See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including new bird flu outbreaks in Europe, Army-backed Zika vaccine clinical trials, and predicting the next global disease threat.
BIOPREPAREDNESS
- What’s the next global disease threat? Some predictions (STAT)
- How to steward medical countermeasures and trust in an emergency (UPMC CHS)
- Organizing, training, and resourcing for CBRNE operations (Military Review)
- Viral factors in influenza pandemic risk assessment (eLife)
- The risk of bioterrorism re-analyzed (Science Direct)
POLICY, PRACTICES & POLITICS
- Advancing the Global Health Security Agenda to combat infectious disease (WH)
- Organisation for Global Biorisk Reduction – New BWC NGO? (CBRNe World)
- Sverdlovsk, Three Mile Island, and government oversight of biological safety (Pandora Report)
- What does Donald Trump’s win mean for science and medicine? (STAT)
- EC Action Plan against the rising threats from antimicrobial resistance (EC)
- Some USAID reimbursements did not comply with legislative requirements (GAO)
- 21st century biodefence: Risks, trade-offs & responsible science (ILPI)
- Laurie Garrett: Why Trump’s win matters for global health (CFR)
- Who should direct WHO? (Science)
SELECT AGENTS
- Ebola virus and animal quarantine (Network for Public Health Law)
- A proteomics assay to detect 8 CBRN-relevant toxins in food (Proteomics)
- Comparison of MAGPIX and ELISA for detecting hemorrhagic fever viruses (ASM)
- Rapid detection of abrin in foods with up-converting phosphor technology (Sci Rep)
- Plague vaccines: Status and future (Springer)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- A radically simple idea may open the door to a new world of antibiotics (STAT)
- UN-backed cholera vaccination campaign kicks off in Haiti (UN)
- Human trials begin for Army-developed Zika vaccine (DoD)
- Malaria drugs’ complete failure tracked (BBC)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- New bird flu outbreaks reported in Germany, Switzerland, Austria (Reuters)
- Tired of MRSA and CPE? The new superbug has arrived and it’s a yeast! (ROIPC)
- Despite progress, measles kills 400 children a day – WHO (Reuters)
- Rise in drug-resistant bug that infects cystic fibrosis patients (CIDRAP)
RESEARCH & TECH
- More success fixing sickle cell gene with CRISPR (The Scientist)
- On-site detection of bioterrorism-relevant agents (Springer)
- A year into the Zika epidemics in Brazil (ReliefWeb)
- South Asia reservoir for global spread of Cipro-resistant Shigella sonnei (bioRxiv)
- Patent watch: Devices, systems and methods for surface sampling (Google)
- Plant factories for the production of monoclonal antibodies (Springer)
SPECIAL INTEREST
- Dark new comic book explores a world without antibiotics (NatGeo)
- Exemplary emergency preparedness model and promising practices (NACCHO)
- Name of a Vietnam veteran killed by hepatitis C added to ‘The Wall’ NPR)
- ‘Patient zero’: The misunderstood stories of how disease spreads (CNN)
HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS
- Bioterrorism-related inhalational anthrax in 2001 (NCBI)
- Is the plague still alive in musty 14th-century tomes? (NY Times)
- Rivers in European plague outbreak patterns, 1347-1760 (Contagions Blog)
- A giant of a man: Celebrating the life and work of D.A. Henderson (GHN)
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