See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including 9/11 anniversary reflections, the ongoing Zika funding standoff, and aerial surveillance of biothreats.
BIOPREPAREDNESS
- USC terrorism research expert looks at 9/11 and what the future may hold (USC)
- For first responders, 9/11 struck close to home (US News)
- Glaxo proposes biopreparedness unit for outbreaks like Zika (Bloomberg)
- Marion County Health Department conducts bio-terrorism drill (WJBD)
- Infectious disease transmission—it’s who you know and where you go (MedXpress)
- Singapore: Program to detect infectious diseases (NewsAsia)
- Quantitative comparison of quarantine and symptom monitoring (bioRxiv)
- Army goes aerial in search for bio-chem threats (Army Times)
POLICY & POLITICS
- Congress’ cynical Zika game threatens all Americans (CNN)
- Will Congress (belatedly) do the right thing on Zika? (Pump Handle)
- Zika outbreak: US Congress blocks Zika funding bill (BBC)
- Superbug explosion triggers U.N. General Assembly meeting (Scientific American)
- Nigeria outbreak forces rethink of polio strategies (Science)
- A gendered human rights analysis of Ebola and Zika (Wiley)
- Setting a safe course for gene editing research (Nanowerk)
SELECT AGENTS
- The story of ‘the Canadian vaccine’ that beat back Ebola (National Post)
- Should you worry about Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Spain? (Forbes)
- Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis causing anthrax in Sub-Saharan Africa (PLOS NTD)
- Humanized monoclonal antibody passively protects mice against ricin (ASM)
- Virus genomes reveal factors that spread and sustained Ebola epidemic (bioRxiv)
- BioCryst sees positive test results for Ebola treatment (NCBC)
- MDA reduces malaria incidence during Ebola outbreak (Healio)
- Q fever outbreak puts Australia on high alert (Global Meat News)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- To avoid antibiotic apocalypse, we need to diagnose infections faster (The Conversation)
- The dilemma in funding Zika and other pandemic therapies (Pharma Processing)
- Are vaccines getting to where they need to go? (Forbes)
- Antibiotics: Will the bugs always win? (C&EN)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- ‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll (Reuters)
- Bioterrorism expert responds to foiled Kenya anthrax attack (ONT)
- Airborne flu detection at bird markets hints at human exposure risk (CIDRAP)
- FDA’s war on antibacterial soap, Ebola viral genomes (Pandora Report)
- Swine flu doesn’t just pass from pigs to people – it goes both ways (The Conversation)
- Zika’s Persistence in the eye may play a role in spreading Zika virus (WaPo)
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
- 7 killed as scene of alleged Aleppo chlorine attack targeted again (CNN)
- Libya chemical weapons: ‘Last ingredients’ set for destruction (BBC)
- Syria conflict: Government helicopters ‘drop chlorine’ on Aleppo (BBC)
- Army begins destroying chemical weapons in Colorado (ABC)
RESEARCH & TECH
- Zika is boon to device makers as FDA recommends blood screening (C&EN)
- New gene technology could wipe out entire species — to save others (WaPo)
- New chem-bio protective ensemble in the works (NDIA)
- This Phase I could pioneer needle-free vaccines (Labiotech.eu)
HISTORICAL & SPECIAL INTEREST
- DNA confirms cause of 1665 London’s Great Plague (BBC)
- Q&A: Spillover dynamics of common viruses with bat reservoirs (Reddit)
- Plague in 6th century Aschheim and Altenerding, Bavaria (Contagions Blog)
- A pilgrim, a saracen, and a biothreat: A review of I Am Pilgrim (Tracking Zebra)
- When people ate people, a strange disease emerged (NPR)
- Traveling abroad with biosecurity internship (Hampden-Sydney)
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