![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/ebolah.jpg\")
The theme
\n of the day seems to be "Reasons to be Afraid". Before all the hubbub
\n about the imminent terrorist attack on Boston, we were preoccupied
\n with the story that three researchers at a Boston University biolab have
\n managed to infect themselves with an infectious bacterium called tularemia.
\n In the interest of full disclosure it should be revealed that the Dowbrigade’s
\n main contributor is employed by said university and spends
\n a significant part of each day on the BU campus.<\/p>\n
(It should also be revealed that while everyone associated with the
\n Dowbrigade is thankful of the fact and form of our employment, we DO NOT
\n TRUST the administration and that is a fairly widespread opinion, especially
\n among students, graduates, the faculty, the ex-faculty, the campus neighbors,
\n the American academic community, ex-NASA administrators and the Boston
\n Police)<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most upsetting aspect of the story is that the infections \n ”Last year’s mishap is doubly worrisome," says Philip Warburg, The news was especially upsetting in light of previously announced plans The BU researchers in question do not come off as the kind of world-class "The deck was stacked against [the researchers] because they were But Moore acknowledged that researchers in the lab had violated policies Instead, the tularemia samples were sometimes worked with in the open, Well, we guess if the desk was stacked against them, then it’s understandable. Accidents Can I get it?<\/strong> Tularemia is not known to be spread from person to person. So as long as we stay away from ticks, don’t handle dead The theme of the day seems to be "Reasons to be Afraid". Before all the hubbub about the imminent terrorist attack on Boston, we were preoccupied with the story that three researchers at a Boston University biolab have managed to … Continue reading
\n happened LAST YEAR and word of the incident is only now leaking to the
\n press and the public in general. From a column
\n in today’s Boston Globe Business<\/a> section:<\/p>\n
\n president of the Conservation Law Foundation, which has pushed for
\n consideration
\n of alternative sites for the lab. ”First, it casts serious doubt on
\n BU’s assertion that it can handle infectious diseases in a manner that
\n guarantees
\n the health of the Boston community. Second, BU’s failure to let the
\n public know about the incident calls into question its willingness
\n to be candid
\n about the way it runs these sorts of facilities."<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n by BU to open an Ultra Top Secret Level IV Bio-Defense Lab specifically designed
\n to play with the most feared infectious diseases in the world. We are talking
\n Ebola, Anthrax, Botulism and Dioxin, the Plague, Typhoid and Smallpox.
\n The lab would be used for housing pathogens deemed highly transmissible
\n and
\n deadly. And these guys can’t be trusted with tularemia!<\/p>\n
\n scientists one would hope to have handling these kinds of materials. This,
\n from today’s
\n Boston Globe<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n
\n working with something they had no idea they were working with," Moore
\n said.<\/p>\n
\n requiring them to work with tularemia inside an enclosed box, called a
\n hood, that sends air through sophisticated filters.<\/p>\n
\n in part because the enclosed research boxes were sometimes filled with
\n material that should not have been kept there, Moore said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n will happen. No need to excite the public unnecessarily.
\n Thankfully, to keep us on the edge of our seat and so we know what to look
\n out for,
\n the
\n Boston
\n Globe published a handy guide
\n to tularemia:<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\n Most people get it from being bitten by an infected tick, deerfly, or other
\n insect; handling infected animal carcasses; eating or drinking contaminated
\n food or water; or breathing in the bacteria.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n animal carcasses, and refrain from eating, drinking or breathing, we should
\n be all right…<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"