See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including pandemic vaccination strategies, bioterrorism algorithms, and Zika vaccine development.
BIOPREPAREDNESS
- Next flu pandemic could double past cost estimates (Science Daily)
- Half of Americans say threats from infectious diseases are growing (Pew Research)
- Australia uses bioterrorism algorithm to predict flu outbreak (GovInsider)
- Biopreparedness collaborative expanding capabilities in W. Africa (USAMRMC)
- Jim Yong Kim: A plan to deal with the next pandemic (WaPo)
- Managing infection control in a disaster (Infection Control)
- War against killer diseases (BCCJ Acumen)
- NAM’s concern at spread of Pandemic (New Delhi Times)
- Emerging pandemic threats (USAID)
POLICY & POLICTICS
- Congress takes a vacation without doing anything about Zika (NY Times)
- Pathogens, prejudice, and politics in the European refugee crisis (The Lancet)
- This is how the U.S. must lead the fight against Zika (WaPo)
- Kansas OKs merger of Bioscience Authority with Commerce (LJ World)
- The Zika crisis: How Congress abandoned its duty to govern (LA Times)
- See you in September, funding fights (Politico)
SELECT AGENTS
- Over 20 countries suitable for Ebola transmission by bats (Science Daily)
- The art of persistence – the secrets to Burkholderia chronic infections (P&D)
- Cutaneous anthrax on eyelid in a pregnant woman (EJOM)
- Nitric oxide production contributes to Bacillus anthracis edema toxin (AJP Heart)
- Rapid and sensitive multiplex detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei (PLOS)
- Anthrax kills four animals in northeastern Bulgaria (Outbreak News)
- Obiltoxaximab prevents disseminated Bacillus anthracis infection (ASM)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- Prime-boost H5 vaccination strategy could help in pandemic (CIDRAP)
- Three-drug combinations could help counter antibiotic resistance (UCLA)
- An Army specialist helps create a possible Zika vaccine (Health.mil)
- Scientists scour the globe for a drug to kill deadly brain-eating amoeba (STAT)
- Fatal MERS in Najran as study pans convalescent plasma (CIDRAP)
- DoD guidance for the 2016-2017 annual influenza immunization program (Vaccines.mil)
- WHO ranks antibiotics for stewardship efforts (CIDRAP)
- Democratic Republic of Congo launches yellow fever vaccination drive (Reuters)
- ‘Winner Antibody’ holds promise as universal Influenza A vaccine (LaBioTech.eu)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- Zika mystery widens as Utah caregiver contracts virus (Reuters)
- Sentinel surveillance of blood borne virus testing in England: 2015 (Gov.UK)
- NOIDs weekly report on infectious diseases (Gov.UK)
- Second case of Zika in Florida may have come from local mosquitoes (STAT)
- CRISPR concerns, the rise of HIV cases & foodborne illness galore (Pandora Report)
- Zika epidemic may have peaked but will threaten U.S. for years (NPR)
- PLoS One: Pathology of A/H10N7 in harbor seals (Avian Flu Diary)
- Zika: An increasingly frustrating unknown unknown (Tracking Zebra)
CHEMICAL THREATS
- UN authorizes offshore disposal of Libya’s chemical weapons (DW)
- Boris Johnson calls for UN help with destroying Libya’s chemical weapons (CTV)
- Man arrested after allegedly placing chemical weapon at Oxnard Wal-Mart (KTLA)
- New method helps identify chemical warfare agents (HSNW)
INDUSTRY NEWS
- Investor sues Emergent BioSolutions over demand for anthrax vaccine (WBJ)
- Yisheng Biopharma announces positive results on Ebola vaccine (PR Newswire)
- Israeli biopharma joins NIH to develop Ebola treatment (LaBioTech)
- First CRISPR trial in humans is reported to start next month (STAT)
HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS
- Legacy of pandemics: mutations that protect against infectious disease (PLoS)
- The discovery of trench fever, an emerging disease of World War 1 (The Lancet)
- Ceremony honors Revolutionary War soldiers who died of smallpox (MM)
- Soviet biological weapons program and its legacy in today’s Russia (INSS)
- Ancient parasite remains a modern scourge (SciDevNet)
SPECIAL INTEREST
- Naples man writes bioterrorism thriller about fictional local hero (Naples Daily)
- A review of Zika: The Emerging Epidemic by Donald McNeil (Tracking Zebra)
