See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including the Biological Weapons Convention Meeting of States Parties, firing healthcare workers for flu vaccine refusal, and inhibitors of anthrax edema factor.
POLICY, PRACTICES & POLITICS
- BWC Meeting of States Parties convenes this week (UNOG)
- The importance of continued US investment in global health security (JAMA)
- 7 questions for Alex Azar, Trump’s Health Secretary nominee (STAT)
- Can we stop the threat of biological weapons? (Kings College)
- NIH researchers call for comprehensive pandemic preparations (MD)
- Biothreats – Advocating action through transition (Domestic Preparedness)
- Infectious Diseases Society of America statement on tax reform (IDSA)
- Donald Trump’s science office is a ghost town (CBS)
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
- Health worker firings spark debate on mandating flu vaccine (CIDRAP)
- Takeda moves ahead in Zika race with launch of vaccine trial (Takeda)
- Sanofi ends development of Clostridium difficile vaccine (Reuters)
- Antibiotic resistance: An old problem with new ramifications (CNN)
- Sanofi restricts dengue vaccine but downplays antibody enhancement (CIDRAP)
SELECT AGENTS
- Research breakthrough raises hope of predicting future Ebola outbreaks (Guardian)
- DARPA develops plants that could ‘sniff’ out bio-weapons (Interesting Engineering)
- Canadian scientists win award for Ebola antivirus (Winnipeg FP)
- Small molecule inhibitors of anthrax edema factor (Science Direct)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- Flu expert says H7N9 viruses are rare 2nd warning of public health threat (CIDRAP)
- Scarlet fever, a disease of yore, is making a comeback in parts of the world (STAT)
- Seven new vaccine-derived polio cases reported in Syria (CIDRAP)
- Two Zika studies. Two site visits. Two approaches to one problem (Wadsworth)
- Ravaged by cholera, Yemen faces 2nd preventable scourge: diphtheria (NYT)
- Nigeria confirms 14 new monkeypox cases (NCDC)
- Bat cave solves mystery of deadly SARS virus (Nature)
- Scarlet fever cases hit 50-year high in England (BBC)
- Rise in malaria cases sparks fears of a resurgence (Nature)
SPECIAL INTEREST
- NBAF Update: America’s agricultural defense goes international (The Mercury)
- Meet NTI’s new Senior Director for Global Biological Policy (NTI)
- Pneumonic plague in Johannesburg, South Africa, 1904 (CDC)
- You can now play DNA Tetris thanks to this Irish startup (Labiotech)
- New Smithsonian exhibition explores pandemics (ICT)
