

As much as you may miss it, you'll have to face the fact that donating blood may become obsolete someday soon.

The U.S. military is seeking an automated culture and packaging system that could produce a steady supply of universal donor red blood cells right on the battlefield, without resorting to needles and the human filling-stations (PDF).

DARPA has awarded a $1.95 million contract to Arteriocyte, a Cleveland company that's experimenting with a technology developed at Johns Hopkins that enables the rapid expansion of umbilical cord blood. The company wants to adapt it to a manufacturing … Read more

Long after the shooting has stopped, radioactive dust particles dispersed by exploding, depleted uranium (DU) artillery and tank shells leave the contemporary battlefield a dangerous place--and there's been little hope of decontamination, until now.

Researchers from Scotland's University of Dundee have discovered that common backyard fungi may be the key to cleaning and reclaiming DU-contaminated soil in places like Iraq and Bosnia.

The team found that free-living and plant symbiotic (mycorrhizal) fungi can colonize DU metallic surfaces and geochemically transform them into uranyl phosphate minerals, stabilizing the uranium, reports a study published in the journal Current Biology.

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If you want to know staphylococcal enterotoxin from streptococcal exotoxin, consider adding the Borden Institute's latest edition of Medical Aspects of Biological Warfare to your nightstand.

This scholarly tome is an authoritative update on the weaponization of biological agents. A distinguished group of authors take us from familiar standbys (anthrax, plague, smallpox) through the potential horrors of inadvertent or deliberate release of "oranimal"--bioengineed plant organisms--and onto the "arbitrary use of human embryonic tissue in research."

An update from the 1997 edition was required because of the increased threat posed by biological warfare and terrorism, … Read more

What happens in Vegas could be contagious; but don't worry, despite the recent ricin scare on the Strip, your chances of dying from exotic poison or a bio-engineered infection are pretty slim - even at the buffet.

Still, companies are betting their R&D budgets that the government will ante up to protect you from the toxin de jour. Their odds are good. Universal Detection Technology received a rush of orders for its ricin detection kit after a man was found in critical condition in a Las Vegas motel room with a case of suspected ricin poisoning.

"… Read more