News highlights on health security threats and countermeasures curated by Global Biodefense
This week’s selections include calls to reauthorize and reinforce the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; the potential for mAbs in future pandemics; forensic optical detection of novichok agents; and triage algorithms for mass-casualty bioterrorism.
POLICY + GOVERNMENT
Fix the Backlash Against Public Health
During the pandemic, over 30 states passed laws curbing health measures such as mask and vaccine mandates, quarantines, and business closures. Many state law reforms now allow the legislature to rescind executive health orders, effectively shifting decisions from infectious disease experts to lawmakers ill-equipped to make rapid, science-based judgments. The pandemic also unleashed more than 1000 lawsuits challenging COVID-19 measures put into place by health officials, a quarter of which were successful in invalidating them. The Supreme Court, with a conservative super-majority, struck down state COVID-19 restrictions on religious gatherings as well as the CDC’s tenant eviction moratorium and vaccine-or-test rules for large employers put forth by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
State legislatures and courts have cut public health powers too deeply, seriously jeopardizing future emergency responses. The legislative and judicial retrenchment during the pandemic signals the need for legal modernization. Instead of wholesale weakening of public health powers, states should modernize laws to balance powers and rights more productively, such as meaningful legislative checks on executive power exercised by health officials during crises, stronger criteria for executive orders concerning public health, and mechanisms for public input. Science
Where is the White House’s New Pandemic Response Office?
In the wake of a pandemic that claimed more than 1 million American lives, Congress in December instructed the White House to create a new, permanent office to coordinate the government’s readiness for the next pandemic threat. The White House hasn’t gotten around to actually getting it up and running. The office was intended to be a permanent solution for the ongoing need for the White House to hire “czars” to handle public health threats like Ebola, AIDS, and Covid-19. But Biden hasn’t nominated anyone to lead it, just a month before a crucial turning point in the administration’s pandemic response. STAT
ASM Responds to Senate HELP Committee on PAHPA
“We support the creation of the Supply Chain Control Tower and FDA’s Resilient Supply Chain and Shortages Prevention Program, as administered by and partnered with ASPR. When the demand for testing increased in the spring of 2020, clinical microbiology laboratories were unable to fully deploy testing due to unpredictable shortages. A lack of testing supplies coupled with anxiety over the potential to exhaust existing supplies hindered our ability to bring the pandemic under control. Beyond reagents, there were shortages of transport media, swabs, and plastics, affecting tests developed and offered by independent, hospital and academic-based laboratories. These new programs need sustained funding, which could be authorized through PAHPA.” American Society for Microbiology
Letter on Reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act
One of numerous recommendations in this letter is the need to “better identify and delineate the role of FEMA vs HHS (ASPR, CDC) in public health emergencies. When ASPR was elevated to the same level as CDC, it created communication issues, delayed decision-making, and changes during an emergency response to previously planned activities. As an example, vaccine orders traditionally run through state immunization information systems (IIS) to VTrcks. During the Mpox response, ASPR’s HPOP system was used for vaccine orders. This required additional staff time, manual data entry (IIS and VTrcks are not connected to HPOP), and a lack of essential data in state IIS (i.e., vaccine inventory).” National Governor’s Association
What Should Be Included in PAHPA’s Reauthorization?
