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CONTENTS:

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK:

1. World
2. Africa
3. Americas
4. Asia Pacific
5. Europe
6. Middle East
7. South Asia
8. Cyberterrorism and Information Warfare
9. Finance
10 Human Rights
11. Law and Legal Issues
12. Transportation
13. Weapons of Mass Destruction
14. Recently Published

FEATURE ARTICLE:
Smallpox

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

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1. World

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has died after leading the struggle for a Palestinian homeland for 40 years. Known as both a nationalist hero and a terrorist, Arafat was given a state funeral in Egypt before his burial in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Many regional and international leaders expressed hope that his death could present a new opportunity for Middle East peace efforts.

North Korea, after refusing to attend six-party talks in September, has said it is not ready to resume talks on its nuclear weapons programs.

The United Nations has launched a $1.7 billion appeal to deal with the world's "forgotten crises" that affect some 26 million people.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12509

For the first time, a Secretary General of NATO, Jaap de hoop Scheffer, addressed a formal UN Security Council session. He discussed how NATO had broadened its scope to assist in UN and other efforts such as their roles in Afghanistan and in Bosnia Herzegovina.
http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2004/11-november/e1111b.htm

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2. Africa

Democratic Republic of Congo troops and UN peacekeepers have started joint patrols in the east where former Rwandan army soldiers and Interahamwe militias (held responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide) have been active against the local population. The goal is to disarm, and possible repatriate, the rebels.

Ghana arrested seven active and retired military personnel charged with an alleged plot to overthrow President John Kufuor, in advance of scheduled elections on December 7. It is expected that Kufuor will be elected to a second term.

In Ivory Coast rioting last weekend deteriorated into further violence against French peacekeepers and other foreign nationals, leading to the evacuation of many foreign nationals. South Africa is continuing to mediate peace discussions with opposition leaders and on November 14 regional leaders will hold an emergency crisis summit. The recent violence could spread throughout the region, where the economy has already been seriously disrupted.

In Nigeria's Anambra state arson attacks and bombs were used to destroy a radio station, the governor's office, and other buildings in politically motivated arson attacks directed against upcoming local elections and possibly connected with corruption and organized crime.

Sudanese forces have been forcibly relocating refugees and continuing acts of serious violence against both displaced people and aid workers. There have also been clashes between armed militias and civilians. The violence has continued although the Sudan government agreed to end fighting and to observe a no-fly zone. Hundreds of women and children have been casualties of attacks by government forces that continued after this agreement and despite international condemnation over forced relocation.
http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12501&Cr=sudan&Cr1=
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4000705.stm
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12510&Cr=sudan&Cr1=

Describing Northern Uganda the "largest neglected humanitarian emergency in the world" (Jan Egeland, UN) gained further credence this week with the recent retrospective mortality surveys undertaken by Medecins Sans Frontieres. They report a crude mortality rate (CMR) of 2.8 deaths/10,000 people per day for the general population, exceeding international benchmarks of an "emergency out of control". Among children under five years of age mortality rates were at 5.4 deaths/10,000 children a day and as high as 10.5 deaths/10,000 children a day in one location. The extent of trauma was also revealed. Since 2002: 63 percent report the disappearance or abduction of family member, 58 percent report the death of a family member due to the insurgency, 79 percent have witnessed torture, 40 percent have witnessed a killing and 5 percent have been forced to physically harm somebody. These findings demonstrate the critical ongoing crisis and the urgent need for action from the international community.
http://www.msf.org/countries/page.cfm?articleid=CD3DA72E-43DE-4DF5-A2BFDA6C49D620F1

Zimbabwe's Supreme Court has ruled legal the Land Acquisition Amendment Act used by the government to seize white-owned farms under the land reform program. Meanwhile, there are projections of serious food shortages and the urban poor have begun farming cemetery plots.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200411120514.html
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44085

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3. Americas

Chile's President Ricardo Lagos has received the report of the National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture. The government-sponsored Commission interviewed 35,000 former prisoners to detail abuses committed under Pinochet's 1973 - 1990 military rule. The full report has not yet been publicly released.

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels have called on its fighters to assassinate President Uribe. The call may have been connected with a proposed change to the constitution that would allow Uribe to be re-elected.

Ecuador's opposition stopped impeachment proceedings against President Gutierrez after they failed to win enough congressional support.

