Biosecurity

The Military Is Developing a Vaccine to Stop a Bioterrorism Agent

The government is funding a project to keep bioterrorists from spreading a pneumonia-like, often antibiotic-resistant disease to soldiers.

The vaccine has passed a one-month study with mice that found it prevented those treated from contracting melioidosis, a disease caused by contact with a bacteria typically found in Puerto Rico, Southeast Asia and northern Australia, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Chemical and Biological Technologies Department (DTRA CB) announced in a news release last week.

"For now, the DTRA CB-funded LAV [live-attenuated vaccine] shows promise of preventing melioidosis, a disease bearing an uncertain global prevalence rate and challenges in diagnosis and treatment," the agency said in the release. "A vaccine will safeguard U.S. warfighters from the disease so that they can serve the nation as needed."