Members of the Capitol Hill steering committee on pandemic preparedness urged Congress to reauthorize the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA)—with the right improvements. Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services Dawn O’Connell, former Kansas Governor and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Director of JHU’s Center for Health Security Tom Inglseby all weighed in on their recommendations for necessary updates to the legislation, all stemming from lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Medtech Insight
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES
The Potential of mAbs Against Pathogens of Pandemic Potential
Although the clinical experience of passive immunotherapy with antibodies against infectious diseases spans over 100 years, the use of mAbs against pathogens of pandemic potential has only recently come into prominence. The ideal pandemic preparedness mAbs should target highly conserved epitopes shared across multiple viruses and should act through a combination of mechanisms. Although extremely rare, these mAbs can be isolated from plasma cells or memory B cells of individuals vaccinated against or recovered from an infection. Alternatively, they can be derived from animal species with a “humanized” antibody repertoire that have been immunized or infected with the antigen or pathogen of interest, respectively. Such fully human mAbs can be further modified through amino acid modifications in the Fab or Fc regions to augment protective properties and to ameliorate problems with manufacturability, stability, and formulation. Science Translational Medicine
Therapeutic Strategies for Human Poxvirus Infections: Mpox, Smallpox, Molluscipox, and Orf
Therapeutic and vaccine development for human poxvirus infections has been largely deserted, especially after the eradication of smallpox by 1980. Human mpox is a self-limited disease confined to Central and West Africa for decades. This review highlights possible therapeutic options (tecovirimat, brincidofovir, cidofovir) and other strategies (vaccines, intravenous vaccinia immune globulin) for the management of human poxvirus infections worldwide. Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease
Comparison of Antibody Effector Functions Induced by Adjuvanted Vaccines To Guide Vaccine Design
The mechanisms by which antibodies confer protection vary across vaccines, ranging from simple neutralization to functions requiring innate immune recruitment. These findings can guide holistic strategies toward identifying optimal adjuvants for novel vaccines and indications and improving antigen-sparing immunization regimens. NPJ Vaccines
Safety and Immunogenicity of the MERS-CoV Vaccine Candidates
The success of the COVID-19 vaccines has shown that it is possible to take advantage of medical and scientific advances to produce safe and effective vaccines for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The vaccine candidates examined were the ChAdOx1 MERS vaccine, MVA-MERS-S vaccine, and GLS-5300 DNA MERS-CoV vaccine. International Immunopharmacology
Vaccine Candidates Using a Baculovirus Surface Display System for Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) has a fatality rate of 20–30%. This study used an established baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS), which has strong adjuvant activity and is safe and simple to prepare, for vaccine development. Frontiers in Microbiology
Developing Potent Ebola Virus Entry Inhibitors
Here researchers synthetized a new series of compounds which were shown to prevent EBOV infection in cells by acting as virus entry inhibitors. The in vitro inhibitory activity was evaluated through screening against surrogate models based on viral pseudotypes and further confirmed using replicative EBOV. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
BIOSECURITY + BIOPREPAREDNESS
CDC Warns U.S. Doctors of Marburg Virus Amid Outbreaks in Africa
The CDC has issued a health advisory about an outbreak of the Marburg virus disease in two African nations, Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania. While it has not been found in the United States, doctors “should be aware of the potential for imported cases,” the agency warned. About a month ago, the CDC sent medical personnel to Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania to battle the outbreaks and warned U.S. travelers to take precautions, such as avoiding sick people in those nations. WebMD
Triage Algorithms for Mass-Casualty Bioterrorism: A Systematic Review
Traditional triage algorithms have been mostly applied to trauma situations, and determine the severity of patients by evaluating their mobility, respiratory rate, capillary filling, radial pulse and awareness. These categories are not as relevant in bioterrorism attacks, unless the bioagent is combined with an explosive device. There is a need to provide useful evidence and experience-based information for those who may become involved in mass-casualty bioterrorism. Some biological agents are extremely difficult to detect and do not cause illness for several hours to several days. Some bioterrorism agents, such as the smallpox virus, can be spread from person to person. Environmental Research and Public Health
Systemic Review of Disaster Preparedness in Healthcare Professionals
Disasters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic are both destructive and challenging to predict. It is essential that societies at large have a frontline of healthcare professionals who are sufficiently trained to cope with emergency events of COVID-19′s scale. The findings of our study show that there is a shortage of rigorously-tested interventions for improving healthcare professionals’ disaster preparedness, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This study aims to examine the characteristics and effectiveness of existing interventions working to improve healthcare professionals’ disaster preparedness. Nurse Education in Practice
SELECT AGENTS + PRIORITY PATHOGENS
Two Deadly Marburg Virus Outbreaks in Africa Alarm Global Health Experts
Two concurrent outbreaks of the Marburg virus, a close cousin of Ebola that can kill as many as 90 percent of the people it infects, are raising critical questions about the behavior of this mysterious bat-borne pathogen and global efforts to prepare for potential pandemics. One of the two outbreaks, in Tanzania in East Africa, seems to have been brought under control, with just two people left in quarantine. But in the other, in Equatorial Guinea on the west coast, spread of the virus is ongoing, and the World Health Organization said last week that the country was not being transparent in reporting cases. New York Times
Non-Human Primate to Human Immunobridging Demonstrates a Protective Effect of Ebola Vaccines
Without clinical efficacy data, vaccine protective effect may be extrapolated from animals to humans using an immunologic marker that correlates with protection in animals. This immunobridging approach was used for the two-dose Ebola vaccine regimen Ad26.ZEBOV, MVA-BN-Filo. Ebola virus glycoprotein binding antibody data obtained from 764 vaccinated healthy adults in five clinical studies were used to calculate mean predicted survival probability. NPJ Vaccines
A New Flu is Spilling Over From Cows to People in the U.S. How Worried Should We Be?
