Biodefense Headlines – Botched Zika Testing, CDC’s Quarantine Program, PCR Detection of Abrin

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)