Status Brief

Developmental Milestones/Developments to Date:

Current Assessment/State of the Field:




Osterholm, Michael T.,”SARS: How effective is the state and local response?” Hearing before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, May 2003, pgs 14-16.

  1. “There is a critical need for our country to prepare its homeland security against human-made and Mother Nature-made biological attacks.”
  2. “There is a growing threat of emerging infections and use of biologic agents as a form of terrorism.”
  3. “Federal agencies such as the Department of Heath and Human Services, and Department of Homeland Security have been responding to such threats.”
  4. “The United States has fortunately been lucky as compared to places like Toronto, Canada, who has seen the worst of the SARS pandemic.”
  5. “Their country is experiencing impacts on mortality rates, as well as economic and social impacts.”
  6. “SARS is a disease transmitted via respiratory route that has now seeded itself in a sufficient number of humans which could make elimination impossible.”
  7. “It is imperative that we coordinate the roles of Federal, State and local agencies.”
  8. “We also need to understand the capabilities of our health care delivery systems and the private sector in responding to this problem.”

SARS, Bioterrorism, Canada, Homeland Security, Pandemic







  1. Lab mistake contaminated specimen with dangerous 1957 strain.

Flu, Canada, BSL, Lab Safety



  1. ”Konan Michel Yao, 42, is in U.S. custody charged with smuggling.”

Law Enforcement, Ebola, Lab Security, Canada


Somerville, Margaret, “A world of competing sorrows; There’s a flu pandemic and health-care resources are scarce. How do we decide who lives and who dies?The Globe and Mail (Canada), Pg. A17, July 16, 2009.


Flu, Vaccination


Pollack, Andrew, “In Vaccine Additive, Benefit and Doubt“, NYT, D1, Sept. 22, 2009.

  3. “But while Canada and some European nations will use vaccines containing adjuvants, American officials have decided against it for now.”

Vaccination, Flu, Canada, Europe, Adjuvant


McNeill, Donald, G., “Transfers of Surplus Flu Vaccine Are Going Slowly to Countries That Need It,” NYT, A15, February 2, 2010.

  2. “…95 countries that told the World Health Organization last year that tehy had no means of getting flu vaccine…”

Vaccination, Flu, WHO, Pandemic, Poland, Canada, Mexico, France, Australia



McNeill, Donald, G., “Flu Shots in Children Can Help All Ages, Study Says,” NYT p. A16, March 10, 2010.

  1. “Although previous studies have demonstrated what scientists call ‘herd immunity,’ none have been so incontrovertable, because they were done in less isolated places with more sources of flu passing through.”
  2. “Dr. Anthony Fauci … added that its results validated the American government’s decision to vaccinate children first during the recent swine flu epidemic.”
  3. “In 25 of the colonies that joined, all children ages 3 to 15 received flu shots in late 2008; in 24 others, they received hepatitus A vaccine instead.”
  4. “There was a 60 percent ‘protective effect’ for the whole community, the study concluded.”
  5. “It implies, Dr. Bridges said, that giving flu shots only to school children would protect the elderly just as well as giving flu shots to the elderly themselves.”

Vaccination, Prophylaxis, Flu, Canada


Palmer, Randall, “Canada Firms to Capitalize on Nuclear Trade with India”, November 6, 2012, Reuters, U.S. Edition, Last checked February 14, 2013.

  2. ”Once implemented, the agreement will end a ban on nuclear cooperation Canada imposed in 1976 after India secretly exploded its first nuclear bomb in 1974, commonly called the “Smiling Buddha”, using material from a Canadian-built reactor in India.”

Export Control, Nuclear, Canada, India


Fouchier, Ron, García-Sastre, Adolfo, Kawaoka, Yoshihiro et al., “Transmission Studies Resumefor Avian Flu,Science Express – Letters, January 23, 2013 last checked January 24, 2013.

  2. ”The World Health Organization has released recommendations on laboratory biosafety for those conducting this research, and relevant authorities in several countries have reviewed the biosafety, biosecurity, and funding conditions under which further research would be conducted on the laboratory-modified H5N1 viruses. Thus, acknowledging that the aims of the voluntary moratorium have been met in some countries and are close to being met in others, we declare an end to the voluntary moratorium on avian flu transmission studies.”
  3. ”The controversy surrounding H5N1 virus transmission research has high-lighted the need for a global approach to dealing with dual-use research of concern.”
  4. ”Because H5N1 virus transmission studies are essential for pandemic preparedness and understanding the adaptation of influenza viruses to mammals, re-searchers who have approval from their governments and institutions to conduct this research safely, under appropriate biosafety and biosecurity conditions, have a public-health responsibility to resume this important work.”
  6. ”Scientists should never conduct this type of research without the appropriate facilities, oversight, and all necessary approvals. We consider biosafety level 3 conditions with the considerable enhancements (BSL-3+) outlined in the referenced publications as appropriate for this type of work, but recognize that some countries may require BSL-4 conditions in accordance with applicable standards (such as Canada).”

Scientific Self-Governance, Dual Use, Flu, Biosafety, Biosecurity, WHO, Open Science, Oversight, Public Health, Canada, Risk, BSL, Pandemic