See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including pandemic preparedness funding, Ebola vaccine trials, and the CRISPR patent battle.
BIODEFENSE POLICY & PRACTICES
- Congress should allocate money to fight Zika (NY Times)
- US public health preparedness for Zika and other threats remains vulnerable (DMPHP)
- Confronting the pandemic threat (Democracy Journal)
- Preparing for emergencies: A legal perspective (CDC)
- Virological Hiroshima, lessons from Ebola and Zika, Master’s Open House (Pandora Report)
- Study finds donor funds fall short for key global health functions (UCSF)
- Sanofi science chief says it’s time to ‘think big’ about global epidemics like Zika (STAT)
- The risks and rewards of genome editing resonate beyond the clinic (Nature)
SELECT AGENTS
- Protective monotherapy against Ebola by a potently neutralizing antibody (Science)
- Lassa fever death rates in Nigeria higher than expected (CNN)
- Next generation antibiotics could protect against bioterrorism (Lab Equipment)
- New Ebola cases in Guinea as WHO warns of more possible flare ups (WHO)
- The need-to-know guide to botulism, for safe canning and preserving (Food52)
- Trials of a new vaccine for Ebola to take place at Guinea medical center (PR Newswire)
- Review of risk factors for transmission of Ebola or Marburg virus disease (IJE)
INFECTIOUS DISEASE COUNTERMEASURES
- Over half of measles cases in U.S. are unvaccinated — often intentionally (Forbes)
- U.S. made dengue vaccine 100 percent effective in small study (Reuters)
- Infectious disease holding units installed at four border posts in Ghana (IOM)
- Anti-vax parents on trial for death of child treated with herbal remedy for meningitis (WaPo)
- Experts call for clinical trials rethink (Univ of Edinburgh)
- Quantifying the impact of the unvaccinated (Clinicians’ Biosecurity News)
- Pew, Others Urge Increased Funding to Combat Superbugs (PEW)
- Toward high-reliability vaccination efforts in the United States (JAMA)
CHEMICAL THREATS
- Almost 1,500 killed in chemical weapons attacks in Syria (The Guardian)
- Were you exposed to burn pits while deployed? (VA)
- Crowd control with chemical agents: Fundamental questions raised (The Trench)
- Course on chemical warfare agents, toxic chemical incidents held in Lima (OPCW)
- Anhydrous ammonia and land use planning (CFSN)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- The Zika pandemic – A perfect storm? (PLOS NTD)
- Q&A with Scott Halstead: Zika will subside in ‘5 years, max’ (Science)
- Predicting Zika’s potential path (The Scientist)
- Rise in scarlet fever cases shows 49-year high, health experts say (BBC)
- South Korea resumes poultry exports to Hong Kong (Reuters)
- WHO emergency vector control group meets in Geneva (CIDRAP)
- Once and future epidemics: Zika virus emerging (Science)
- American food safety: Who’s watching the chickens? (Politico)
HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS
- The unfolding of polio (NY Times)
- The plagues that might have brought down the Roman Empire (The Atlantic)