The issue had been brought in connection with allegations of corruption during a local election campaign.
The US Department of Homeland Security lowered the terror alert status for financial institutions in New York, New Jersey and Washington from "orange" (high) to "yellow" (elevated).
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/press_release/press_release_0555.xml

A comprehensive analysis by the RAND Institute for Civil Justice examined financial compensation made following the September 11 attacks. They found that at least $38.1 billion in compensation had been paid, 90 percent provided by insurance companies and the federal government. Furthermore, New York businesses received 62 percent of the total compensation, reflecting the economic impact, and on average, first responders have received about $1.1 million more per person than civilians with similar economic loss.
http://www.rand.org/news/press.04/11.08b.html

US Attorney General John Ashcroft resigned his position in a letter stating that " We have accomplished what we set out to accomplish almost four years ago. I am blessed to leave public office in a nation that is safer and stronger than the one I found.... The partnership the men and women of the Justice Department have forged with the American people has seen our nation through the worst attack in its history and has endured to produce an historic era of safety and security". To demonstrate this, he also released a summary of his successes.
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2004/ag_farewell_letter_110904.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2004/ag_successes_110904.htm
White House attorney Alberto Gonzales, known for his advice that President Bush could disregard the Geneva conventions, has been nominated as his replacement.

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4. Asia Pacific

China claimed that Vanuatu is withdrawing its recognition of the Taiwanese government, although confusion over the state of diplomatic ties remains. Taiwan had promised significant financial aid. Taiwan has diplomatic relations with only 27 governments, most from small, poor countries.

Indonesia's US-funded Freedom Institute found that many Indonesians support implementation of strict Islamic laws and support radical Islam.
http://www.freedom-institute.org/

In Aceh province, the civil emergency has been extended but details of how long and to what areas it will apply is not determined.

Japan summoned a Chinese diplomat to issue a formal protest over a submarine found in its waters that sparked a military high alert. The submarine did not surface but was identified by its sound. China and Japan face a number of transnational disputes including claims over territory and natural resources.

Kazakhstan reports it broke up the Jemaat of Central Asian Mujahideen, alleged to be a network of Islamic militants linked to al Qaeda and responsible for a plan to kill an official in Uzbekistan. Seventeen people were arrested and reportedly confessed to planning terrorist attacks.

In southern Thailand violence continued throughout the week. Incidents included beheading a 60-year-old laborer who was a Buddhist man - the third beheading since the recent incident in which 78 Muslims were killed in detention, following a protest. There were also bombings at a restaurant (injuring 14) and a market (killing one and wounding seven).

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5. Europe

Bosnian Serb leaders have for the first time apologized to relatives of the 8,000 Muslim men and boys massacred in Srebrenica in 1995. Only in October did an official report admit the deaths had occurred.

In Cyprus, Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos. Said they would like to hold talks with Turkey over the divided island. Turkey does not recognize Cyprus and the Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus is not recognized by any country except Turkey.

Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia has still not resolved the crisis over a disputed election. Supporters of opposition leader Sergei Bagapsh stormed President Ardzinba's office to protest the ruling to hold a second vote despite a recount that also showed Bagapsh winning. In the clashes between government and opposition supporters that followed, one person died. Russia says that if the crisis escalates it may intervene.

Kosovo's interim administration has decided to hand over more power to the provincial government by creating new ministries for energy, local self-government, and returns and communities. Kosovo recently held local assembly elections.

In Macedonia a national referendum to block plans to give more autonomy to ethnic Albanians failed amid a low turnout with less than half the votes needed to pass, allowing the 2001 peace plan to stay intact

The Netherlands experienced a week of conflict and retribution following the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, who was critical of Islam and associated abuse of women. Attacks began with the firebombing of a Dutch mosque and a bomb that damaged an Islamic primary school followed by further attacks on mosques and churches. Dutch police investigating an alleged terrorist cell were caught up in a violent 14-hour siege during which a grenade explosion injured three officers and at least two suspects were arrested. In a separate action, police raided a suspected Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) training camp, arresting 29 people.

