See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including agro-terrorism threats, botched Zika testing, and the CDC’s quarantine program.
POLICY, PRACTICES & POLITICS
- The last mile: endgame challenges in disease eradication (WUSTL)
- Protecting public health evidence in an adversarial environment (Medium)
- 50 years of keeping bugs at bay: inside the CDC’s quarantine program (STAT)
- Lessons learned from Zika response: Q&A with NCEZID’s Lyle Petersen (APHA)
- Agro-terrorism threats addressed in House, Senate bills (HS Today)
- An economic and policy framework for pandemic control and prevention (TAMU)
- Botched Zika testing at D.C. lab was a failure of ‘basic arithmetic’ (WaPo)
- Will an American-led anti-vaccine movement subvert global health? (SciAm)
BIOPREPAREDNESS
- If disaster strikes, how is DoD prepared to help? (GAO WatchBlog)
- Deadly, drug-resistant ‘superbugs’ pose huge threat, W.H.O. says (NU Times)
- How China can stop the world’s next pandemic (Japan Times)
- Glaring gaps: America needs a biodefense upgrade (BOTAS)
SELECT AGENTS
- Abrin gene detection, using polymerase chain reaction (JABR)
- The evolving chemical/biological terrorism threat (Domestic Preparedness)
- Man’s Ebola claims briefly shut down port authority bus terminal (NBC4 New York)
- The Ebola pandemic: meaning, origins, and the pathways (Springer)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- New antibodies to target the respiratory syncytial virus (Labiotech)
- Characteristics of zoonotic influenza viruses and vaccine development (WHO)
- Federal ethics panel rejects proposal for human Zika challenge study (CIDRAP)
- Fighting bioterrorism, disease: ‘Radically redesigned’ antibiotics show promise (GLP)
- Brazil’s dengue vaccine in jeopardy (Science)
- Ethics panel blocks proposed Zika vaccine research (STAT)
- Progress on malaria vaccines (NIH)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- WHO’s first-ever list of the dirty dozen superbugs (NPR)
- Human cases of bird flu are surging, alarming public health officials (STAT)
- WHO analysis spotlights resistance in H7N9 gene changes (CIDRAP)
- Testing program monitors stability of vaccines for neglected tropical diseases (ICT)
- UN sees bird flu changes but calls risk of people spread low (AP)
- The increasing pandemic potential of H7N9 avian influenza (CBN)
RESEARCH & TECH
- DIY gene editing gets faster, cheaper, and more worrisome (Pandora Report)
- Genetic tool maps how deadly viruses spread around the world in real time (Quartz)
- NIST patents first DNA method to authenticate mouse cell lines (NIST)
- Insect-zapping laser “fence” prepares for first enemy contact (MIT Tech Review)
- How community paramedics use point-of-care devices (EMS1)
SPECIAL INTEREST
- Center for Health Security announces 2017 Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity (CHS)
- Want to eradicate viruses? They made us who we are (The Conversation)
- Bicyclist killed on Riverview Drive was SLU expert on bioterrorism (STL Post)
- Synthetic biology to help colonize Mars (PLOS SynBio)
- ASU associate director continues to make waves in biosafety field (ASU Now)
- Can salted doorknobs prevent superbug infections? (The Atlantic)
HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS
- How World War I revolutionized medicine (The Atlantic)
- The fashioning of mortality in 18th century smallpox pamphlets (Springer)
- Environmental microbial forensics and archaeology of past pandemics (NCBI)
- Plague and lethal epidemics in the pre-industrial world (Cambridge)