Researchers are calling for more surveillance of the emerging influenza D virus. In a small experiment of five dairy farms, researchers collected nasal wash samples from workers’ noses before and after their dairy farm shifts. Then they looked for influenza D inside the washes. The researchers studied only 31 workers over the course of only five days. But they found about two-thirds of the participants were exposed to influenza D at some point during the study period. In a small study of cattle workers in Florida blood tests found a high percentage (90%) had Influenza D antibodies, implying not only exposure, but infection. Influenza D is incredibly stable, surviving at high temperatures and in acidic environments. “That’s why scientists have found influenza D in the air at airports in the U.S.” NPR
Cases of Marburg Going Unreported in Equatorial Guinea, WHO Says
The Marburg outbreak in Equatorial Guinea continues to grow, the WHO said Wednesday, as the global health agency stated that it knows of confirmed cases that the country has not yet reported. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, expressed some exasperation about the reporting delay, saying countries have a responsibility not only to report to the WHO, but to their own people. “Any delay in releasing information about lab-confirmed cases, especially when it relates to newly affected areas, prevents the process of alerting communities and having them take action to protect themselves and their families,” Ryan said. STAT
Powassan Virus Infection Detected by Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing, Ohio, USA
Powassan virus (POWV) is a tickborne flavivirus that causes encephalitis with severe neurologic sequelae. A 4-year-old male patient in Ohio had encephalitis caused by Powassan virus lineage 2, detected by using metagenomic next-generation sequencing and confirmed with IgM and plaque reduction neutralization assays. This case highlights the ability of mNGS to identify rare or unexpected pathogens that cause encephalitis. Clinicians should recognize changing epidemiology of tickborne viruses to enhance encephalitis diagnosis and management. Emerging Infectious Diseases
Vaccine-Induced Correlates of Protection Against Aerosolized Ricin Toxin
The species-neutral, competitive ELISA (which relies on a collection of toxin-neutralizing mAbs against four spatially distinct immunodominant epitopes on RiVax) correlates with vaccine-induced protection against ricin toxin in NHPs and represents an important advance in the development of medical countermeasures against a persistent biothreat. NPJ Vaccines
MERS-CoV: A Ten-Year (2012-2022) Global Analysis Of Human And Camel Infections, Genomic Sequences, Lineages, And Geographical Origins
Three novel coronaviruses (CoV) have emerged over the past two decades causing lethal diseases in humans. MERS-CoV remains a threat to global health security. MERS-CoV variants continue circulating in humans and camels. Recombination rates indicate co-infections with different MERS-CoV lineages. As of August 2022, 2591 human MERS cases from 26 countries were reported to the WHO, (the majority in Saudi Arabia, 2184 cases, including 813 deaths). Whilst declining in numbers, MERS cases continue to be reported from the Middle East. International Journal of Infectious Diseases
Modelling the Impact of Stigmatisation of Ebola Survivors on the Disease Transmission Dynamics
EVD is one of the most highly stigmatised diseases in any affected country because of the disease’s high infectivity and case fatality rate. Infected individuals and most especially survivors are often stigmatised by their communities for fear of contagion. This analysis shows that both internal and external stigma may lead to an increase in the burden of EVD by sustaining the number of infected individuals who hide their infection and the number of unsafe burials of deceased Ebola victims. Scientific Reports
Trends in Bacterial Pathogens of Bats: Global Distribution and Knowledge Gaps
Current knowledge on the distribution of potentially zoonotic bacterial genera in bats is strongly biased by research effort towards certain taxonomic groups and geographic regions. Identifying these biases can guide future surveillance efforts. The most frequently detected bacterial genera in bats are Bartonella, Leptospira, and Mycoplasma. However, a wide variety of other potentially zoonotic bacterial genera are also occasionally found in bats, such as Anaplasma, Brucella, Borrelia, Coxiella, Ehrlichia, Francisella, Neorickettsia, and Rickettsia. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases
Characterization of Ebola Virus Mucosal Challenge Routes
This study is the first to examine the Kikwit strain of EBOV, the most commonly used strain, in the gold-standard macaque model of infection. Additionally, this is the first description of the detection of virus in the vitreous fluid, an immune privileged site that has been proposed as a viral reservoir, following conjunctival challenge. This work paves the way for more advanced studies to model contact transmission of EVD, including early events in mucosal infection and immunity, as well as the establishment of persistent viral infection and the emergence from these reservoirs. Journal of Virology
