Clinical laboratories, the select agent program, and biological surety (biosurety).

The threat of bioterrorism has led to increased concerns over the availability of biological select agents and toxins (BSAT). Congress has implemented several public laws that have led to the development of federal regulations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Department of Agriculture. The CDC regulation 42 CFR 73 has a direct impact on all clinical laboratories that may at some time identify BSAT in a clinical specimen.

Nuclear, biological, and chemical combined injuries and countermeasures on the battlefield.

The Armed Forces Radiobiological Research Institute (AFRRI) has developed a research program to determine the major health risks from exposure to ionizing radiation in combination with biological and chemical warfare agents and to assess the extent to which exposure to ionizing radiation compromises the effectiveness of protective drugs, vaccines, and other biological and chemical warfare prophylactic and treatment strategies. AFRRI's Defense Technology Objective MD22 supports the development of treatment modalities and studies to assess the mortality rates for combined injuries from exposure to ionizing radiation and Bacillus anthracis, and research to provide data for casualty prediction models that assess the health consequences of combined exposures. In conjunction with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, our research data are contributing to the development of casualty prediction models that estimate mortality and incapacitation in an environment of radiation exposure plus other weapons of mass destruction.

Radiophobia: long-term psychological consequences of Chernobyl.

The primary health effect of Chernobyl has been widespread psychological distress in liquidators (workers brought in for cleanup), evacuees, residents of contaminated areas, and residents of adjacent noncontaminated areas. Several psychoneurological syndromes characterized by multiple unexplained physical symptoms including fatigue, sleep and mood disturbances, impaired memory and concentration, and muscle and/or joint pain have been reported in the Russian literature. These syndromes, which resemble chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, are probably not due to direct effects of radiation because they do not appear to be dose related to radiation exposure and because they occur in areas of both high and low contamination.