In Chechnya, Russian security forces have killed 22 people reported to be separatist fighters connected with rebel leader Shamil Basayev, who has claimed responsibility for several assassinations and bombings. Ramzan Kadyrov, one of Basayev's senior militia leaders, is reportedly among the dead. Further north, thousands of protesters stormed government offices in Karachayevo-Cherkessia, demanding the resignation of President Batdyyev, who was forces to leave his office. His son-in-law is thought to be responsible for seven gangland-style murders. The region is under control of organized crime networks.

British emergency services are developing mass evacuation plans in case of a terrorist attack.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3714291.stm

The British government has decided to recognize the Ulster Defence Association's (UDA) ceasefire, declared in February this year. Although the UDA and the related Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) have been de-specified they continued involvement in feuds, rackets, and other paramilitary activity. The UDA has issued a pledge to end all violence and work for complete disarmament.
http://www.nio.gov.uk/media-detail.htm?newsID=10502
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4010767.stm

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6. Middle East

In Gaza on Tuesday Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians as they entered a military area. Two were killed on Wednesday in a firefight. On Thursday two Palestinians were shot dead trying to infiltrate a Jewish settlement and a third was killed near another settlement.

Iran has publicly called for Afghan refugees to return home within the next 16 months, after which subsidized services would no longer be available. Some free services have already been withdrawn.

Waves of violence spread through Iraq as US and Iraqi forces continued operations for control in Falluja. Amid continued fighting, the interim government says the operation in Falluja is nearly over and the first aid convoy has reached the embattled city but has been blocked from entering. They report that more than a thousand rebels were killed and 200 captured. At least 18 US troops were killed and 178 injured as well as five Iraqi soldiers killed and 34 wounded. The impact on civilians is as yet unknown. There are reports that militants joined civilians to flee in advance of the offensive, leaving the militants to take up positions elsewhere. Baghdad was the scene of repeated attacks including a suicide bombing that killed 19 and injured 15. Mosul is in chaos following an upsurge in violence that left gunmen holding key government offices and other buildings and militias patrolling the streets. The US army diverted troops from Falluja to Mosul, and Iraqi police have been sent to reinforce the police stations that had been overrun by rebels. Curfews have been extended to Falluja, Ramadi, Samarra, Bayji, Hawija, Mosul, Baghdad and Najaf as the insurgency spreads.

Lebanon said it was necessary to support Hezbollah's launch of a drone into Israel since no other steps had been effective in stopping Israeli incursions into its air space. Iran supplied the drone that can be equipped with equipment for surveillance or with explosives.

Yasser Arafat was born in Cairo on August 24, 1929. He was trained as an engineer then founded Fatah in 1958 and was elected chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1969. Gaining international attention for the Palestinian cause, he addressed the UN General Assembly in 1974, holding an olive branch and carrying "the gun of a freedom fighter", warning not to let the olive branch fall. In 1982 he was expelled from Lebanon by Israel and was established in Tunisia until he returned to the Gaza Strip and West Bank in 1994 to found the autonomous regime described in the 1993 Oslo accord. For this, he was jointly awarded Nobel peace prize with Rabin and Peres. During the second intifada Israel blockaded him inside the Ramallah headquarters of the Palestinian Authority. He was allowed to leave after becoming ill and went to France for treatment. Details of his illness are still unclear, but he was pronounced dead in the early morning of November 11. His funeral was held in Cairo and he was buried in Ramallah, in a chaotic scene that demonstrated the depth of feeling shared by his supporters.

Arafat's positions have been assumed by a number of different people. Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei will be in charge of the Palestinian Authority, supported by caretaker president Rawhi Fattuh until the election. Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) becomes the acting chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Farouk Kaddoumi will head the Fatah faction. One final note: the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have changed their name to the Yasser Arafat Martyr Brigades.

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7. South Asia

Afghanistan's Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar sent a message marking the Muslim EId ul Fitr festival at the end of Ramadan. In it he condemned the atheist US and promised to continue the struggle for Afghan independence. Kabul's Supreme Court echoed earlier Taliban edicts last week when they banned cable television channels that have been showing Bollywood movies and foreign music videos as being against traditional values. The influence of regional commanders has also continued, including forcible taxation schemes. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44074 Commanders are being given cash incentives to disband their militias. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44107

India says it has captured rebel bases of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), a separatist group in Manipur operating neat the Burmese border. Another separatist group, the United Liberation Front, says it has successfully fought off troops. There have been repeated clashes during the offensive that began last month.

