It is 184BC and you are a soldier on a Pergamene Ship headed to Carthage to confront the opposing forces of that mega barbarion superstar known as Hannibal.  As you near your destination and prepare to put all the years of your razor sharp warfare training and barbarian bashing expertise to the test, your only thoughts are focused in on how you are going to show this tyrant what a real warrior is all about.  Suddenly, and most certainly without warning, off in the corner of your eye something blocks out the sun for just a brief tic, then in seconds there is a large CRASH, you and your crew are distracted only for a moment has a large object shatters on the deck of your ship. Your crewmates stop and stare in stunned silence. Your first reaction is to grab some water or a blanket fearing the enemy has attacked your vessel with a pot of burning coal or oil. Instead of flames and smoke spreading on the deck of the ship, you are shocked to discover that lying among shards of broken clay fragments are hundreds of poisonous snakes of various varieties swarming all over the deck, sliding under the feet of those chained to the oars, wrapping themselves around post, and disrupting the afternoon tea. These vermin are angry and not feeling very loved, and why should they after being packed in a cramped pot like moldy roman grain and tossed through the air like the heads of slaves at a gladiator free for all, these snakes have a serious attitude problem. Fast and vicious, within seconds they have already bitten more then half the crew, the remaining stoic warriors have decided, purely out of shear panic, to take their chances in the shark infested ocean waters and have bravely taken it upon themselves to jump overboard. However; before you can join in this decision to run away, you find yourself surrounded by a swarm of fanged attitude and you do the only thing you know to do besides scream like a banshee, you start beating these misplaced reptilians with your trusty blanket, three of them have already gotten a few bites in on your sandal-clad ankles, others are squirming closer. Then as confusion and frustration starts to slowly give way to that not so good sinking feeling swimming around in your head as venom courses through your veins and nausea and pain start to register shades of Elysian Fields; you begin to realize why you hate snakes. Let there be no doubt about it, Biowarfare is a nasty business and not for the mortally challenged.

With the passage of time comes change, instead of clay pots, biowarfare can come in the form of a dirty bomb, a discarded package, a letter sent by Mel the mailman, the happy fellow you have known since high school or placed in a clay pot sitting unnoticed in a busy public park. Some things never change. Although most modern bioterrorist find bravery in not being seen, it is safe to say they too are afraid of snakes and you won’t find them out in the fields trying to prove to Allah that they can lift up serpents, not even for a room full of vestal vogue virgins. Though proven to be a formidable weapon, snakes have now slithered aside and have been replaced by prayer books and lab coats. Clay shards now look like powders or toxic gasses and instead of a few hundred crewmembers on a long wooden war vessel; the victims can number in the tens of thousands. Let there be not doubt about it, these are not the good times.

Now lets take a look at that blanket and the improvements that can only come with the blessings of time. Back in the day, the blanket would have held back a few of the vermin, but even the craftiest mite ridden tarp swinger would have found himself at a great disadvantage. Now days the 3-foot by 4-foot flinging snake swapper as been replaced by a simple 2-inch by 3-inch plastic hand held device and an easy to use plastic buffer bottle that can test suspicious bio threat residuals with given results in less then ten minutes. With that type of knowledge in hand, first responders will be able to make valued decisions that can save the lives of millions, making it better then a blanket and easier to carry.

 Though not designed to ward off a pot full and angry vipers, AdVnt Biotechnologies newly extended line of Bio Warfare detection devices are both time and field tested to support bio threat first responders with rapid need to know information that many of us rather not know. Weather the threat be for Anthrax, Ricin, SEB, Botulinum, Plaque or Tularemia, AdVnt’s BADD single test are the tools to have when confronted with a real-time biowarfare situation. And with the addition of the new Tularemia test device, the blanket of threat detection as spread even wider.

The 2001 anthrax event, which resulted in 5 deaths and more than 20 illnesses, was the “worst case of bioterrorism in U.S. history”1 thus far, Homeland Security reports that the 2001 anthrax attack that killed 5 people and left 20 more with serious illnesses was the worst case of bioterrorism the US as experienced to date. Then taking into consideration the current geo-political climate, the threat of another more severe event happening becomes more relevant. Add to that the revelation that “only 7-10% of the cargo that enters US ports are scanned for illegal drugs or chemicals.” The chances of another bioterrorism threat grow exponentially. Now more then ever, first responders need to be properly prepared with the most reliable and trustworthy technologies the current marketplace as to offer. AdVnt Biotechnologies prides itself on being the leading provider of first responder’s hand held assays. Our products are specifically designed with the professional Emergency Response Team in mind. From proactive real-time training kits to reliable real-time on the job test results in less the 10 minutes, the AdVnt first response line of products including BADD, Attak and Prostrips are ready to go into affirmative defensive action 24/7.

