See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including BARDA backing of Janssen’s flu countermeasures, rapid detection of anthrax blood stream infections, and funding the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center.
POLICY, PRACTICES & POLITICS
- The invisible threat (Foreign Policy)
- Homeland Security struggling to fund chem-bio defense (National Defense)
- House passes national spending bill that restores funding to Fort Detrick lab (FNP)
- Information for disaster evacuation centers (CDC)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- Why flu vaccines so often fail (Science)
- CARB-X: Fighting AMR through public-private partnerships (Pandora Report)
- Gates invests in Immunocore to spur infectious disease R&D (Fierce Biotech)
- J&J, BARDA join forces to prep for pandemic flu (Fierce Pharma)
- Is there a future for a Zika vaccine? (STAT)
- WHO report paints dire picture of antibiotic development (CIDRAP)
- Universal flu vaccine could protect against seasonal, pandemic flu (KFF)
SELECT AGENTS
- Neutralizing biothreats through disease forecasting (Sante Fe New Mexican)
- Rapid detection of B. anthracis blood stream infections using a novel assay (ASM)
- Loop-mediated isothermal DNA amplification for anthrax detection (Springer)
- Methods and compositions to produce vaccines against smallpox in plants (Google)
- Detection of B. anthracis spores using phage-coated piezoelectric membrane (ECS)
- Biological weapons nonproliferation training modules (NTI)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- Cans of ‘Death Wish’ coffee recalled over possible toxin (Reuters)
- How China’s AMR outbreak revealed changing landscape of infection control (CL)
- Medical community challenged by hepatitis A outbreak (SD Union Tribune)
- How many viruses can live in semen? More than you might think (NPR)
- A neglected family of killer viruses (NPR)
SPECIAL INTEREST
- Pandemics, politics and the Spanish flu (The Tyee)
- DARPA meeting looks at biotech’s promise (OH&S)
- Can you prevent picking up germs on the subway? (NY Times)
- Infectious diseases pioneer John Zabriskie dies at 88 (Rockefeller)
