A FedEx truck in Chicago last year. Trucks like these are regularly used to ship biological agents in the United States (Getty Images/Tim Boyle). Safety, Security Demanded for Bioagent Transfers By Chris Schneidmiller Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Infectious agents are regularly shipped around the United States in automobiles and airplanes, but that doesn’t make the courier truck parked at the curb a cause for alarm, according to U.S. officials and commercial carrier representatives...Full Story

Ahmadinejad Denies Oil Threat Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied telling a newspaper that Tehran might cut back on crude oil exports if its nuclear dossier is referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 30)...Full Story

Washington Biohazard Sensors Detect Tularemia Biological agent sensors detected tularemia bacteria on the National Mall late last month during a weekend that saw both antiwar protests and a book fair, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, May 10)...Full Story

	Monday, October 3, 2005

Manila to Install Nuclear Screening Devices at Ports The Philippines is installing equipment for detecting radioactive and nuclear material at its seaports as part the U.S. Megaports Initiative, Lloyd’s List reported today (see GSN, Sept. 16; Lloyd’s List, Oct. 3). Back to top

Ahmadinejad Denies Oil Threat Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied telling a newspaper that Tehran might cut back on crude oil exports if its nuclear dossier is referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 30). Ahmadinejad “never had an interview, either oral or written, with the Khaleej Times,” the president’s office announced in a statement. The Dubai-based Times reported the threat in its Saturday edition, AP reported. “If Iran’s case is sent to the Security Council, we will respond by many ways, for example, by holding back on oil sales or limiting inspections of our nuclear facilities,” the Times quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. “Such a claim is nothing more than a mere fabrication,” the president’s office said (Tarek al-Issawi, Associated Press/phillyBurbs.com, Oct. 1). Meanwhile, the speaker of Iran’s parliament yesterday warned Israel against any potential attack on Tehran’s nuclear facilities, Agence France-Presse reported. “If Israel does something stupid and attacks our nuclear facilities like it did in Iraq, we promise to teach it a lesson it will never forget,” said Gholam Ali Hadad-Adel (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Oct. 2). Former Iranian presidential candidate Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Friday appealed to his country’s hard-line regime to remain cool when dealing with the West on the nuclear standoff, AFP reported. “It is about being reasonable, negotiating and being diplomatically active. All methods of leverage should be used, but reasonably with patience and wisdom, without provocation and slogans that give pretexts to the enemies,” he said. His comments were the first by any senior Iranian official questioning the regime’s handling of the nuclear issue, according to AFP. Rafsanjani added, however, that the United States and the European Union should also “act reasonably and wisely.” “You will not get anything from frightening resolutions. We should sit, talk and reach confidence,” he said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 30). Elsewhere, Russia today urged Iran to allow snap International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of its nuclear facilities, AFP reported. “In the interests of normalizing the situation surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, Tehran should continue active cooperation with the IAEA,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Oct. 3). Back to top       IAEA Adopts North Korea Resolution Favored by U.S. The International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday passed a resolution criticizing North Korea for breaching the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty while at the same time applauding its promise to give up its nuclear weapons program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 30). China and Russia did not co-sponsor the text, which largely reflected U.S. priorities, according to AP. One diplomat said drafters tried to balance U.S. disarmament concerns with Chinese-requested language acknowledging potential rewards for Pyongyang. The resolution urges Pyongyang to resume “full and effective implementation” of the agency’s nonproliferation safeguards, AP reported (George Jahn, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Oct. 1). The top U.S. nuclear negotiator said Thursday that disagreements among the six countries negotiating a disarmament deal are likely to arise once the question of civilian nuclear activities is addressed in detail, the Yonhap news agency reported. “Down the road ... differences will emerge,” said Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill. “There is no disagreement on the need for them (North Korea) to first to get out of this nuclear business,” Hill said at a Senate hearing (Yonhap I, Sept. 30). Hill also said both North Korea and South Korea would be subject to inspections to confirm that the Korean Peninsula is free of nuclear weapons, Yonhap reported. “You know, we have to make absolutely clear that there are no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula,” Hill said. “We have said there aren’t any nuclear weapons in South Korea,” he said (Yonhap II, Sept. 30). A senior U.S. official said negotiations leading to last month’s Beijing agreement featured tough bargaining by Wu Dawei, China’s chief negotiator, Newsweek reported today (see GSN, Sept. 19). The draft statement presented by Beijing alluded to provision of a light-water nuclear energy reactor to Pyongyang in exchange for dismantling its weapons program, the official said. “This is the final draft,” Wu told the U.S. delegation, according to the official. “Take it or leave it.” When Hill consulted with Washington the next day, senior officials recoiled at the draft language. The Chinese delegation, however, would not back down. U.S. officials also realized that South Korea was no longer securely on their side. The South Korean delegation even stayed in a different Beijing hotel than the U.S. and Japanese negotiators, Newsweek reported. Hill was also stunned when Seoul officially raised the light-water-reactor issue.  “We said if we reject [the draft], we could find ourselves completely isolated or in a minority,” said the U.S. official. “We could get blamed for the talks’ breaking down.” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice finally agreed to accept the draft provided that each party could issue separate statements clarifying their positions on sequencing of disarmament and rewards. “The Chinese understand they hold more cards here,” said Jonathan Pollack of the U.S. Naval War College. “America is a little distracted these days and China knows that” (Hirsch/Lieu, Newsweek, Oct. 3). Back to top       Russia Continues to Resist U.S. Access to Nuclear Sites Despite Security Cooperation, NNSA Chief Says Russia’s continued resistance to providing access to some nuclear installations is hampering joint efforts to improve security at such sites, the top U.S. nuclear safety official said Saturday (see GSN, Sept. 26). The access requested by Washington is “very minimal, (but) I think from the Russian perspective it’s unprecedented and so we’re working these things out,” U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration chief Linton Brooks told the Associated Press. Officials must provide evidence that U.S. security funds are being spent properly so that Congress will renew the allocations, Brooks said. Washington is attempting to shift the focus of U.S.-Russia nuclear security cooperation “from assistance to partnership,” he said. “One of the things we’re trying to do is not just put a bunch of bars on windows and install a bunch of alarm systems, but help Russia create a system that doesn’t depend on the United States for ensuring sustained security of weapons and materials,” he said. However, several bilateral nuclear security efforts continue to experience delays, AP reported. A number of Russia’s most sensitive nuclear installations remain completely off limits to U.S. nuclear security experts, including two weapons assembly sites, Brooks said. In addition, a program to build U.S. and Russian plants to destroy weapon-grade plutonium by blending it into mixed-oxide fuel has been delayed due to funding difficulties for the Russian plant. Moscow is still awaiting several hundred million dollars in international aid, according to AP. “We’re in the position that the Russians are reluctant to move forward until they see the rest of the international funding and I’m having trouble getting some of the rest of the international funding until people see the Russians are moving forward,” said Brooks (Judith Ingram, Associated Press, Oct. 1). Back to top       IAEA Calls for Nuclear Weapon-Free Middle East The International Atomic Energy Agency general conference unanimously passed a resolution Friday calling for a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Sept. 29). Israeli atomic energy chief Gideon Frank, however, said his country favors “achieving regional peace and security, not arms control per se.” While Tel Aviv believes a weapon-free zone “could eventually serve as a complement to overall efforts to peace and security in the region,” a general peace agreement was first necessary, Frank said. The conference rejected consideration of a resolution on “Israeli nuclear capabilities and threat,” which was pushed by 15 Arab delegations and the Palestinian Authority, AFP reported. “We should urge Israel to renounce these weapons,” said Libyan delegate Matouq Mohamed Matouq.  “The first step is for Israel to join the [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty],” said Syrian Othman, head of Libya’s atomic energy commission (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 30). Back to top