India has announced it will reduce the number of its troops in Kashmir this winter. The scale of the withdrawal is unknown, but some 500,000 soldiers are deployed.

Nepal's Maoist rebels are believed responsible for two attacks last week. A bomb exploded at a government building that was under construction, injuring 30 people, many of them construction workers and police intelligence Deputy superintendent Hem Raj Regmi was shot dead in his home. The Center for Victims of Torture, Nepal, reports that since the Maoist uprising began in 1996 the number of torture victims has doubled each year, with more than 17,000 cases brought before the organization and 1,800 so far this year. http://www.cvict.org.np/

Pakistani troops continued operations against suspect al Qaeda near the Afghan border. In Karachi, gunmen affiliated with the Urdu-ethnic group Muttahida Qami Movement (MWM) opened fire outside a mosque, killing three and injuring four.

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels, aided by Norwegian mediation, have put forward new peace proposals. The details have not yet been made public. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch reports on the Tigers continued child soldier recruitment. http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/11/10/slanka9651.htm

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8. Cyberterrorism and Information Warfare

Called the next generation of phishing attacks, the Troj/Banker-AJ Trojan horse targets customers on online banks in the UK. If a person visits one of the sites it captures passwords and takes screenshots than sends them to remote hackers who can use the details to break in. http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/articles/ukbanktrojan.html

A British court has ruled that the loss of source code due to a virus attack was not covered under its business interruption policy that also excluded other consequential losses.
http://www.courtservice.gov.uk/judgmentsfiles/j2883/tektrol-v-international_insurance_companyl.htm

The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with Renesas Technology America has developed a software driver to help secure personal digital assistants (PDAs) by using a miniaturized multimedia card which has all the security functions of a smart card and more storage and follows the MultiMediaCard Association standard.
http://www.musclecard.com/sourcedrivers.html

NIST has also issued a request for comment on a draft Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) for smart-card based identification to be issued to by all federal government agencies to their employees and contractors next February.
http://csrc.nist.gov/piv-project/index.html

The US Government Accountability Office recommends that federal agencies identify all uses of Social Security Numbers (SSNs) and devise a government-side policy to ensure a consistent approach in the collection, format, and display of these numbers. Protection of SSNs is an essential means to reduce risk of identity theft.
http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d0559high.pdf

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9. Finance

Colombia is suing the UK's Diageo, France's Pernod Ricard, and other drinks companies for allegedly bypassing state alcohol distribution systems to work directly with drug dealers thereby helping them to launder drug money.
http://www.pernod-ricard.com/
http://www.diageo.com/pageengine.asp?menu_id=0&site_id=0&section_id=0&page_id=1161

In "Payback Time " the British Home Office reviewed the use of asset recovery as a tool to combat crime established in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. They report, "Asset recovery, confiscation and money laundering are still widely regarded as highly complex and specialised activities, divorced from mainstream business, and hence in many police forces have remained the preserve of financial investigation specialists". This is unfortunate since asset recovery is effective and should be used more often. Key findings include:
* Of 43 police forces 75 percent of cases using the new money laundering powers were launched by only six and 20 forces did not use them at all
* Confiscation orders under fell from GBP120 million in 2002/3 to GBP81 million last year although the estimated value of crime in Britain is GBP18 billion a year
* There were 422 cash seizures, ranging from GBP13,000 in one force to over GBP7 million in another, for a total of GBP16.7 million.
* Confiscation orders exceeded GBP40,000
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmic/new.htm

The US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control completed its investigation and formally added Aero Continente (a/k/a Nuevo Continente), a passenger and cargo airline based in Lima, Peru, to its list of entities designated a narcotics Kingpin. http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js2095.htm

The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued new guidance for avoiding deficiencies in Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering programs.
http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/bulletin/2004-50.txt\

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reinforced his promise to deal with illegal logging and related corruption. A similar problem in India's Kerala state has led the local Forest Department to plan the installation of microchips embedded in rare sandalwood trees to allow satellite monitoring.