The 2001 anthrax event, which resulted in 5 deaths and more than 20 illnesses, was the “worst case of bioterrorism in U.S. history” thus far, Homeland Security reports that the 2001 anthrax attack that killed 5 people and left 20 more with serious illnesses was the worst case of bioterrorism the US as experienced to date. Then when you take into consideration the current geo-political climate, the threat of another more severe event happening becomes more relevant. Add to that the revelation that “only 7 to 10% of the cargo that enters US ports are scanned for illegal drugs or chemicals.” The chances of another bioterrorism threat grow exponentially. Now more then ever, first responders need to be properly prepared with the most reliable and trustworthy technologies the current marketplace as to offer. AdVnt Biotechnologies prides itself on being the leading provider of first responder’s Hand Held Assays. Our products are specifically designed with the Professional Emergency Response Team in mind. From proactive real-time training kits to reliable real-time on the job test results in less then 10 minutes, the AdVnt first response line of products including Badd, Attack and Prostrips are ready to go into affirmative defensive action 24/7.

Re-printed from Homeland Security Newswire

A terrorist in Saudi Arabia tried to kill the Saudi antiterror chief by carrying explosives inside his body; experts say there are “tremendous implications for airport security with the potential of making it even more complicated to get on to your plane”

HSNW wrote two weeks ago about a terrorist using explosives concealed inside his body who blew himself up on receipt of a mobile phone signal (9 September 2009). The terrorist passed through several checks undetected. The attack has security experts very worried that this method is likely to become a real threat.

The intention was to kill a Saudi prince, who happened to be the chief of antiterrorism operations in Saudi Arabia in a complex plot involving the terrorist gaining access to the target by pretending to defect.

An important point to glean from this unbelievable attempted murder/suicide has got to be that the enemy we are battling in this war will resort to anything to martyr themselves for the cause.  Do any of us in the west really think that our way of life is not in jeopardy? (Oh yeah, I forgot, we are no longer involved in that conflict, therefore a majority of Americans are being lulled into a false sense of security.)

We better believe that any weapons of mass destruction these zealots come upon will be used against the most innocent among us.  Thus the need for preventative measures throughout our communities.  We at AdVnt BioTechnologies feel that our biological agent detection devices are just what the doctor orders for simple, fast and accurate screening devices that can be properly operated by any twelve year old. I know, my twelve year old, Jake has proven it time and time again.

If you want to be prepared for the inevitable bioweapons event to come our way, then visit AdVnt’s website and see what it will take for you to become a viable bio-sensor for your community, neighborhood and family.

Anthrax looks to be a terrorist’s best friend.  Yet our current national circumstances seems to be preoccupying all of us that there are other, more important, worries for the USA in our short-term future.

Well, I don’t know what a real terrorist thinks about anthrax, but I can share with you what the progressive elite of Kuwait are willing to lecture in public. Please click the link to view.

After viewing that video, I am trying to visualize myself entertaining ideas of western democracies establishing friendly relations with the radicals of the Islamic world.

While watching the inflammatory rhetoric of the speaker remembering that this is not a Jihadists from Iran but a professor from Kuwait - a country with every reason to be grateful to the USA for liberating it from the tyranny of Saddam Husseins invasion. That would be Desert Storm in the early 90’s. I can only say, WOW. I guess being prepared makes some sense, ya think?

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

It’s been pretty evident that swarming the enemy with technology, saturating the theater of engagement, overwhelming their “in-play” strategies has been somewhat effective.

For CBRNe targets, two of the keys are to saturate our living and working areas with efficient, effective and affordable screening devices for wide area bio-sensor coverage and being vigilant daily.

I believe that Advnt Biotechnologies has created and patented just such a product. That would be our ProStrips Rapid Screening System™.  Truly an affordable, efficient, effective product that can actually detect anthrax at less than an infectious dose, in less than 15 minutes, for less than $70.00 USD.

The best way to discourage a specific attack requires the deployment model to include easy and early detection with prompt and appropriate treatment.

By Dr. Neil Livingstone.