Safety, Security Demanded for Bioagent Transfers By Chris Schneidmiller Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Infectious agents are regularly shipped around the United States in automobiles and airplanes, but that doesn’t make the courier truck parked at the curb a cause for alarm, according to U.S. officials and commercial carrier representatives. Strict federal rules are meant to prevent mishaps involving samples of “select agents,” whether they are being studied at a laboratory or transferred between research facilities. Apart from the occasional accident — notably a courier truck that crashed in March in Canada while carrying samples of anthrax and several other pathogens (see GSN, March 3) — shipments of biological material rarely come to the public’s attention.  Those involved in these exchanges promote this low profile by saying little publicly about the toxins they are storing and moving. “I can’t get into any detail for what we do move and who we move it for,” said FedEx spokesman Jim McCluskey. “Those are all things that the organization considers confidential and won’t disclose,” said an official at American Type Culture Collection in Manassas, Va., which distributes biological material to research organizations around the world. “It’s kind of a sticky question,” said Caree Vander Linden, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md. What Goes Where Sharing materials is “invaluable” as facilities study pathogenic agents and prepare defenses against a possible biological attack, said Von Roebuck, spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Laboratories that may be conducting complementary research benefit from being able to exchange specimens, he said. That, in turn, could lead to a new vaccine. “There are a lot of scientists out there who need to have the base materials to do their work,” said Gigi Kwik Gronvall, an associate at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Biosecurity. In the 1950s, researchers could simply pack up a sample and drive it to its destination, said James Tracy, associate dean of research at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. Such easy transfers are forbidden by present federal regulations on infectious materials, which were updated following the Sept. 11 attacks and subsequent anthrax mailings. Select agents and toxins are infectious pathogens designated by federal agencies as having the potential to cause serious harm to humans, animals and plants. Anthrax is a select agent, while the common cold virus is not. Facilities that work with agents that could harm humans must register with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are 333 entities registered with the federal health agency; most are research laboratories, Roebuck said. The U.S. Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is the oversight body for laboratories researching agents that pose a risk to plant or animal life. Seventy-two entities have registered with the agency, said spokeswoman Melissa O’Dell. Both agencies have extensive rules for the control, use and transfer of select agents, which range from ricin to Rinderpest. Breaking the rules can lead to a $500,000 fine for the violating entity, and a $250,000 penalty and up to five years in prison for an individual. The U.S. Justice Department conducts background investigations of any organization that registers to work with select agents, along with its owners and the employees who work with the materials. Entities must notify and receive approval from their oversight agency before shipping select agents. Roebuck said his agency receives roughly 40 requests each month, primarily from federal agencies. Even CDC researchers must receive permission to send toxin samples to their counterparts at Fort Detrick. The Agriculture Department has received 60 transfer requests to date in 2005, O’Dell said, listing academic, commercial and government entities among the senders and recipients. U.S. regulations require that materials be enclosed within two watertight containers and then an outer shipping vessel. No more than four liters of agent can be contained in a single outer shipping container. Packaging must be able to withstand leaks, shocks, changes and pressure and other pitfalls of the shipping process, according to rules on interstate transfers. Shipments can only be made to other entities that are registered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or Agriculture Department. The U.S. Transportation Department requires that transporters of select agents develop security plans and train their drivers. “At a minimum, a security plan must address personnel security, unauthorized access and en route security,” according to the agency. Employees must be able to recognize and respond to a threat. The details of the plans are left to the transporters, said Joe Delcambre, spokesman for the DOT Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. “We left some flexibility in the requirements so that each individual company … can mold it to their size and type of operation that they have,” Delcambre said. The Shippers There are more than 40,000 hazardous materials shippers registered with the Transportation Department. Delcambre could not say how many carry infectious agents. Generally, only the major firms handle this kind of work, according to the University of Wisconsin’s Tracy. That means the U.S. Postal Service and shippers such as FedEx and United Parcel Service. Spokesmen for all three entities said their employers’ have significant policies to ensure the safety and security of any dangerous goods they carry. They declined to discuss details of those policies. Also left deliberately unsaid by the companies and their research clients are specifically what sort of agents they handle and in what amounts. “Obviously you’re not going to have a van full of anthrax that’s going to go down the road,” Roebuck said. Shippers reported 292 incidents that occurred during transfers of infectious substances last year to the Transportation Department. An incident is generally “an unintentional spill of hazardous material,” Delcambre said, noting that does not mean the substance escaped all three container layers. More than 200 of the spills were of “diagnostic specimens” — blood, tissue and other human or animal material — followed in number by medical waste.  