News highlights on health security threats and countermeasures curated by Global Biodefense
This week’s selections include “gain-of-function” research oversight, the future of pandemic preparedness, mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines, and the forensic microbiome.
POLICY + INITIATIVES
Confronting a Legacy of Scarcity: A Plan for Reinvesting in U.S. Public Health
This overall decrease in funding for public health is emblematic of an American willingness to pay more later than invest upfront — of the 18% of the federal budget spent on health care, only 3% goes towards prevention and mitigating disease. “Confronting a Legacy of Scarcity,” a joint project between Yale University public health and law students, charts the path forward. STAT
Covid Lab-Leak Theory Renews “Gain-of-Function” Research Debate
The intensity of the politics and rhetoric over the lab leak theory threatens to push detailed science policy discussions over gain-of-function research to the sidelines. Some suggest an independent body, similar to what the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does for studies of radioactive materials, to provide oversight of all potentially dangerous pathogen research and mitigate current shortcomings in the enhanced potential pandemic pathogens (P3CO) policy and transparency issues. New York Times
Biodefense Board Discusses Future of US Pandemic Preparedness
Review of a recent meeting of the the National Biodefense Science Board (NBSB) public meeting which discussed recommendations to ASPR from its new report on ‘filling critical gaps’ in health emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. In addition, NBSB was briefed on the CDC’s new initiative to improve its data collection and analytical capabilities to improve information sharing and situational awareness during a public health emergency. Pandora Report
Whether Covid Came From a Leak or Not, It’s Time to Talk About Lab Safety
Researchers examined open-source information on biosecurity at the world’s most sophisticated laboratories, and found their policies and left much to be desired. Their research mapped nearly 60 BSL-4 maximum containment labs in operation, under construction or planned across 23 countries. Nearly three-quarters of these labs are located in urban areas. The Guardian
Introduction to the National Health Security Strategy and National Biodefense Strategy
This article is the first in a series of articles aimed to provide education regarding key national health security concerns such as new and evolving 21st century health threats, the integral role of the National Health Security Strategy (NHSS) and National Biodefense Strategy, and future health security priorities. NACCHO
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
A Cautionary Perspective Regarding the Isolation and Serial Propagation of SARS-CoV-2 in Vero Cells
Observations of working stocks of SARS-CoV-2 suggest that sequential propagation in Vero cells leads to critical changes in the region of the furin cleavage site, which significantly reduce the value of the working stock for critical research studies. Serially propagating SARS-CoV-2 in Vero E6 cells leads to rapid increases in genetic variants while propagation in other cell lines (e.g. Vero/hSLAM) appears to mitigate this risk thereby improving the overall genetic stability of working stocks. NPJ Vaccines
Germany Demands J&J Make Up COVID-19 Vaccine Gap in July
Germany’s health ministry said Johnson & Johnson must deliver 6.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Germany in July to make up for a shortfall expected in June after the U.S. FDA told the company to dispose of millions of doses because of contamination concerns. Reuters
Mixing Pfizer and AstraZeneca Vaccines Provides Strong Protection, According to a Preliminary Study
Early results from a British vaccine study suggest showed that volunteers produced high levels of antibodies and immune cells after getting one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and one dose of the AstraZeneca-Oxford shot. New York Times, BBC
Current and Novel Approaches in Influenza Management
A review of some improvements in influenza management and promising vaccine development platforms (VLP, synthetic virus, epitope, antigen-presenting cell inducible, COBRA, nanoparticle-based, and viral-vectored) with an emphasis on the protective capacity of passive immunotherapeutics especially when coupled with the use of antivirals in the management of influenza infection. Vaccines
Vaccination Mandatory for Aged Care Workers as Astrazeneca Made Available to All Australian Adults
In April, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) recommended Pfizer be the preferred vaccine for Australians aged 50 and under, due to ongoing concerns about the risk of blood clots. This was revised earlier in June to make Pfizer the preferred dose for people aged 60 and under. After discussing it for the third time, the national cabinet also agreed to mandate vaccinations for aged care workers, 18 months into the pandemic. With adequate supplies of mRNA vaccines not due until the end of the year and less than 5% of the population fully vaccinated, Morrison announced under-40s could now request AstraZeneca from their GP, with the commonwealth agreeing to indemnify doctors who administer the vaccine. The Guardian
Remdesivir Inhibits the Polymerases of the Novel Filoviruses Lloviu and Bombali Virus
Remdesivir is a highly promising antiviral against Ebola virus, but its activity against novel filoviruses was unknown. This research shows that remdesivir is indeed also active against the polymerases of BOMV, LLOV, and RESTV – suggesting it may be a viable treatment option in case of infection with novel filoviruses. Antiviral Research
CDC Advisory Panel Backs Use of Dengue Vaccine in High-Risk Areas, Despite Delivery Challenges
An expert panel voted unanimously this week to advise that the CDC recommend use of a controversial dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, despite the fact that it can only be given to a small fraction of U.S. children and requires a pre-vaccination test in order to be used safely. STAT
The Vaccines We Have Are Good. But They Could Be So Much Better.
