Anthrax Emergency......Universal Detection Technology Responds to Declaration of Anthrax Emergency
Universal Detection Technology Offers Early Point and Standoff Anthrax Detection
LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 10/21/08 -- Universal Detection Technology (www.udetection.com) (OTCBB: UNDT) (Frankfurt: PO8), a developer of early-warning monitoring technologies to protect people from bioterrorism and other infectious health threats and provider of counter-terrorism consulting and training services, responds to the effectiveness of anthrax emergency in the US until 2015.
Bioterror experts warn that an attack is only going to become easier to launch as the work that has spawned countless new biotech medical treatments continues to advance. "Unfortunately, there's going to be a dark side," says Randall Larsen, Director of the Institute for Homeland Security, a Virginia-based think tank. The biotech revolution, he said, is making it "easier for non-state actors to develop sophisticated bioweapons."
Yesterday at least five branches of Chase Bank in Colorado and Oklahoma received threatening letters, some containing an unidentified white powder. Fire Marshal Kevin Ferry of the Cunningham Fire Protection District near Denver said the powder in one package was found to be harmless, though the substance had yet to be identified. A police department spokesman in nearby Lakewood, Steve Davis, said a white substance found on a parcel there appeared not to be dangerous and resembled talcum powder.
"The biggest bioterrorism threat facing the world is an attack with anthrax spores. Anthrax is the only agent used against the US and the most likely one to be used in potential future attacks due to the simplicity to produce. Casualties caused by and attack with 2 pounds of weapons grade anthrax can be in the hundreds of thousands. The Government is well aware of this threat and the anthrax emergency is an evidence of the need to be vigilant and ready to contain a potential threat before disaster," said Mr. Jacques Tizabi, UNDT's Chief Executive Officer.
It is noteworthy that the anthrax emergency is not declared due to an immediate concern and an imminent attack but that authorities are aware that there could be an emergency in the future for which the nation has to be ready.
UNDT's handheld assays are capable of detecting up to five bioterrorism agents in a suspicious sample. The company recently announced that it has received purchase orders for these assays from the DHS and the Federal Aviation Administration. UNDT's autonomous anthrax detection system, the BSM-2000, is designed by NASA's JPL to independently monitor the air and sound an alarm if abnormal levels of bacterial spores such as anthrax are sensed. The Government of England has purchased UNDT's BSM-2000 in the past.
There have been no cases of human anthrax reported this year in the US, but the DHS imposes blanket anthrax emergency for the next seven years. The emergency was declared earlier this month by the department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and will last until 2015.
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About Universal Detection Technology
Universal Detection Technology is a developer of monitoring technologies, including bioterrorism detection devices. The Company on its own and with development partners is positioned to capitalize on opportunities related to Homeland Security. For example, the Company, in cooperation with NASA, has developed a bacterial spore detector that detects certain biohazard substances. The Company is also a reseller of handheld assays used for detection of five bioterrorism agents, radiation detection systems, and antimicrobial products. For more information, please visit www.udetection.com.