CHEMICAL + RADIOLOGICAL THREATS
Crime Scene Novichok—Optical Detection of Fourth-Generation Agents (FGAs) Using Handheld Forensic Light Sources
In this work, an approach is presented that uses handheld forensic light sources to visually detect surfaces contaminated with Novichok. More than 100 different wavelength combinations were applied to seven substances chosen to represent the newly listed schedule 1 subgroups in the Annex on Chemicals of the Chemical Weapons Convention. One waveband was identified as promising, which allowed the optical detection of all tested substances. Several surfaces, which could be affected in case of a possible attack using novichok-like nerve agents, were also successfully evaluated. The proposed procedure could be implemented for CBRN responders and security agencies to significantly reduce response efforts. Forensic Sciences
Many Speakers Voice Concern over Increase in Dangerous Nuclear Weapons Rhetoric amidst Ongoing War against Ukraine
The UN Disarmament Commission’s 2023 substantive session began 3 April by bringing into sharp focus the nuclear risks faced by the international community, as speakers stressed the alarming increase of dangerous nuclear rhetoric amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine and the crucial need to prioritize disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control measures. United Nations
Suspected Iran Schoolgirl Poisonings: What Scientists Know
Scientists are calling for a thorough and transparent investigation of a mysterious sickness affecting potentially thousands of Iranian schoolgirls. Alastair Hay, a toxicologist and chemical-weapons researcher at the University of Leeds, UK, says he has seen the results of blood tests from young people who have been hospitalized. However, it is not always possible to detect poisoning in this way, he says, because blood tests do not screen for different kinds of poison. A comprehensive toxicological screen and a representative number of cases are needed, he adds. If a chemical was involved, a potential candidate would be chloramine, says Keith Ward, a chemist at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, who has advised human-rights organizations in cases in which chemical and biological weapons have been used in conflicts. Chloramine is produced by combining a cleaning product containing bleach with another containing ammonia. Its presence creates some (but not all) of the odours and symptoms being reported, Ward says. Nature
Proteomic Profile of Irradiated NHP Treated with Ex-Rad, a Radiation Medical Countermeasure
There are currently four radiation medical countermeasures that have been approved by the FDA to mitigate hematopoietic acute radiation syndrome (H-ARS) all of which are repurposed radiomitigators. The evaluation of additional candidate drugs that may also be helpful for use during a radiological/nuclear emergency is ongoing. A chlorobenzyl sulfone derivative (organosulfur compound) known as Ex-Rad, or ON01210, is one such candidate medical countermeasure, being a novel, small-molecule kinase inhibitor that has demonstrated efficacy in the murine model. Journal of Proteome Research
Mustard Gas Exposure Instigates Retinal Müller Cell Gliosis
The human retina contains >8 million Müller glial cells to maintain cellular architecture, inner blood-retinal barrier, neurotransmitter recycling, neuronal survival, and retinal homeostasis. This study investigated the role of sulfur mustard toxicity on Gliotic Müller cells. Experimental Eye Research
Rapid Screening of Chemical Weapons Convention-Related Compounds in Oily Matrices
In view of the political and military sensitivity of verification results, it is very important to establish a rapid and effective screening method for accurate identification of Convention-related compounds in complex environmental samples. Here a rapid screening method was established using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) detection in full-scan mode. Chinese Journal of Chromatography
Surface Tension of Organophosphorus Compounds: Sarin and its Surrogates
New approaches for decontamination and destruction of CWAs require detailed knowledge of their various physicochemical properties. In particular, surface tension is needed to describe the formation and evolution of hazardous aerosols when CWA liquids are dispersed in the air. Due to the extreme toxicity of sarin, most experimental studies are carried out using its surrogates ─ organophosphorus compounds which, while having similar structures, are much less toxic. However, not only for sarin, but also for its surrogates, literature data on the surface tension are scarce. Langmuir
SURVEILLANCE + DETECTION
Implementation and Evaluation of the Clear Dx Platform for Sequencing SARS-CoV-2 Genomes in a Public Health Laboratory
City of Milwaukee Health Department Laboratory (MHDL) staff verified the performance characteristics of the Clear Dx WGS SARS-CoV-2 assay as recommended by the manufacturer and comment on utility and cost for use in public health labs. Microbiology Spectrum
