Pentagon puts Ebola virus on bio-threat research list

The Pentagon is seeking new research on how to stop Ebola virus and a series of diseases and biological agents that “pose a material threat sufficient to affect the United States’ national security,” a newly filed research request shows. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which tries to counter weapons of mass destruction and other threats, wants new research to prevent or cure a variety of diseases that include: B. pseudomallei, a “gram-negative biological pathogen that causes Melioidosis,” which primarily strikes people living in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. The disease occurs naturally, the document shows, and a recent study in Thailand indicated it has a 43% mortality rate. It also has potential bio-terrorism applications. B. mallei, another pathogen that causes a disease called Glanders, which strikes people in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Central and South America. Filoviruses, such as Ebola and Marburg. Both of these viruses affect people in Africa. Ebola...