See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including shortfalls in agriculture biodefense, pandemic potential of H7N9, and gender roles in the context of Ebola transmission rates.
POLICY, PRACTICES & POLITICS
- Mugabe removed as WHO goodwill envoy after outrage (Reuters)
- Rand Paul takes a poke at U.S. peer-review panels (Science)
- Blue-Ribbon Panel finds shortfalls in Ag biodefense (Bovine Vet)
- Will the world’s most worrying flu virus go pandemic? (The Atlantic)
- Enhancing Laboratory Response Network capacity in South Korea (CDC EID)
- Dealing with local diseases helps countries tackle new outbreaks (Conversation)
- The collision of civil war and threat of global pandemics (Medical Xpress)
- Experts lament lack of biosecurity in Pakistan (Express Tribune)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- WHO supports immunization of 874K Nigerians against yellow fever (WHO)
- FDA teams with medical companies in Puerto Rico to tackle shortages (Reuters)
- An early American smallpox vaccine based on horsepox (NEJM)
SELECT AGENTS
- Smallpox could again be a serious threat (Slate)
- Uganda confirms one death from Ebola-like Marburg virus (Reuters)
- Abrin toxicity and bioavailability after temperature and pH treatment (MDPI)
- Gender roles and the transmission of Ebola (BMC)
- Plague kills 94 in Madagascar, WHO says working to prevent spread (Reuters)
- Ricin poisoning after oral ingestion of castor beans (SD)
- Guidelines for supportive care of patients with Ebola virus disease (Lancet)
- Ebola’s legacy: Children with cataracts (NY Times)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- Flu experts see potential for a nasty winter season (STAT)
- Burkholderia cepacia infections linked with unlikely source (Contagion Live)
- China confirms bird flu outbreak at poultry farms in central province (Reuters)
- UN says plague cases in Madagascar almost doubled in 5 days (Seattle Times)
- Study details pandemic potential of latest H7N9 flu strains (CIDRAP)
RESEARCH & TECH
- Flu simulations suggest pandemics more likely in spring, early summer (SD)
- Lab-on-a-chip uses smartphone to quickly detect pathogens (Phys.org)
- A rapid bio-optical sensor for diagnosing Q fever in clinical specimens (Wiley)
- MALDI-TOF MS to identify highly pathogenic organisms (ASM)
SPECIAL INTEREST
- Troubling thoughts on plague in Madagascar (Contagions Blog)
- GMU Biodefense PhD Info Session – October 26th (Pandora Report)
- ‘Big Chicken’ tells the story of antibiotic misuse in poultry industry (CIDRAP)
- Pharmacist’s ‘deadly’ choices sparked U.S. meningitis outbreak (Reuters)
- Use wisdom to win in these tech-centric board games (Wired)
- 360 videos: Go inside an Ebola lab (STAT)
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