See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including health emergency readiness grades, biodefense S&T, and CDC quarantine regulations.
BIOPREPAREDNESS
- 26 states, DC get poor grades on health emergency readiness (Local10)
- World Health Organization rethinks its response to disease outbreaks (Nature)
- Biological time bombs: Likelihood of bioterrorism and biowarfare (CBRNe Portal)
- Incremental progress not enough to handle biological emergencies (Blue Ribbon)
POLICY, PRACTICES & POLITICS
- Homeland Biodefense Science and Technology Capability Review (White House)
- ‘Gene drive’ moratorium shot down at UN biodiversity meeting (Nature)
- Federal powers to control communicable conditions: Call for reforms (Health Security)
- World’s deadliest microorganisms may soon be studied in Boston (WCVB)
- Proposed CDC quarantine regulations risk damaging public health (HealthAffairs)
- CDP suspends all biological, chemical operations temporarily (Anniston Star)
- NIH discusses curbing lab size to fund more midcareer scientists (Science)
- The case for global health security (CDC)
SELECT AGENTS
- Vaccine would protect people from Ebola, ‘Lancet’ reports (NPR)
- New Ebola vaccine gives 100 percent protection (NY Times)
- Ebola might not make some people sick, study finds (NBC News)
- Marburg virus hamster model accurately recapitulates hemorrhagic fever (Nature)
- Yeast reporter assay to identify cellular components of ricin toxin A (MDPI)
- New strategy for full-length Ebola virus glycoprotein expression in E.coli (Springer)
- Visual screening and programmable subtype classification of EVD biomarkers (Wiley)
- B. pseudomallei typical and atypical lipopolysaccharide strain typing (ASTMH)
- Detection of B. anthracis using immunomagnetic separation and amperometry (MDPI)
- Effect of botulinum toxin on vasoconstriction and sympathetic neurotransmitters (Wiley)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- The grim forecast of antimicrobial resistance (Pandora Report)
- New types of antibiotics are key to fighting drug-resistant bacteria (PEW)
- Generic copy of Roche flu pill Tamiflu hits U.S. market (Reuters)
- Impact of the newly licensed dengue vaccine in endemic countries (PLOS)
- UConn researchers kill MRSA with tailored chemistry (UConn Today)
- US Army Zika vaccine license to Sanofi raises questions (STAT)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- How hospitals, nursing homes keep ‘superbug’ outbreaks secret (TRF)
- Chances of Zika outbreak in India high, warns expert (Deccan Herald)
- Cholera cases in Yemen – Surveillance, forecasting and response update (WHO)
- NY mycology laboratory testing for emerging fungal pathogen (Wadsworth)
- Montenegro reports its first H5N8 detection (CIDRAP)
- Angola declares end to world’s worst yellow fever epidemic in decades (TRF)
- El Niño and global warming blamed for Zika spread (Scientific American)
RESEARCH & TECH
- Compact CRISPR systems found in some of world’s smallest microbes (Phys.org)
- BaDx portable diagnostics and rapid germination (Sandia)
- Early warning of biological threats via surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (MDPI)
- Behavioral change models for infectious disease transmission 2010–15 (Royal Society)
- Scientists develop device to detect 17 different diseases (The Telegraph)
- Human monkeypox: Current state and future implications (MDPI)
- Development of electrochemical biosensor for detection of saxitoxin (Wiley)
- Zika triggers call for more arbovirus research (CIDRAP)
SPECIAL INTEREST
- Training opportunity in transboundary animal diseases (IIAD)
- Perspectives on achieving successful communications for ID threats (Maryn McKenna)
HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS
- Ancient DNA reveals genetic legacy of pandemics in the Americas (The Guardian)
- Smallpox as an actual biothreat: Lessons learned 1972 Yugoslavia (ResearchGate)
- The Stone Age plague: 1000 years of persistence in Eurasia (BioRxiv)
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