See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including a National Academies’ report on Dual Use Research of Concern, antibody therapeutics for ricinosis, and questions on inhaled flu vaccine performance.
BIOPREPAREDNESS
- 100 years after the lethal 1918 flu pandemic, we are still vulnerable (SciAm)
- From Anthrax to Zika: Fifteen years of public health emergency preparedness (AJPH)
- Evolution of public health emergency management (AJPH)
- 2015 pandemic influenza readiness assessment among preparedness awardees (AJPH)
- Public health disasters: Be prepared (AJPH)
POLICY, PRACTICES & POLITICS
- Judge bars public from trial over DHS bioterrorism detection system contract (LAT)
- Dual Use Research of Concern in the life sciences (NAP)
- Efforts to prevent misuse of biomedical research fall short (NPR)
- Public health preparedness funding: Key programs and trends from 2001 to 2017 (AJPH)
- Melinda Gates on why foreign aid still matters (The Atlantic)
- Evolution of public health emergency management as a field of practice (AJPH)
SELECT AGENTS
- New study looks at how bioterrorism agent replicates (Duke Chronicle)
- Knowledge and attitude towards Ebola and Marburg virus diseases in Uganda (PLOS)
- Outbreak of anthrax infections among humans and hippopotamuses (EID)
- Anti-ricin antibody treatment against pulmonary ricinosis (MDPI)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- CEPI calls for proposals for rapid vaccine production (CIDRAP)
- Race for a Zika vaccine slows, a setback for heading off future outbreaks (STAT)
- As ‘flesh-eating’ Leishmania come closer, a vaccine against them does, too (Medical Xpress)
- Study signals association between flu vaccine, miscarriage (CIDRAP)
- New technology could allow multiple vaccines to be delivered in single jab (Guardian)
- Drug for ‘neglected’ Chagas disease gains FDA approval amid price worries (NPR)
- Prepping for rapid drug development (DVIDS)
- Performance of inhaled flu vaccine confounds experts (CIDRAP)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- Ebola, Zika and more: How many viruses can get into men’s semen? (Live Science)
- Norovirus detection strategies: Evaluating a new swabbing technique (Contagion Live)
- Joint West Africa Research Group begins infectious disease surveillance study (MHRP)
- Over 500 dead as Congo cholera epidemic spreads: WHO (Reuters)
- Leprosy is not quite yet a disease of the past (NPR)
- Over 500 dead as Congo cholera epidemic spreads (VOA)
- MERS mortality linked to age, illness severity, hospital infection (CIDRAP)
- The U.S. thought it was rid of hookworm. Wrong (NPR)
RESEARCH + TECH
- GAO report on medical devices for infectious disease rapid diagnosis (Pandora Report)
- ‘Shape-shifting’ bacteria spotted on International Space Station (Sky News)
- Study sets new distance record for medical drone transport (Science Daily)
- Lessons from a individual-based models for infectious disease transmission (BMC)
SPECIAL INTEREST
- Can you track the Ebola funding from pledge to delivery? (Oxfam)
- GMU biodefense graduate program information sessions (Pandora Report)
- Swarmed With mosquitoes after Harvey, Texas calls in the Air Force (Defense One)
- Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security ELBI Workshop (Pandora Report)
- In their own words: why armed fighters attack aid workers (NPR)