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10. Human Rights

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office released "Human Rights Annual Report 2004" showing that some of Britain's closest allies in the "war on terror" and purchase of arms are among the worst abusers of human rights.
http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1099139303196

Australian High Court judge Justice Michael Kirby gave the University of Melbourne Chancellor's Human Rights Lecture 2004 in which he said that courts and judges are the last line of defense for human rights in an age of terrorism. http://www.unimelb.edu.au/speeches/

The Human Rights Commissioner for the Council of Europe, Alvaro Gil-Robles, visited the UK to audit human rights practices. During the visit he expressed concern over the general erosion of human rights safeguards since the September 11 attacks. Specifically, he mentioned aspects of law enforcement including emergency detention powers.

The Jamestown Foundation writes of the role played by failed states in harboring militant Islamist groups, something to which Africa is particularly vulnerable.
http://www.jamestown.org/news_details.php?news_id=77

Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) was given a Man for Peace award at a meeting of Nobel peace laureates. We last reported on his expulsion from the US after being included on a no-fly list for suspected terrorists.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe held a seminar investigating issues of unbalanced population growth such as aging, health, family dynamics, population movement, and the link between demographics, the economy and the environment. http://www.osce.org/news/show_news.php?ut=2&id=4520

The NOHA European Master's in International Humanitarian Action has called for applications to the next academic year. For more information see http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/ifhv/noha. For general information on the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Scheme email and for specific information on the NOHA Programme at the Ruhr-University Bochum email

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11. Law and Legal Issues

Aitziber Sagarminaga Abad was arrested in Spain on suspicion of membership in Basque separatist group ETA.

The parents of David Boim sued two US-based Islamic charities, the Holy Land Foundation and the Islamic Association for Palestine, for raising funds to support Hamas that was responsible for the death of their son in Israel. US Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys held the two charities liable for damage. Trial will start December 1.
http://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/RACER2/index.html

Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a separatist leader, has been arrested by police in Indian-administered Kashmir ahead of a rally to protest police violence.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan's military commission trial at the US detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was suspended after a US district judge ruled he had been denied due process.
http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/district-court-recent.html

Nuriye Kesbir, alleged member of the separatist Kurdistan Workers party (PKK), had been facing extradition to Turkey on suspicion of organizing attacks against military targets in the 1990s. A Dutch court has now blocked her extradition after finding that they could not be sure she would receive a fair trial.

Michael McKevitt, leader of the Real IRA that was responsible for the 1998 Omagh bombing, has lost his application for legal aid after a judge confirmed a ruling that he had lied in his application.

Andrew Schwarmkoff was arrested in the US on multiple counts of identity fraud and credit card fraud connected with organized crime phishing schemes.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=53234&format=text

Mark Robert Walker, a Wyoming college student, was arrested in Texas and charged with providing material support to the Somali militant group al-Ittihad al-Islamiya.
http://www.ice.gov/graphics/news/newsreleases/articles/terrorist110904.htm

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12. Transportation

Korean Air is the first airline granted permission by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to carry electric stun guns (Tasers) aboard jetliners flying in US airspace.

TSA opened a comment period related to proposed rules for air cargo security. http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?theme=44&content=09000519800df673 They also issued a final rule to require airlines to provide historical passenger name record (PNR) information to TSA for testing the "Secure Flight" program. http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?theme=44&content=09000519800df71e

The US Coast Guard is hosting more than 20 countries participating in " a Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) training exercise testing maritime interdiction of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems, and related materials. Concentrating on the problems of maritime areas such as straits and canals, (hence the name "Chokepoint"), it is being held in Florida.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2004/37965.htm

The British parliament's Environment Committee has called for urgent action to ensure shipbreaking is done in a safe and secure environment rather than " being dismantled under 'wholly inadequate' conditions on beaches in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.... Standards of health, safety and environmental protection at ship breaking yards in developing countries are, by the standards of developed countries, unacceptable, particularly given that defunct ships often contain hazardous materials such as asbestos, PCBs and waste oils". http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/environment__food_and_rural_affairs/efra_pn103_041111.cfm

Pakistan is the first country in South Asia to institute machine-readable passports. They include a tamper-proof photograph and other security measures.