Reference-Free Phylogeny From Sequencing Data
Clustering of genetic sequences is one of the key parts of bioinformatics analyses. Resulting phylogenetic trees are beneficial for solving many research questions, including tracing a source of a virus outbreak. This paper presents a tool for reference-free phylogeny capable of handling data where no mature-level assembly is available. The tool allows distance calculation for raw reads, contigs, and the combination of the latter. BioData Mining
UK Develops Genetic Early Warning System for Future Pandemics
The ultimate aim of the project – the Respiratory Virus and Microbiome Initiative – is to create a system that would deploy DNA sequencing technology to identify all viral, bacterial and fungal species in a single sample collected from a nose swab from a patient. “It would be no good if the UK and one or two other developed countries learned how to sequence respiratory virus genomes and no one else. If we don’t have this kind of surveillance globally, we’re not going to spot a dangerous new variant until it has already spread over much of the planet.” The Guardian
Scalable RT-LAMP SARS-CoV-2 Testing for Infection Surveillance With Applications in Pandemic
A blueprint for fast, sensitive, scalable, cost- and labor-efficient RT-LAMP diagnostics, which is independent of potentially limiting clinical diagnostics supply chains. The strategy involves self-sampling based on gargling saline, pseudonymized sample handling, automated RNA extraction, and viral RNA detection using a semiquantitative multiplexed colorimetric reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay with an analytical sensitivity comparable with RT-qPCR. EMBO Reports
Pan-Yellow Fever Virus Detection and Lineage Assignment by Real-Time RT-PCR and Amplicon Sequencing
Yellow fever disease is a viral zoonosis that may result in a severe hemorrhagic disease. A safe and effective vaccine used in mass immunization campaigns has allowed control and mitigation against explosive outbreaks in endemic areas. Since the 1960’s, re-emergent of the yellow fever virus has been observed. Here a high sensitivity and specificity real-time RT-PCR designed to detect all known strains of yellow fever virus was developed. Journal of Virological Methods
COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Lessons from the RADx Tech Test Verification Core
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NIH launched the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative to help meet the testing needs of the U.S. The effort’s Engineering and Human Factors team for the RADx Tech Test Verification Core directly assessed more than 30 technologies that ultimately contributed to an increase of the country’s total testing capacity by 1.7 billion tests to date. In this review, they present central lessons learned from this “apples-to-apples” comparison of novel, rapidly developed diagnostic devices. Science Advances
EMA Recommends Approval of Bimervax as a COVID-19 Booster Vaccine
Bimervax, developed by HIPRA Human Health S.L.U., contains a protein produced in the laboratory that consists of part of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein from the Alpha and Beta virus variants. European Medicines Agency
FDA Authorizes Gohibic (vilobelimab) Injection for the Treatment of COVID-19
The U.S. FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for the use of vilobelimab injection in hospitalized adults when initiated within 48 hours of receiving invasive mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (artificial life support). The treatment targets a part of the immune system that is thought to play a role in the inflammation that leads to COVID-19 disease progression. FDA
Regional Evaluation of Two SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Tests in East Africa
This field validation was carried out between 2020 and 2021 by the trained front-line laboratory personnel that routinely performed SARS-CoV-2 testing in their respective country and represents the first such regional evaluation. Microbiology Spectrum
SPECIAL INTEREST
Enabling Contact Tracing and Infection Control in the Ebola Crisis
The World Health Organization recruited 20 UN Volunteers to support its response to the Ebola virus outbreak in Uganda. Meet three people who have been providing support in contact tracing, health and nursing as specialized UN Volunteers. “We rejoiced after my country was declared free of Ebola. Of the 87 survivors, 19 are being reviewed by the Entebbe Survivor’s Clinic, where we nursed 13 adults and six children. It is gratifying to see their progress at their regular visits to our facility,” said Caroline Olyet Anyango, UN Volunteer Case Management Nurse with WHO, Uganda. UN Volunteers
Mapping and Sequencing RNA Modifications Ideation Challenge
As a part of a study being conducted by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on Sequencing and Mapping of RNA Modifications, an Ideation Challenge will encourage collaborative and cross-disciplinary ideas to guide future research trajectories. The application to participate in the challenge is now open, and will close on April 10, 2023. The Ideation Challenge will be taking place on June 12-14, 2023. NASEM
