See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including the intensifying DURC debate in light of the horsepox synthesis, highly pathogenic avian flu outbreaks, and the appointment of a new CDC director.
POLICY, PRACTICES & POLITICS
- Researchers reconstituted an extinct poxvirus using mail-order DNA (Science)
- Important questions we should be asking in the wake of horsepox synthesis (BN)
- Extinct virus recreated, triggering new warnings about controversial research (STAT)
- Public transit emergency preparedness against Ebola and other diseases (PR)
- Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald is named new CDC director (STAT)
- G20 summit: act now in the fight against epidemics (Wellcome)
- 26 key bioterrorism jobs the Trump administration has not yet filled (WaPo)
- Agro-terrorism bill signed by President (Feedstuffs)
- To fight next Ebola, G20 need to empower response to everyday challenges (Devex)
- Proposed budget is largest cut to health security programs in over a decade (CHS)
- U.S. sanctions North Koreans linked to weapons of mass destruction (UPI)
SELECT AGENTS
- Phenology supports eco-environmental hypothesis for Ebola spillover events (BioRxiv)
- Detoxification of castor seed meal in finishing diets for lambs (Science Direct)
- Preventing plague-associated prairie dog colony collapse (Springer)
- WHO target product profile for Lassa virus vaccine (WHO)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- Emergency polio vaccinations considered in Raqqa (STAT)
- Genomic vaccines fight disease in ways not possible before (SciAm)
- The next generation of weapons against antibiotic-resistant superbugs (COSMOS)
- NIAID-funded trial counters current thinking about AMR treatment (NIAID)
- FluBlok: Not your father’s flu vaccine (Tracking Zebra)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- Proliferation of bird flu outbreaks raises risk of human pandemic (Reuters)
- MRSA screening & isolation—finding the right mix (Contagion)
- Two African nations report highly pathogenic avian flu outbreaks (CIDRAP)
- New case of mysterious Bourbon Virus in Missouri (Invisiverse)
- Deadly dengue fever outbreak kills hundreds in Sri Lanka (CNN)
- WHO declares end of Ebola outbreak in DRC (CIDRAP)
RESEARCH + TECH
- IARPA seeks tech to ID bioengineered life forms (FCW)
- Researchers revolutionizing control of vector-borne diseases (Medical Xpress)
- Wiping out bacteria with nanoparticle-cotton fibers (USDA ARS)
- FDA clears assays from Thermo Fisher, Roche, and CDC (360DX)
- Researchers work on chlorine dioxide pouch for food safety (The Packer)
SPECIAL INTEREST
- The role for mindfulness in public health (Global Health NOW)
- Attacks in Syria and Yemen are turning disease into a weapon of war (STAT)
- Public health labs aren’t just on the frontlines, they’re often the only line (APHL)
- John Oliver on vaccines: ‘One of humanity’s most incredible accomplishments’ (Guardian)
- Bio: Separating fact from fiction (Pandora Report)