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13. Weapons of Mass Destruction

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei introduced the threat of nuclear terrorism to the Asia-Pacific Nuclear Safeguards and Security Conference with:
"For many centuries, security strategies have been based on boundaries: the strategic placement of cities and borders to take advantage of natural barriers; defences that relied on walls, trenches and armadas; and the use of ethnic and religious groupings or other categories to distinguish friend from foe. In the 20th Century, the advent of airplanes, submarines, ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction began to undermine this approach to security — by making borders increasingly porous, and by enabling the remote delivery of destruction on a scale previously not envisioned. But the forcing factor — the change that has altered the international security landscape so drastically that it has compelled a fundamental reevaluation of security strategies -- is, in fact, globalization. The global community has become interdependent, with the constant movement of people, ideas and goods. Many aspects of modern life -- global warming, Internet communication, the global marketplace, and yes, the rise in international terrorism -- point to the fact that the human race has walked through a door that cannot be re-entered. Our approaches to national and international security must be in keeping with this reality". http://www.iaea.or.at/NewsCenter/Statements/2004/ebsp2004n013.html

The Shinkolobwe Uranium Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo must remain closed. An investigation following a collapse in July that killed eight cobalt miners found that the combination of high levels of radiation and the risk of another collapse make it too unsafe. Shinkolobwe uranium was used in the 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=412&ArticleID=4661&l=en

The US Centers for Disease Control and state public health officials have developed a rationing plan for distribution of scarce influenza vaccines based on the number of high-priority individuals in a state, the number of doses the state has already received, and the extent of unmet needs.
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r041109.htm

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited India is voluntarily withdrawing all its antiretrovirals from World Health Organization prequalification following discovery of discrepancies in documentation relating to proof of bioequivalence with originator medicines. This deals a blow to provision of cheap generic HIV/AIDS drugs to the poor.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2004/pr79/en/

The Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses released their 2004 Report and Recommendations, finding that stress or mental illness did not explain most symptoms but there was a probable link to toxin exposure leading to neurological illnesses. During the first Gulf War troops were exposed to low levels of chemical nerve agents including sarin, pills to counter nerve agents, insect repellents and pesticides.
http://www1.va.gov/rac-gwvi/ http://www.ngvfa.com/

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14. Recently Published

Timothy Garton Ash, "Free World: America, Europe and the Surprising Future of the West" Random House

Mark Bowden, "Road Work: Among Tyrants, Heroes, Rogues and Beasts" Atlantic Monthly

Noah Feldman, "What We Owe Iraq" Princeton University Press

Nina Lugovskaya, transl. Joanne Turnbull, "The Diary of a Soviet Schoolgirl 1932-1937", Glas

Alister McGrath, "The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World" Doubleday

Kenneth Pollack, "The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America" Random House

Philip Short, "Pol Pot: The History of a Nightmare" John Murray (in the US by Henry Holt in February)

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FEATURE ARTICLE: Smallpox

Pox viruses are common, found in nearly every vertebrate and invertebrate species. Among these are beetlepox, butterflypox, flypox, mousepox, skunkpox, pigpox, goatpox, camelpox, gerbilpox, pigeonpox, toadpox, Mongolian horsepox, spectacled caiman pox, crocpox, dolphinpox, penguinpox, kangaroopoxes, raccoonpox, quokkapox, poxes in snakes and fish and many others. Chicken pox, on the other hand, is not a member of the poxviridae family.

A range of these viruses causes illness in humans. A minor infection, molluscum contagiosum, is sometimes contracted as a venereal disease. Other cases are sometimes transmitted from animals to humans, such as monkey pox and cowpox. Cowpox is notable for offering protection against the human smallpox virus, variola.

The variola virus is unique to humans. Its impact has been documented since the ancient world, sometime after 10,000 BC, including its dramatic impact on conquerors and the conquered ranging from the Assyrians to the Incas. In the 20th century, 300 million people died from the infection before it was eradicated, following an intensive worldwide vaccination campaign.

The last confirmed case of smallpox in the US occurred in 1949; the last naturally occurring case in the world in Somalia in 1977. On May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization accepted the conclusions of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication, declaring "Smallpox eradication has been achieved throughout the world. There is no evidence that smallpox will return as an endemic disease".

What happened to move smallpox from being a problem solved to a significant threat? It was the potentially deadly combination of new technology with global terrorism, and the nature of the disease itself.

Smallpox is a highly contagious disease transmitted from person to person. There are two clinical forms of smallpox. Variola major accounts for 90 percent or more of all human smallpox cases, with an overall mortality rate of 30 percent. Variola minor has death rates less than one percent. People who recover from smallpox often have serious scarring, from the large raised bumps characteristic of the disease, and other side effects including blindness.

