See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics like the rise of untreatable infections, the deadliest outbreaks in history, biodefense preparations for the Olympics, and more…
When Superbugs Attack
Some of modern medicine’s most heralded interventions — from routine surgeries to organ transplants and cancer treatments — may soon be too dangerous. The viability of these procedures hinges on physicians’ ability to use antibiotics to swiftly vanquish any bacterial infections that might arise. Foreign Affairs
The 10 Deadliest Outbreaks in U.S. History Revisited
Added to the revised list is a 1903 outbreak of typhoid fever in Ithaca, NY, which caused 82 deaths, among them 29 Cornell University students. Ithaca’s public water became polluted with Salmonella typhi, and a filtration plant had not been constructed before a nearby dam project commenced to increase capacity. Food Safety News
London Prepares for Olympian Disease Monitoring Task
As the world’s athletes limber up for the forthcoming Olympic games in London, infectious-disease experts are preparing for their own trials. Their competition is with the diseases that millions of athletes, officials, media and spectators bring with them as they converge from across the globe on the UK capital. Nature
We’re Letting Our Bioterorrism Defenses Down
The truth is that America remains vulnerable to an attack that could kill hundreds of thousands. Terrorists could spray Bacillus anthracis from crop-dusters over football stadiums. Or they could send intentionally infected fanatics out to spread the smallpox virus through a crowded city, doing far more damage than a brigade of suicide bombers. A “Bio-Response Report Card” study, issued last October by the Bipartisan WMD Terrorism Research Center, concluded, “The nation does not yet have adequate bio-response capability to meet fundamental expectations during a large-scale biological event.” The study gives grades of “D” to “detection and diagnosis” and “medical counter-measure availability” for a major bioterror attack. Forbes
Is Wind Spreading a Mysterious Disease Across the Pacific?
Scientists don’t know much about the cause of Kawasaki disease –a disease of blood vessel inflammation most commonly found in Japan–but they do know one thing: Japanese outbreaks are highly correlated with winds from central Asia. When those same winds blow thousands of miles across the Pacific to Hawaii and California, Kawasaki disease ends up there too. The disease affects generally children under the age of five. Blood vessels through the body become inflamed, leading to rashes, a characteristic “strawberry tongue,” and death in some untreated cases. Discover
Dengue Virus Turns on Mosquito Gene That Makes Them Hungrier
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have, for the first time, shown that infection with dengue virus turns on mosquito genes that makes them hungrier and better feeders, and therefore possibly more likely to spread the disease to humans. Specifically, they found that dengue virus infection of the mosquito’s salivary gland triggered a response that involved genes of the insect’s immune system, feeding behavior and the mosquito’s ability to sense odors. The researchers findings are published in the March 29 edition of PLoS Pathogens. Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Handheld Plasma Flashlight Rids Skin of Pathogens
A group of Chinese and Australian scientists have developed a handheld, battery-powered plasma-producing device that can rid skin of bacteria in an instant. The device could be used in ambulance emergency calls, natural disaster sites, military combat operations, and many other instances where treatment is required in remote locations. Homeland Security News Wire