The Transportation Department released to Global Security Newswire electronic copies of reports on incidents from 2000 to 2004 involving materials designated “Infectious Substance,” “Infectious Substance Human” and “Infectious Substance Animal.” Only three of the documents identified the substance involved — salmonella, Hepatitis B and blood. No one was killed or injured in the incidents, the reports state. An accident might ruin the sample if it cannot be kept cool, but it is unlikely to endanger the public, Gronvall said. The likelihood of a theft during transit is also small, according to Roebuck. “I’ve never heard of any situation where someone stopped one of these vehicles and said, ‘I want the specimen,’” he said. “I think the risk level there is quite limited. We’ve had a lot of transfers over the years.” The federal health agency itself is “shipping all the time,” Tracy said.  Roebuck said security issues prevented him from discussing the frequency of sample transfers. Representatives from several U.S. university research sites declined to comment or did not respond to requests for information on their programs. Gronvall said the high fees charged for shipping select agents and the time needed for laboratory personnel to obtain their security clearance are barriers to studying potential bioterror agents and natural infections such as avian flu and SARS.   A U.S. Justice Department report issued in March found that security-clearance applications for researchers seeking to work with biological agents were being processed within 45 days. “From the scientific perspective, that’s ages,” Gronvall said. The University of Wisconsin has probably conducted less than five such shipments since 2003, Tracy said. It prefers to work with the specimens already in its possession rather than taking on the rigorous exchange process, he said. “To be honest, it’s such a pain you don’t do it unless you have to,” Tracy said. Back to top       Washington Biohazard Sensors Detect Tularemia Biological agent sensors detected tularemia bacteria on the National Mall late last month during a weekend that saw both antiwar protests and a book fair, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, May 10). Health officials said the bacteria amounts were too small to be a threat to the crowds that assembled along the mall on Sept. 24.  Federal officials notified authorities in Washington last week that tests “supported the presence of low levels” of tularemia. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the bacteria posed no threat. “We pretty much feel there is no public health threat here,” said CDC spokesman Von Roebuck, who added there were no reports of tularemia-related illnesses. “We just wanted to alert the medical community to watch out for cases.”  D.C. Public Health Director Gregg Pane said that “the working hypothesis” is that the tularemia was natural.  “Why that day? That's what is not explained,” he said. “It was just this 24-hour period and none since.” One official said the large crowds and dry conditions could have stirred up the bacteria (Weil/Levine, Washington Post I, Oct. 1). Federal officials are still testing the samples, but investigators said foul play was not believed to be involved in the presence of the bacteria, the Post reported. “There is no known nexus to terror or criminal behavior. We believe this to be environmental,” said Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the U.S. Homeland Security Department (Petula Dvorak, Washington Post II, Oct. 2). Back to top       U.S. to Test New Anthrax Drug Human Genome Sciences Inc. announced today that the U.S. government could buy up to 100,000 doses of an experimental anthrax drug (see GSN, June 6). The U.S. Health and Human Services Department will pay $1.8 million for a third of an ounce of ABthrax, the company said in a press release. The sample will be tested against competing products, the Washington Post reported. Human Genome spokesman Jerry Parrot said that the purchase price covers testing support for the government as well as the cost of the drug. If the department is pleased with results from the test, it could buy 10,000 to 100,000 doses through Project Bioshield, according to the Post. The drug would be used to counter the effects of anthrax after an individual is exposed, said Noreen Hynes, a senior HHS official. Animal tests by Human Genome show that the drug, taken immediately before exposure, can ward off anthrax infection. It has also been shown safe in 105 adults, according to the company. Elizabeth Posillico, president and chief executive of Human Genome rival Elusys Therapeutics Inc., claims her company is developing a similar but more effective drug that would cost less per dose (Rosenwald/Gillis, Washington Post, Oct. 3). Back to top

