Smallpox

Rip-roaring adventure (plus history!) with the 'Vikings'

2013-03-02 07:00:00

With the possible exception of that football team in Minnesota, the vikings have seen some fairly serious brand slippage over the years. Once the scourge of Europe, vikings have increasingly lost their mojo — the Wagnerian soprano in the horned...

TED 2013: Larry Brilliant reflects on impact of his TED Prize

2013-02-28 14:11:00

Among those in Long Beach for TED 2013 this week is Larry Brilliant, former head of Google.org. Brilliant was an influential epidemiologist and technologist whose life and career was altered in 2006 when he received the�TED Prize.� The TED Prize was one...

House investigators seek files related to troubled BioWatch

2013-02-01 00:00:00

WASHINGTON -- Leaders of a House committee probing BioWatch, the nation's troubled system for detecting biological attacks, complained Thursday that administration officials had blocked them from seeing documents held by two senior federal scientists...

BioWatch stands at a crossroads

2012-12-22 00:00:00

WASHINGTON -- Year after year, health officials meeting at invitation-only government conferences leveled with one another about BioWatch, the nation's system for detecting deadly pathogens that might be unleashed into the air by terrorists. They...

'Downton Abbey,' 'Mad Men:' Why the good old days are hot again

2013-01-13 08:00:00

The third season premiere of "Downton Abbey" was heralded by the sort of media blitz more in line with the Summer Olympics or a new Robert Downey Jr. franchise than anything appearing on PBS' "Masterpiece." The public television network hosted a red-...

Charles Durning dies at 89; Tony winner also got Oscar, Emmy nods

2012-12-25 08:22:00

Charles Durning, a Tony Award-winning actor whose prolific work in films and television included supporting roles in the classic comedy "Tootsie" and the TV sitcom "Evening Shade," died Monday. He was 89. Durning, a decorated veteran of World War II,...

BioWatch technology couldn't detect lethal germs, tests found

2012-10-22 08:44:00

WASHINGTON — For two years, the nationwide BioWatch system, intended to protect Americans against a biological attack, operated with defective components that left it unable to detect lethal germs, according to scientists with direct knowledge of...

Upgrade of faulty U.S. biodefense system opposed

2012-11-13 00:00:00

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's top expert on anti-terrorism technology has privately advised her to spike a long-planned, multibillion-dollar upgrade of BioWatch, the nation's troubled system for detecting a biological attack. Dr. Tara...

BioWatch documents demanded

2012-11-15 00:00:00

WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security Department and other federal officials responsible for BioWatch, the nationwide system for detecting deadly biological attacks, have withheld key documents sought by a congressional committee, according to the panel's...

Early warnings on BioWatch

2012-08-23 00:00:00

WASHINGTON — Scientists who helped pioneer BioWatch, the government's system for detecting a biological attack on the U.S., knew from the start that it was prone to false alarms, records show. Between 2003, when the nationwide network of air...

The biodefender that cries wolf

2012-07-08 00:00:00

DENVER — As Chris Lindley drove to work that morning in August 2008, a call set his heart pounding. The Democratic National Convention was being held in Denver, and Barack Obama was to accept his party's presidential nomination before a crowd of...

Cost, need questioned in $433-million smallpox drug deal

2011-11-13 16:55:00

Over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work. Senior officials have taken unusual steps to secure the contract...

Lassiter has a pineapple smoothie cup on his desk. Bonus points: The Gus alias is "Daquan 'Smallpox' Randolph."

2013-02-26 10:28:00

The U.S. searched Iraq for weapons of mass destruction after the 2003 invasion. None were found. Might another rogue regime, such as North Korea, hold smallpox? No such threat has been verified.

2003-06-13 00:00:00

Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, chief of medicine and infectious diseases at St. Lukes Hospital, says the state has not been forthcoming with information about the smallpox vaccine which will soon be available to hospital employees.

2003-03-11 00:00:00