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM DomesticPreparedness.com

SPRING 2009

Reports surfaced in early January that approximately forty Al Qaeda members in Algeria died from plague after the deadly bacteria escaped from a surreptitious laboratory where they were attempting to weaponize the disease.  Although there has been no official confirmation that that is exactly what happened, it is clear that something out of the ordinary did occur in Algeria at that time, and the reports are part of a mounting body of evidence, both circumstantial and confirmed, that Al Qaeda is attempting to acquire weapons of mass destruction – most likely, in this situation, a bio weapon.

It has long been an article of faith that the United States and its allies would get an early warning – through an accidental release or an outbreak of some unusual disease – about the possible misuse of bio agents. Accidental releases are not common, but they have occurred a number of times in the past – most notably in 1979 in the region around a Soviet biological weapons facility in Sverdlovsk, where there was an accidental anthrax release that killed 68 people.  The Soviets, of course, denied not only that anthrax had caused the fatalities but also that the facility was engaged in the production of biological weapons – in contravention of the Biological Weapons Convention. The incident remained a matter of controversy during the Reagan administration, but after the fall of the Soviet Union the Russians ultimately acknowledged what happened.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the U.S. intelligence community found substantial evidence, in Afghanistan and elsewhere, that Al Qaeda was indeed working on acquiring biological weapons – and, according to the 9/11 Commission, the effort was more advanced than previously believed.  Although Al Qaeda had investigated the possible use of other dangerous agents, including plague and even ebola, its more immediate goal seemed to be to create a fully stable and weaponized strain of anthrax.

Ebola, however, is a hemorrhagic fever and one of the deadliest diseases in the world – also one of the most contagious.  The good news is that there is no known incidence of it being successfully weaponized, and many experts believe that, because it outruns its hosts so quickly, it also dissipates quickly and therefore does not expand beyond a certain critical mass.  The Japanese Am Shinrikyo cult – which carried out the 1995 Tokyo subway attack using Sarin (a G Series nerve agent) – tried to acquire an ebola culture but ultimately gave up and moved onto more conventional bio agents.
Weaponized anthrax also represents a formidable scientific challenge, so it is not surprising that Al Qaeda may have focused on plague – most likely bubonic plague, which was known as the “Black Death” in the Middle Ages, is considerably easier to develop, and can be created in a modest laboratory with commercially available equipment.  Plague is still a problem in Africa, so it would not have been too difficult for Al Qaeda to have acquired a sample culture.  Plague also would require less scientific expertise than trying to create weaponized anthrax or smallpox.

In that context, it should be remembered that Ayman al-Zawahiri (Al Qaeda’s number-two man after Osama bin Laden) is not only a trained medical doctor with a master’s degree in surgery, but also the son of a pharmacologist and a chemistry professor. In addition, he is known to have had an interest in biowarfare – and, interestingly, spent time in Russia in the 1990s.  According to the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, al-Zawahiri received training from the FSB, the successor organization to the KGB, and was the FSB’s principal connection to Al Qaeda. Litvinenko, of course, became internationally famous, belatedly, when he was murdered by a dose of plononium-210, an extremely rare and costly radiological agent that, it is believed, had been slipped into his food in a Soho sushi restaurant in London.

Plague is disseminated via a “vector,” most commonly an infected flea carried by a rat, which is known as the reservoir host.  Traditionally, the best way of controlling the plague has been the creation and implementation of effective rodent-management programs. Largely for that reason, most Western countries are believed to be – thanks to their modern hygiene standards and medical facilities – far less at risk from plague than are the so-called “lesser developed” countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
In addition to hard drives, floppy discs, and material gleaned from interrogations, the United States has accumulated a great deal of evidence related to Al Qaeda’s continuing, and apparently increasing, interest not only in bio weapons, but also in chemical and radiological weapons (especially RDDs, better known as Radiological Dispersion Devices – i.e., “dirty bombs”).  Among the more substantive evidence confirming this theory are some NBC (nuclear, biological, and chemical) protective suits seized by British police during a raid on a Finsbury Park mosque in 2003. In addition, Jordanian authorities claimed to have thwarted a major chemical attack in 2004, and there have been credible reports that Abu Musab Zarqawi, Al Qaeda’s late leader in Iraq, had managed to acquire or develop ricin, one of the three deadliest substances on earth (the others being plutonium and botulinal toxin).