Aberdeen Halfway Done with CW Container Cleanup The Aberdeen Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Maryland has cleaned and decontaminated half of its stock of ton containers that once stored mustard gas, the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency announced last week (See GSN, March 14). The Ton Container Cleanout process is the second phase of work at the facility. Destruction of chemical agents was completed in March, making Aberdeen the first disposal facility in the continental United States to complete weapons processing (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release, Sept. 29). Back to top       NATO to Test CW Response Coordination NATO last week said that it plans to conduct a multinational drill testing the response to a chemical attack by terrorists, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 6, 2004). The drill, designed to test cooperation between the alliance and member nations after an attack, will involve 750 people from 12 countries. It is scheduled for Oct. 9-13 in Ukraine, according to AP. “Emergency responses to potential terrorist attacks demand constant improvements in the way in which international cooperation … is structured and coordinated,” NATO said in a statement. The test will simulate a chemical agent attack by terrorists, allowing experts to conduct decontamination, reconnaissance, evacuation and medical care maneuvers, according to AP (Associated Press/NewsfromRussia.com, Sept. 30). Back to top       Saudi Shura Council Approves Chemical Weapon Ban Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council yesterday endorsed a draft plan forbidding the production and storage of chemical weapons, the Bahrain News Agency reported (see GSN, March 7). The plan is now headed to the Saudi Cabinet for approval, according to the Saudi News Agency (Bahrain News Agency, Oct. 2). Back to top

Pakistan, India Sign Missile Test Notification Pact India and Pakistan today signed an agreement for advanced notification of ballistic missile tests, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 7). “The agreement entails that both countries provide each other advance notification of flight tests that it intends to undertake of any surface-to-surface ballistic missile,” India said in a statement. “India has now handed over a draft memorandum of understanding on measures to reduce the risks of accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons under the control of both countries” (Associated Press/New York Times, Oct. 3)     Back to top

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