See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including accidental use of deadly ricin at federal training center, practical approaches to biosecurity, and rapid detection of orthopoxviruses.
SELECT AGENTS
- Emergency trainees mistakenly exposed to deadly ricin (USA Today)
- Striking against bioterrorism with advanced proteomics and reference methods (Proteomics)
- Vaccinia virus immunomodulator A46: A lipid and protein-binding scaffold (PLOS)
- Persistence and clearance of Ebola virus RNA from seminal fluid of survivors (The Lancet)
- Winnipeg lab to boost precautions for workers after Ebola virus incident (CBC News)
- Rapid POC detection of orthopoxviruses by ABICAP immunofiltration (Virology)
- Plague in domestic cats — Idaho, 2016 (MMWR)
- US officials report better than 99% success in Ebola monitoring (CIDRAP)
- Quinolinol inhibitors mitigate the effects of botulinum neurotoxin A (ACS)
- FDA review of the 2014 discovery of vials labeled variola (FDA)
BIOPREPAREDNESS
- Pathogens are exploiting new conditions to emerge in new places (Science News)
- UPMC releases casebook for ensuring MCM stewardship in an emergency (NACCHO)
- The Global Virome Project: The beginning of the end of the pandemic era (World Affairs)
- Can CRISPR be used as biological weapon tool in war? (IBT)
- Modeling tool for decision support during early days of an anthrax event (EID)
- An efficient and practical approach to biosecurity (Centre for Biosecurity)
POLICY, PRACTICES & POLITICS
- Biodefense and the next presidency (Bulletin Atomic)
- Francis Collins on Obama, dealing with Congress, and his one regret (STAT)
- Interagency cooperation is the key to an effective pandemic response (The Lancet)
- Podcast interview: Joe Lieberman on bioterrorism (Smerconish)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- As ‘superbugs’ strengthen, an alarming lack of new weapons to fight them (Reuters)
- Russian Ebola vaccine passes clinical trials, health watchdog says (TASS)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- Finding the world’s unknown viruses — before they find us (STAT)
- “Nightmare bacteria” with quick-spreading capabilities found on US pig farm (PH)
- Study finds wider spread, longer persistence in 4th wave of H7N9 cases (CIDRAP)
- South Korea raises bird flu alert to highest level for first time (Reuters)
- Avian influenza and global trade conditions (Pandora Report)
- H5N8 avian flu continues to spread in Hungary (CIDRAP)
- Monitoring and preventing congenital Zika syndrome (NEJM)
RESEARCH & TECH
- PathSensors launches biodetection solution for mail security screening (PRWeb)
- Mutations acquired trans-Pacific may be key to changes in Zika severity (UNC Charlotte)
- With latest Zika research, our picture of the virus gets cloudier (STAT)
- To fight malaria, scientists try genetic engineering to wipe out mosquitoes (NPR)
- Two studies highlight risk of fetal Zika damage (CIDRAP)
SPECIAL INTEREST
- College students try to hack a gene drive — and set a science fair abuzz (STAT)
- Mongolia keeps animal diseases at bay with the help of nuclear technologies (IAEA)
- Ushering in a new paradigm: My thoughts on ‘The Human Super-Organism’ (TZ)
- Tonight’s top story: Ebola and the news media (Bifurcated Needle)
HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS
- Why doctors still worry about measles (NY Times)
- The landscape epidemiology of historic infectious disease (T&F Online)
- 17th century variola virus reveals the recent history of smallpox (Cell)
- In memoriam: Donald Ainslie Henderson, 1928–2016 (AJE)
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