Although difficult to deliver to a widely dispersed group of human targets, ricin, a derivative of the lowly castor bean, is an excellent assassination weapon and may have been used by the Soviets to murder several heads of state and other leading Third World politicians.  Another telling clue is that Al Qaeda in Iraq hired two chemists in 2004 and tasked them with trying to develop crude chemical and biological weapons.  Fortunately, U.S. Marines discovered their laboratory (in Falluja) before any weapons had been manufactured. The Marines did find materials, however, that could have been used to make hydrogen cyanide. Other U.S. troops discovered caged dogs and other animals that they believed were going to be used by Al Qaeda as “guinea pigs” to test either chemical or biological weapons.
Jihadists believe that Muslims have a religious duty to wage an “offensive jihad” against infidels, and there seems to have been no lessening of Muslim antipathy toward the West in recent years. Many observers believe, in fact, that the threat of a Jihadist attack employing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) is growing rather than receding, despite the recent presidential election in the United States and the dramatic growth of homeland-security precautions against terrorism.  Former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) said even prior to 9/11 that the possibility of a terrorist WMD attack against the United States is no longer a question of “if” but “when” such an attack might occur.

Nunn’s statement was echoed by former Vice President Dick Cheney in an interview two weeks after leaving office.  According to Cheney, there is a “high probability” of a nuclear or biological attack against the United States within the next few years.  That chilling possibility is backed up by a study cited by Gary Ackerman, research director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, in which respondents indicated that they believe there is a thirty percent probability of a WMD attack against the United States within the next five years.

May 2009

Terrorists attacking a major city with nuclear or biological weapons is “more realistic” than ever, British officials warned as they lifted the secrecy from six years of counter-terrorism efforts.

Called “Contest,” the U.K. anti-terror strategy contends that new technologies and lawless nations boost the odds of a WMD attack leading to massive death and destruction.

Titled “Pursue, Protect, Prevent, Prepare: The United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering International Terrorism,” the 176-page report presents an updated British strategy for combating terrorism.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith describes Contest as “one of the most comprehensive and wide-ranging approaches to tackling terrorism anywhere in the world.”

Dr. Marvin Cetron, the futurist and founder of Forecasting International, a firm that advises U.S. counter-terrorism agencies, reports that British authorities have every reason to be concerned.

“The terrorists are getting better qualified, more technically trained people as we’ve seen in Britain,” Cetron says. “And they’re trying to get the capability. They’re still working on getting nuclear fissionable material. That’s a low probability, but it is a high-impact event.”

Since 2001, the report reveals, British authorities have thwarted over a dozen terrorist attacks. One measure of officials’ concern: U.K authorities have trained and equipped over 7,000 police officers to respond to WMD incidents. They have also built facilities for mass decontamination’s, should a WMD attack occur.

“Contemporary terrorist organizations aspire to use chemical, biological, radiological and even nuclear weapons,” the report states. “Changing technology and the theft and smuggling of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) materials make this aspiration more realistic than it may have been in the recent past.”

A letter from Prime Minister Gordon Brown accompanying the Contest report states: “This new form of terrorism is different in scale and nature from the terrorist threats we have had to deal with in recent decades. It is intent on inflicting mass casualties without warning, motivated by a violent extremist ideology, and exploits modern travel and communications to spread through a loose and dangerous global network.”

One question counter-terror experts will no doubt be asking: Why after six years is the British government lifting the veil of secrecy over its counter-terrorism strategy and assessments?

Smith said the government seeks to “provide the people of the UK and our partners overseas with as full and as open an account as possible of why and how we are tackling this threat.”

The new report lists four main terror threats facing the U.K., all of them linked to al Qaida:

Faulty gadgets foiling city’s bio-threat project

Wednesday, May 13th 2009,

A pilot program to detect biological threats had to be scrapped because the new experimental gizmos didn’t work, officials acknowledge.

The high-tech monitors were supposed to take air samples and analyze them automatically, compared to conventional monitors where samples are sent to a lab. Federal sources said five of the six monitors started registering odd anthrax signals, even though no agent was present.

The faulty signals started in December. The main engineering firm tried unsuccessfully to fix and clean the machines.

The NYPD shut them down at the end of March. The risk of false positives and the possibility of a panic was behind the move, a police spokesman acknowledged.

The malfunctioning prototypes, along with conventional air monitors, were installed four years ago as part of a $120 million federal BioWatch program.

The plan is to fix the problematic devices and get them back online in six months.

In the mean time, we at Advnt Biotechnologies recommend that maybe considering a fool proof bio-agent detection system that costs less than $70.00 USD and is a DHS ” Approved Product For Homeland Security” under the “SAFETY ACT OF 2002” might make cents! (I know, “sense” might be asking too much, but when you print money just because you have the ink and paper, oh well)

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