See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including stockpiling ventilators for flu pandemics, self-donning surgical suits, and the Ebola virus outbreak in DRoC.
BIOPREPAREDNESS
- WHO preparing authorization, logistics for Ebola vaccination in Congo if needed (Reuters)
- Stockpiling ventilators for influenza pandemics (CDC EID)
- Many U.S. daycare centers may lack plans for pandemic flu (Reuters)
POLICY, PRACTICES & POLITICS
- Candidate to lead the W.H.O. accused of covering up epidemic (NY Times)
- The potential for misuse in life sciences research needs to be discussed (SCNAT)
- An end to pandemics is within reach, but we must redouble efforts now (STAT)
SELECT AGENTS
- Personal protective equipment for use in a filovirus disease outbreak (WHO)
- Tackling Ebola outbreak in remote Congo presents huge challenge (Reuters)
- Mobile BSL-3 laboratory in Sierra Leone during the 2014 Ebola epidemic (PLOS)
- Isothermal solid-phase amplification system for detection of Yersinia pestis (Springer)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- 300,000 doses of Merck’s Ebola shot available for emergencies (Reuters)
- Sanofi rejects U.S. Army request for ‘fair’ pricing for a Zika vaccine (PBS)
- Chasing cures for deadly scourges, and getting in our own way (NY Times)
- WHO prepares experimental Ebola vaccine for possible first use in DRoC (STAT)
- Pharma leaders announce alliance to fight antimicrobial resistance (CIDRAP)
- A giant funder’s commitment to the global fight against superbugs (IP)
- Italy passes law obliging parents to vaccinate children (Reuters)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- WHO optimistic on controlling DRC Ebola outbreak (VOA)
- Ebola once again on the prowl as emergency teams stand ready (New Scientist)
- Study identifies rare superbug strain in Houston (CIDRAP)
- Staff screening for MDROs: closing Pandora’s Box (Reflections on IPC)
- WHO: Speed of Yemen cholera outbreak ‘unprecedented’ (Al Jazeera)
- A single mutation may explain why Zika exploded in the Americas (ARS Technica)
RESEARCH & TECH
- Changes in the diagnostics industry demand agility, innovation (STAT)
- Human proteome mapped across the cell (C&EN)
- World first self-donning system for surgical gowns (Science Daily)
SPECIAL INTEREST
- First person to sequence DNA in space: NASA astronaut Kate Rubins (ASM)
- Synthetic biology’s ties to our humanity let it elude definition (New Scientist)
HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS
- Pale rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and how it changed the world (The Times)
- How plagues help scientists puzzle out the past (Popular Science)
- Ancient protein protects bacteria from modern viral pathogens (C&EN)
- Cholera 101: An ancient disease keeps cropping up (NPR)
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