See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including anthrax countermeasure distribution planning, improving vaccine trials during outbreaks, and the future of the GHSA and biodefense.
BIOPREPAREDNESS
- Medical countermeasure distribution and dispensing for anthrax (NACCHO)
- WHO warns of cholera risk at annual haj, praises Saudi preparedness (Reuters)
- Volatile, uncertain, and complex – How agencies handle CBRNE threats (FNR)
- Can the DRC stop the next Ebola outbreak? (Modern Diplomacy)
- First TrainSafe class focuses on biosafety measures for lab workers (SR)
POLICY, PRACTICES & POLITICS
- White House developing comprehensive biosecurity strategy: official (Reuters)
- The future of the GHSA and American biodefense (Pandora Report)
- ASM thanks House Appropriations Subcommittee for NIH funding (ASM)
- Trump’s R&D cuts aren’t just cruel, they increase the risk of bioterrorism (Wired)
SELECT AGENTS
- The case of the reconstituted horsepox and other dual-use adventures (PR)
- Labmade smallpox is possible, study shows (Science)
- High-level lab in Winnipeg for studying dangerous pathogens to be beefed up (CTV)
- Antibody response differentially influenced by PLGA-PAD4 characteristics (IJI)
- Characterization of persistent asymptomatic Ebola in rhesus monkeys (Nature)
- Ebola aftermath: Restoring trust in hospitals in Guinea (State Dept)
- Patient with Lassa fever offers clues to virus (MedPage Today)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- Why a biodefense firm is going on a spending spree (WaPo)
- Improving vaccine trials in infectious disease emergencies (Science)
- New method can stop malaria spread — even after it’s in the body (Invisiverse)
- Randomized controlled trials and changing public health practice (BMC)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- Cholera is slaughtering Yemen and we’re letting it happen (Fortune)
- Diagnostic delays in 537 cases of MERS-CoV infection in Saudi Arabia (IJID)
- MERS super spreader analysis points to infection control role (CIDRAP)
- Assay discriminates Zika virus infection from other flaviviruses (PNAS)
- New findings could allow scientists to better predict flu pandemics (American Lab)
- Cholera kills four in Kenyan capital since May, government shuts hotels (Reuters)
- Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have long resided on ready-to-eat foods (IDA)
RESEARCH + TECH
- Could cows be the vaccine factories of the future? (STAT)
- How can social media be used to detect the next pandemic? (Imperial College)
- Ultrasensitive DNA quantification by light scattering (Phys.org)
- Beyond the needle: trying to make vaccines more comfy and convenient (NPR)
- Innovative nanosensor for disease diagnosis (Science Daily)
- Broad jump-starts CRISPR patent pool (C&EN)
- An all-Canadian collaborative synthetic biology project (PLOS SynBio)
- Integration of immunosensors based on magnetic nanoparticles (SD)
- Making lab equipment on the cheap (Science Daily)
SPECIAL INTEREST
- How a wildlife biologist became a plague-chaser in the American Southwest (STAT)
- Machine learning helps find mysterious source of a global illness (Digital Journal)
- Q&A: Ethics in public health surveillance (WHO)
HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS
- Contagions sessions at the International Congress for Medieval Studies (Contagions)
- How infectious diseases have shaped our culture, habits and language (The Conversation)
- Forgotten disease: Illnesses transformed in Chinese medicine (Google Books)
