The same year (as later revealed) MBPI changed both the fermenters and the filters used in manufacturing AVA without notifying the FDA, thus reportedly causing a 100 fold increase in the PA levels present in vaccine lots.Only several thousand people had ever received the vaccine up to 1991 when — coincident with Saddam Husseins invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent Gulf War — MBPI and the U.S. Army entered into an agreement for the manufacture of the vaccine. Later that year, the Army awarded MBPI the Commanders Award for Public Service for their efforts in supplying the US military with increased amounts of AVA for use during the conflict in which the use of anthrax bio-weapons by Iraq had been anticipated. Initial use in US military (1991-1997)
Use of AVA expanded dramatically in 1991, when the US military, concerned that Iraq possessed anthrax bioweapons, administered it to some 150,000 service members deployed for the Gulf War. Hussein never deployed his bio-weapons, but subsequent confirmation of an Iraqi bioweapons program — including 8,500 liters of concentrated anthrax spores (6,500 liters of it filled into munitions) — came in 1995 and later when the Iraqi government began to fully disclose the scope and scale of the effort, which it had pursued since the 1980s. Meanwhile, MBPI fell afoul of FDA inspectors and reviewers when it failed inspections (1993, 1997) and received warning letters (1995) and Notices of Intention to Revoke (1997) from the agency.
Abruzzo–Erickson syndrome is an extremely rare disorder characterized by deafness, protruding ears, coloboma, a cleft palate or palatal rugosity, radial synostosis, and short stature. It was first characterized by Abruzzo and Erickson in 1977 as a CHARGE like syndrome as variably expressed among a family of two brothers, their mother, and their maternal uncle. Members of this family exhibited many of the CHARGE symptoms, but notably did not have choanal atresia and the brothers experienced typical genital development. Due to the recent discovery of this disorder, its etiology is not fully known but it is understood that it arises from mutations on the TBX22 gene on the X-chromosome. The disorder is inherited in an X-linked recessive manner. There is currently no known cure but its symptoms can be treated. Signs and Symptoms
Abruzzo-Erikson syndrome is characterized by cleft palate, coloboma, hypospadias, deafness, short stature, and radial synostosis. There are also additional symptoms that are very similar to CHARGE syndrome such as large and protruding ears, wide spacing between the second and third fingers, ulnar deviation, facial asymmetry, dental abnormalities, and congenital heart malformation. However, in contrast to CHARGE syndrome, patients with Abruzzo-Erikson syndrome do not display intellectual disability, choanal atresia, or genital hypoplasia. As with most diseases, the symptoms will vary from person to person. Genetics
While the complete etiology is not fully known, Abruzzo-Erickson Syndrome arises in part due to mutations on the TBX22 gene, a gene that is located on the X-chromosome (around 80,014,753 to 80,031,774 bp), and is inherited in an X-linked recessive manner.