Between 2008 and 2016, DARPA developed a program called Prophecy to study the evolution of viruses to predict mutations and develop vaccines. The agency combined it with an alert network run by doctors working in hospitals around the world. New York Times
BIOSECURITY + BIOPREPAREDNESS
Casualties of Preparedness: The Global Health Security Index and COVID-19
The preparedness rankings of this index have had little correlation with the actual experiences of COVID-19 in various countries. In explaining this discrepancy, the paper argues that better indicators and more data would not have fixed the problem. Rather, the prevailing paradigm of global health security that informs instruments such as the GHS Index needs to be interrogated. International Journal of Law in Context
Canadian Official Reprimanded for Withholding Winnipeg Lab Info
The Canadian House of Commons publicly reprimanded Iain Stewart, the president of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), for failing to produce unredacted documents related to the firing of two government scientists. Xiangguo Qiu, the head of the Vaccine Development and Antiviral Therapies section in the Special Pathogens Program of the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg, and her husband and fellow scientist Keding Cheng were fired in January of this year. In July 2019, they and several of their international grad students were escorted out of the NML because of an “administrative matter”. The following month, news emerged that in spring 2019 Qiu had supervised the shipment of Ebola and Henipah viruses to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The Scientist
The Lab Leak Theory Doesn’t Hold Up
Despite proclamations to the contrary, there has been scant new evidence pointing to the lab leak theory. What we have are the same conclusions drawn from China’s malign incompetence, the same pieces of circumstantial evidence, and a speculative theory. None of this means a lab leak is impossible. But the “growing evidence” simply isn’t there. Most theories about the pandemic starting with a bioengineered virus are less plausible than the simpler alternative: bats being bats. Foreign Policy, New Republic, The Guardian
A Global Perspective on H9N2 Avian Influenza Virus.
H9N2 avian influenza viruses have become globally widespread in poultry over the last two decades and represent a genuine threat both to the global poultry industry but also humans through their high rates of zoonotic infection and pandemic potential. This review examines the current global spread of H9N2 avian influenza viruses as well as their host range, tropism, transmission routes and the risk posed by these viruses to human health. Viruses
Opinion: Global Health Security Must Be Tied to Health Systems
The experience with COVID-19 suggests that hyper-focusing on infectious disease control often misses the bigger picture: health systems worldwide are chronically underfunded, disjointed, and inequitable. Throughout the pandemic, over 115,000 health workers worldwide died from often poor working conditions, and the lack of workforce capacity resulted in thousands of vaccine doses being destroyed. Devex
SELECT AGENTS + CBRNE THREATS
Annual WMD Report: How the EU Made the World Safer From Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Weapons in 2020
The Annual Progress Report on the implementation of its Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction shows how the EU promotes nuclear disarmament, funds civil protection and border control training, supports international organisations like the IAEA and the OPCW to safeguard nuclear materials and eliminate chemical weapons, and more. European Union External Action Service
G7 Demand Action from Russia on Cybercrimes and Chemical Weapon Use
The rebuke came in a communique issued after a three-day summit of G7 leaders in Britain that also called on Moscow to “stop its destabilising behaviour and malign activities” and conduct an investigation into the use of chemical weapons on Russian soil. Reuters
Identification of an Attenuated Substrain of Francisella tularensis SCHU S4
Most of our current understanding of its pathogenesis is based on the highly virulent F. tularensis subsp. tularensis strain SCHU S4. Multiple sources of SCHU S4 have been maintained and propagated independently over the years, potentially generating genetic variants with altered virulence. Given genetic differences and decreased virulence, the authors state that NR-643/FTS-635 should be clearly designated as a separate SCHU S4 substrain and no longer utilized in efficacy studies to evaluate potential vaccines and therapeutics against tularemia. Pathogens
When White Powder Blew Up in His Face, Fauci Thought He Might Die; New Book Tells Story of Possible Poisoning