When a person is infected with smallpox symptoms do not appear for 7 - 17 days and is not contagious. In the event of a disease outbreak this provides a substantial window of time for vaccination. However, the individual becomes infectious as symptoms appear, beginning with fever, malaise, and aches for 2-4 days. Next is a highly infectious period in which an early rash emerges with spots on the tongue and in the mouth. This lasts about four days and is the most dangerous time for passing on the infection. Next it spreads to the skin, producing the raised bumps that form a scab and leaves a pitted scar. This lasts 2 - 3 weeks. A person is infectious until the last of the scabs falls off.

Should a carrier want deliberately to infect large numbers of people, s/he would need only wait for the onset of symptoms then begin travelling to infect large numbers of people across a wide geography before any surveillance system could detect what was happening. The accidental spread of the less contagious and less deadly Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) demonstrates how easily this could happen, while the example of the 1918 flu pandemic offers yet another even more terrifying example. Since general vaccinations ended in 1972 the population is highly susceptible.

Since there are no natural reservoirs of smallpox and only small quantities are held in highly secured laboratories, there are limited ways in which smallpox could again threaten humans.

In 1999, Tara O'Toole of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health laid out one attack scenario. She introduced the topic this way:
" Smallpox virus, which is among the most dangerous organisms that might be used by bioterrorists, is not widely available. The international black market trade in weapons of mass destruction is probably the only means of acquiring the virus. Thus, only a terrorist supported by the resources of a rogue state would be able to procure and deploy smallpox. An attack using the virus would involve relatively sophisticated strategies and would deliberately seek to sow public panic, disrupt and discredit official institutions, and shake public confidence in government." She then proceeds to paint a scenario of exponential transmission and the various responses to the disaster.

This scenario proposed the black market as the only likely way to obtain smallpox. To address this risk, programs to secure labs and to retrain and employ former bioweapons scientists were undertaken. These help reduce, although not completely eliminate this risk.

The Soviet Union and the US were the primary actors in attempting to develop biological weapons. As state actors, they attempted to develop ways to maintain a biological payload that could be delivered with missiles. Biological agents do not lend themselves to this treatment and this ill-fated dream was never fully achieved. Stockpiles of biological agents have been largely destroyed or attenuated.

After the September 11 attacks, the view of risk turned to non-state actors willing to commit suicide for their cause. This dramatically changed the risk profile. Beginning with the US, countries have begun to address this threat by enhancing public health surveillance mechanisms, selective inoculation of high-risk healthcare providers and first responders, developing response plans, and financing research into safer vaccines and new treatment methods.

Research into potential bioterrorist attacks had a secondary consequence. It uncovered new ways to create deadly viruses, using genetic engineering techniques.

Mark Buller of the University of St Louis modified mousepox, rabbitpox and cowpox to create more deadly strains that can kill even those vaccinated against the disease. This research presented a real indication that pox viruses that cause only mild infections in humans - like cowpox - could be genetically engineered to create deadly diseases. This research showed how vaccines, the main defense against smallpox, could be bypassed, but were not contagious. Nonetheless, the research sparked an ongoing debate over whether such research helps or hurts biodefense efforts.

Last week the World Health Organization's Advisory Committee on Variola Virus Research weighed in with a recommendation that scientists should be allowed to conduct genetic manipulation of smallpox to speed up discovery of treatments. The recommended technique is to insert the green fluorescent protein (GFP) marker for gene expression into the virus. GFP glows under ultraviolet light and is a standard technique to help screen for potential antiviral drugs. Today's antiviral drugs (first developed to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS) are still in their infancy and only palliative treatment is available for most viral illnesses, including smallpox. Development of effective treatments is necessary in order to reduce fatality rates and the serious long-term side effects of smallpox infection.

The 20 members of the committee voted unanimously to take this step. Before doing so, additional approvals are still necessary and the final decision will be made at the World Health Assembly in May 2005. Before this time, the debate will continue over whether the threat justifies the risk, including the possibility of generating thousands of variations of natural pathogens.

Additional information on these issues can be found through the sources cited below. If you would like to weigh in on the debate, here is how to participate in the public comment:

Or contact your local public health preparedness organization.

Further Reading:

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