See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including the ISIL anthrax plot, Zika diagnostics development, and military biosafety practices.
BIODEFENSE POLICY & PRACTICES
- DHS will test bioterror airflow in New York subway system (NY Magazine)
- Military labs are too careless with deadly diseases: Report (NatGeo)
- This is what happens when our institutions fail to protect us (Time)
- HHS helping lift key hurdle in the efforts to develop better Zika diagnostics (HHS)
- CDC defends reporting of E. coli outbreaks linked to Chipotle (Reuters)
- FBI nabs man who sprayed mice poison on grocery food in Ann Arbor (DFP)
- What does climate change have to do with Zika, and how is the US responding? (Brookings)
- Florida coalition sponsors Ebola drill, practice for a medical emergency (EM)
- Impact of the flu mask regulation on HCP influenza vaccine acceptance rates (AJIC)
- How this official dealt with a government shutdown, Ebola and a heroin epidemic (Fortune)
- What’s on this year’s agenda for the “disease detectives?” (NPR)
- GOP lawmakers slam Obama plan to ‘raid’ bioterror fund for Zika (BNA)
- Zika virus and maternal and child health: Not an either / or (Bifurcated Needle)
SELECT AGENTS
- Foiled Kenya anthrax plot hints at ISIL’s scramble for Africa (FP)
- Nanoparticle adjuvant for enhanced immunogenicity of anthrax protective antigen (BC)
- Ebola outbreak highlights research gaps for children and pregnant women (NICHD)
- Vaccination strategies and outcomes during the influenza A(H1N1) pandemic (Eurosuveillance)
- Halyard denies ‘60 minutes’ allegations it sold defective Ebola protection (WSJ)
- Candidate Ebola therapy fails to improve survival in clinical trial (Pharma Journal)
- I am Zeela Zaizay, a first responder to the Ebola outbreak in Liberia (Reddit)
- Maternal health in Africa suffers disastrously post-Ebola (NonProfit Quarterly)
- Unique human immune signature of Ebola virus disease in Guinea (Nature)
- 19 suspected anthrax cases reported (Times of India)
- Treating and preventing anthrax (JAMA)
INFECTIOUS DISEASE COUNTERMEASURES
- Rapid, low-cost detection of Zika virus (Univ. of Toronto)
- Mumps outbreak at Harvard: Why do vaccinated people get sick? (Yahoo)
- Supporting new Zika therapies key to combating evolving virus (HuffPost)
- Big pharma pursues next generation of antibodies (C&EN)
- Zika vaccine efficacy trials could start in 2017 (Science)
- USDA offers $6 million for antimicrobial resistance research (CIDRAP)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- Yellow fever transmission continues in southern Africa (CIDRAP)
- Q Fever in French Guiana: Tip of the iceberg or epidemiological exception? (PLOS NTD)
- More cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) in China (WHO)
- Will dengue unravel the mystery of Zika? (Tracking Zebra)
- Here’s what the CDC is doing about the Zika virus (Brookings)
- Bacteria-infected mosquitoes could slow spread of Zika virus (NY Times)
- Zika outbreak: how an obscure disease became a global health emergency (WHO)
RESEARCH & TECH
- Lab study reveals Zika damage mechanism in fetal brain (CIDRAP)
- Immune ‘signature’ unique to Ebola fatalities identified by scientists (The Guardian)
- Harnessing the genomics revolution (Project Syndicate)
