New tool detects -- and neutralizes -- pathogens in mail
Using the mail as a tool for bioterror attacks may or may not kill many people, but it will paralyze a company or an organization; the psychological damage is incalculable; new tool offers mail-room protection
Boston-based BioDefense Corporation, producer of MailDefender, and Biotest Laboratories, Inc., of Minneapolis, Minnesota, have joined forces to create a new incoming mail diagnostic tool called MAIL SAFE CHECK.
BioDefense says its MailDefender is the world’s only device that kills anthrax and other dangerous substances concealed in mail in the office environment. Biotest Laboratories is using its Microbial Management (Evariology) System to ensure that dangerous pathogens found in incoming mail — anthrax, smallpox, ricin, etc. — are neutralized.
The result of the convergence of these two technologies is MAIL SAFE CHECK, a fast and relatively inexpensive method to determine whether incoming mail could be affected with dangerous pathogens.
MAIL SAFE CHECK at a glance
Mailroom, security, and executives concerned with protection of employees from harmful substances sign up for MAIL SAFE CHECK to receive the anti-bioterrorism Sterilization Challenger Test Pack. The tool tests the mail security process, and the user sends the test pack to Biotest Laboratories for confirmation. Within a few days, the user will receive a report identifying a security vulnerability susceptible to pathogens, from H1N1, which “lives” on everyday paper, to more frightening substances such as smallpox, ricin, and more.
MAIL SAFE CHECK is available at $999, including shipping and handling, at www.mailsafecheck.com or a company’s preferred security vendor.
According to John Meyer, BioDefense president, “Anthrax attacks — either as a hoax, or the very deadly real thing — are a continual headache to the security community, because this dangerous pathogen is easily sent through the mail. MailDefender is the ONLY equipment that actually kills dangerous bio-pathogens and is now rated capable of killing weaponized anthrax, one of the deadliest organisms available in the bio-terrorism arsenal. H1N1, smallpox, SARS, avian flu, and many other dangerous substances can now be killed in a user’s office location.”
Biotest Laboratories president Gregg Mosley, an expert in sterilization of medical products, said, “We have created a system for ‘Managing Microbes’ based on principles of Evariology that allows trending and tracking of problematic organisms for medical manufacturers. It is a risk management process involving proactive bioburden monitoring devices and production environment, allowing identification and prevention of the root causes of contamination. Application of these same principles is the core of MAIL SAFE CHECK to identify various attack organisms or toxins and potentially predict what biological weapon may be used by terrorists and where such an attack could occur,” explained Mosley.