Achieving Data Quality and Integrity in Maximum Containment Laboratories
Join FDA and the University of Texas Medical Branch April 24-28, 2023 for a unique opportunity for the regulatory and scientific communities to discuss complex issues in an interactive environment and identify and share best practices for ensuring data quality and integrity in maximum containment (BSL-4) facilities. FDA welcomes participants from government, industry, and academia who are working to further development of medical countermeasures for biological threat agents that must be studied in these labs. Attendance is free, but space is limited. You can still apply to attend virtually: pre-register by April 14, 2023. FDA
Ribbon-Cutting for Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Coming Up in Manhattan
The USDA’s new state-of-the-art National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony later this year. In 2009, Kansas was chosen to be the home of the USDA’s new $1.25 billion research center. The project has been in the works for 14 years. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held May 24, according to Senator Jerry Moran. KSNT Topeka
A Science Adviser’s Lessons from the Pandemic
Patrick Vallance has come to the end of his five-year tenure as chief scientific adviser to the UK government, during which he oversaw the unprecedented science response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “When you see people going into hospital, hospitals overflowing, hear the stories of the tragedy that occurred, that can’t feel anything other than absolutely awful. The highlights were the moment we knew something worked, like the drug dexamethasone from the RECOVERY trial, and the moment we got the first readout from the vaccine study that showed it had more than 90% efficacy. That was much, much more than people had even dared hoped for…If you look at what happened with the trials during COVID, the RECOVERY trial was fantastic because it was big enough to get proper answers. Around the world there were thousands of studies that were too small. That’s a wasted resource. At the peak of the pandemic, something like 12% of patients in UK hospitals with COVID were in the RECOVERY study — that’s remarkable.” Nature
VIDO Virologist: Renowned Researcher at USask Leads Pandemic Fight
Renowned researcher Dr. Angela Rasmussen of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at USask has also become a voice of reason in an online world corrupted by conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers, fighting back on social media and in major mainstream media publications. While her focus is on work in the lab that has global impact and can help save millions of lives, Rasmussen is also dedicated to clearly communicating the science behind the research. University of Saskatchewan
Interview with Hon. Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, Minister of Health of the Republic of Uganda
“Uganda has experienced seven Ebola outbreaks since the year 2000, when our first Ebola outbreak was extremely devastating, with over 400 cases and 250 deaths. Uganda started putting systems in place for early detection and response. Subsequently, we expanded laboratory capacity to the extent that we have several mobile laboratories that we can deploy anywhere at any time…I cannot overemphasize the issue of effective leadership. It is also important for the public trust their leadership especially as they explain about certain interventions and why they have to be implemented.” Africa CDC
ALSO READING
Potent and selective covalent inhibition of the papain-like protease from SARS-CoV-2. Nature Communications
Retrospective Screening of Clinical Samples for Monkeypox Virus DNA, California, USA, 2022 Emerging Infectious Diseases
Multi-Organ DEARE and Protective Role of dmPGE2 in Acute Radiation Syndrome. Radiation Research
Beyond the spore, the exosporium sugar anthrose impacts vegetative Bacillus anthracis gene regulation. Scientific Reports
Strengthening and Sustaining a Network of Public and Animal Health Clinical Laboratories in Pakistan. National Academies
The Threat of Impending Pandemics: A Proactive Approach. Cureus
FDA Issues Final Guidances to Assist with Transition Plans for COVID-19-Related Medical Devices. U.S. FDA
An effective live-attenuated Zika vaccine candidate. NPJ Vaccines
Using machine learning to determine the time of exposure to infection by a respiratory pathogen. Scientific Reports
Bacterial Agents Detected in 418 Ticks Removed from Humans during 2014–2021, France. Emerging Infectious Diseases
Essential Trace Element Levels in Patients with Cutaneous Anthrax. Eastern Journal of Medicine
At Least 3 California Condors Die From Bird Flu in Arizona. New York Times
Post-Vaccination Serum Cytokines Levels Correlate with Breakthrough Influenza Infections. Scientific Reports
Magnetic Biosensors for Identification of SARS-Cov-2, Influenza, HIV, and Ebola Viruses. Nanotechnology
Exaptation of Inactivated Host Enzymes for Structural Roles in Orthopoxviruses and Novel Folds of Virus Proteins Revealed. mBio
