See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including WHO’s most dangerous pathogens list, rapid diagnostics for deadly outbreaks, CDC select agent lab leadership shuffle, and more…
BIODEFENSE POLICY & PRACTICES
U.S. CDC replaces lab director after pathogen incidents (Reuters)
GOF risk-benefit analysis unveiled ahead of NSABB debate (CIDRAP)
The most dangerous pathogens, according to WHO (Science)
Ebola investment boosts neglected-disease research (Nature)
Public health gets least money, but does most (USA Today)
- What do sports team physicians have to do with disaster response? (Bifurcated Needle)
- Who will manage outbreaks? A crisis looms for infectious disease specialists (STAT)
- Who got biodefense funding from DTRA this year? (Global Biodefense)
- Biological research: Rethink biosafety (Nature)
- S.1915 – First Responder Anthrax Preparedness Act (Congress.gov)
- Top U.S. lab regulator replaced in wake of incidents with bioterror pathogens (USA Today)
- Disaster response, FEMA, and the DoD: A relationship in progress (HSDL)
- WHO report on Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals (WHO)
- CDC reassigns lab regulation chief (The Scientist)
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
- US to develop machines to destroy chemical weapons in the field (Defense News)
- Tony Blair: ‘Gaddafi deal prevented Isis getting chemical weapons’ (The Guardian)
- Europe must ‘prepare for the possibility’ of an ISIS chemical attack: Report (Newsweek)
- More effective chemical weapons training for First Responders (Hazmat Nation)
SELECT AGENTS
- The role of rapid diagnostics in managing Ebola epidemics (Nature)
- Plant virus to make Ebola detection more accurate (HSNW)
- U.S. Army’s comprehensive genomic study of Ebola outbreak (Global Biodefense)
- Video: The Ebola response and permitting experience (YouTube)
- US capability for treating Ebola outbreak appears sufficient but limited (ScienceDaily)
- The unfair treatment of Ebola workers (NY Times)
- Interview with David Nabarro, Special Envoy on Ebola (UN)
INFECTIOUS DISEASE COUNTERMEASURES
- Early vaccination tied to fewer flu symptoms for health workers (Reuters)
- How a crash course in public health could lead to a big boost in NIH funding (STAT)
- First Dengue Vax Approved (The Scientist)
- US sales of livestock antibiotics rise by 23 percent: FDA (Tech Times)
- How an obscure law brought us nasal flu spray – and new conflicts of interest (STAT)
- Seasonal flu vaccination: Why don’t more Americans get it? (Rand)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- Avian flu spreads in France as official downplays risk (CIDRAP)
- Zika Virus: An Introduction (Bifurcated Needle)
- ISIS-occupied Syria is being attacked by a ‘flesh-eating’ Leishmaniasis (Inverse)
- The Zika virus is spreading across Latin America. Here’s what we know (Vox)
- Chipotle, E. coli, and more: The surprising truths about food-borne illness (STAT)
- Disease specialists identify post-Ebola threats (Nature)
- New report signals country progress in the path to malaria elimination (WHO)
- Iran swine flu outbreak kills 33 (BBC News)
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
- Shaking the nanomaterials out: New method to purify contaminated water (Phys.org)
- Low cost paper diagnostics allows one minute blood typing (MDT)
- Nanosensor array chip for medical diagnoses (FLC Newslink)
- Chemistry: Develop ionic liquid drugs (Nature)
- Turning red blood cells into versatile drug carriers (MIT Tech Review)
INDUSTRY NEWS
- Nanomedical Diagnostics announces scientific advisory board (PRWeb)
- U.S. backs high-speed manufacturing of masks for pandemics (Global Biodefense)
- Sanofi wins first dengue vaccine market approval in Mexico (Reuters)
- Verily, I swear. Google Sciences debuts a new name (STAT)
- Profectus awarded grant to develop select agent countermeasures (Global Biodefense)
- PositiveID Corporation closes transaction with Thermomedics .pdf (PositiveID)
- Hawaii Biotech receives contract to develop dengue vaccine .pdf (Hawaii Biotech)