The nation’s top infectious diseases expert thought he could have been a “dead duck” last summer when he received an envelope of powder from an unknown source that blew up in his face, according to Politico. The incident is detailed in a new book “Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History,” authored by Washington Post journalists Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta. Changing America
Single-Dose Combination Nanovaccine Against Bacillus Anthracis
Researchers evaluate the individual contributions of cyclic di-GMP (CDG), polyanhydride nanoparticles, and a combination thereof towards inducing neutralizing antibody against the secreted protective antigen from B. anthracis. Vaccine
From Nerve Agent Simulant, to Pharma Ingredient
Researchers have developed a new device to break down a toxic nerve agent simulant – dimethyl 4-nitrophenylphosphate, commonly called paraoxon – quickly and efficiently. And instead of waste pollutants, the device has a useable output, namely the active pharmaceutical ingredient paracetamol. Chemistry World
SURVEILLANCE + DETECTION
The Forensic Microbiome: The Invisible Traces We Leave Behind
The advances in DNA sequencing technology have made much of microbial forensics possible, but we are just starting to see in roads that might go into crime labs today. Microbial DNA forensic work is expensive and trying to do it in individual labs slows progress. Microbiome research might progress faster if focused centers of excellence were established across the country. National Institute of Justice
Rapid Covid Tests Used in Mass UK Program Get Scathing US Report
The FDA has raised significant concerns about the rapid Covid test on which the UK government has based its multibillion-pound mass testing program, suggested the performance of the test had not been established, presenting a risk to health, and that the tests should be thrown in the bin or returned to the California-based manufacturer Innova. The Guardian, FDA Warning Letter
Pandemic Technology Project: How Well Did Digital Contact Tracing Work in the US?
Many states launched their own apps—a decentralized approach that reflects America’s fragmented pandemic response. Many of the exposure notification apps are underutilized, misunderstood, and not well-trusted—and yet this technology may yet come into its own as a public health tool for future disease outbreaks. MIT Technology Review
Analysing Livestock Network Data for Infectious Disease Control: An Argument for Routine Data Collection in Emerging Economies
Livestock movements are an important mechanism of infectious disease transmission. Where these are well recorded, network analysis tools have been used to successfully identify system properties, highlight vulnerabilities to transmission, and inform targeted surveillance and control. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
SPECIAL INTEREST
Florida Tech Molecular Biology Alumna Helps Develop Ebola Virus Rapid Test
Krystle Agans is a biocontainment research associate III at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. Working alongside teams from UTMB, Duke University and the Galveston National Laboratory, Agans performed the testing of Ebola samples and the RT-PCR testing used as a comparative method of detection. She also developed the experimental design for validation of the device. Florida Institute of Technology
Why Scientists Should Not Name Diseases Based on Location
Marburg virus did not originate in Germany, West Nile virus is not restricted to Africa and though Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis) refers to a 1930s outbreak in the San Joaquin Valley of California, the first case was reported in Argentina in 1892. To minimize such misinformation and its socioeconomic impact on communities, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued new best practices in 2015 advocating more generic, descriptive terminology. American Society for Microbiology
Scientist Opens Up About His Early Email to Fauci on Virus Origins
In early 2020, Kristian Andersen wrote to Anthony Fauci about the possibility of an engineered coronavirus. His research has since dispelled those suspicions. He speaks with Carl Zimmer and James Gorman about the experience. New York Times
HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS
Vaccination Could Easily Have Been Called ‘Equination’
An 1802 letter that Edward Jenner sent to a fellow physician, recently sold at auction, details the work both men were doing on smallpox immunization. In the letter, Jenner complained in harsh terms about those who opposed his theories, calling them “those little minded Persons who think everything impossible which does not come within the narrow sphere of their own comprehension.” Atlas Obscura
