See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including the race for Zika countermeasures, thermostable vaccine development, and rapid assays for botulinum neurotoxins.
BIODEFENSE POLICY & PRACTICES
- Gene wars: targeted mutations will spawn unique dangers, and soon (Forbes)
- Partisan split threatens progress on bill to speed drug approvals (STAT)
- Improving DHS’ biological detection and surveillance programs (House.gov)
- Christie calls for quarantining people returning from Zika-stricken Brazil (STAT)
- Army dodged catastrophe in anthrax scandal (Military.com)
- U.S. health secretary to brief lawmakers on efforts over Zika virus (Reuters)
- Firefighters and haz-mat response (Firefighter Nation)
- USDA, Obama commit to food safety research (Food Safety News)
- Expert warns of anthrax repeat without security improvements (Stars & Stripes)
SELECT AGENTS
- Rapid microfluidic assay for botulinum neurotoxin in animal sera (MDPI)
- Ghana assesses Ebola preparedness at points of entry (IOM)
- Why it’s wrong to compare Zika to Ebola (The Conversation)
- Naval Station practices response to potential ricin attack (Chicago Tribune)
- Real-time, portable genome sequencing for Ebola surveillance (Nature)
- Murine toxin from Y. pestis shows high toxicity and β-adrenergic blocking (Science Direct)
- Poisonous ornamental plants to avoid in community gardens (Grand Forks Herald)
- LAMP1 binding of the Lassa virus glycoprotein spike (PLOS Pathogens)
- Characterization of thermophilic lipase from Burkholderia pseudomallei (AASCIT)
- Attenuation of a select agent-excluded B. pseudomallei capsule mutant (Science Direct)
- Modeling the hazards associated with botulinum neurotoxin in food (ASM)
- Sensing a Bacillis anthracis biomarker with EuTta3Phen (JMC)
- Sandoval County woman hospitalized with hantavirus (SFNM)
INFECTIOUS DISEASE COUNTERMEASURES
- Less than half of U.S. kids under age two fully vaccinated against flu (Reuters)
- Can thermostable vaccines help address cold-chain challenges? (Vaccine)
- Narcolepsy boy wins £120k swine flu vaccine damages (BBC News)
- Planes arriving from Zika-infected regions to be sprayed with insecticides (HSNW)
- UTSA researcher receives 670K grant to fight malaria (EurekAlert)
- Companies announce new Zika vaccine initiatives (CIDRAP)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- Zika: what we’re still missing (Aetiology)
- U of M study says farmers may have aided bird flu’s spread (Star Tribune)
- Urine found to contain infectious Zika virus…again… (Virology Down Under)
- Mapping Zika: From a monkey in Uganda to a growing global concern (NPR)
- Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus update (WHO)
- Few Zika samples are being shared by Brazil, worrying international research (STAT)
- Take those food-outbreak headlines with a grain of salt (Fortune)
- First autopsy of MERS patient reveals extensive lung damage (CIDRAP)
- CDC sees major challenges ahead in the fight against Zika (NPR)
- Zika infection transmitted by sex reported in Texas (NY Times)
- What we know so far about sexual transmission of Zika Virus (NPR)
INDUSTRY NEWS
- Global Health Investment Fund provides capital to Atomo Diagnostics (BW)
- Leidos to research chemical detection (AFCEA)
- Bharat Biotech says working on two possible Zika vaccines (Reuters)
- A Md. biotech firm claims it can track Zika virus by testing mosquitoes (WP)
- Drugmaker Sanofi Pasteur launches effort for Zika vaccine (Seattle Times)
- Luminex reports fourth quarter and full year 2015 results (Luminex)
- Takeda assembles team to evaluate Zika vaccine possibilities (Bloomberg)
- Co-Diagnostics prepares Zika virus diagnostics proposal (PRWeb)
- Pfizer, J&J, Merck evaluating technologies for Zika vaccine (Reuters)
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
- What else makes DARPA tick (Science)
- Getting the word out on your research (The Scientist)
- Planning for a disease outbreak? There’s a game for that (Medical Design Technology)
- Companies make the antibodies, but it’s up to you to make sure they work (The Scientist)
- The innovative suitcase lab that could fight the Zika virus (Nextgov)
- Antibody Alternatives: Nucleic acid aptamers and protein scaffolds (The Scientist)
RADIOLOGICAL & NUCLEAR THREATS
- The chilling truth about polonium poisoning (The Guardian)
- Nuclear, chemical agents could be slipping through Canadian ports (Chem.info)
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