Influenza A Virus Environmental Persistence is Driven by the Hemagglutinin and the Neuraminidase ( BioRxiv) The transmission routes of Influenza A viruses submit virus particles to a wide range of environmental conditions that affect their transmission. In water, temperature, salinity and pH are important factors modulating viral persistence in a strain dependant manner, and the viral factors driving IAV persistence remained to be describe. We used an innovative method based on a real time cell system analysis to quantify viral decay in an environmental model. Go to article

Lassa Fever Outbreak Kills 73 in Nigeria as New Cases Surge ( Bloomberg) Nigeria is grappling with an outbreak of Lassa fever, which has caused 73 deaths this year as the number of new confirmed cases surged in the past week, according to the country's Center for Disease Control. Go to article

See also: No One's Quite Sure Why Lassa Fever is On the Rise in Nigeria ( goats and soda) Nigeria is tough on diseases. With help from a few partners, it stopped Ebola's spread. It wrestled guinea-worm disease into a headlock, with no new cases since 2013. And it's nearly eradicated the transmission of polio. Go to article

Domestic Preparedness & Response

DARPA Plans to Build Sensors, Networks to Detect CBRNE Threats in Real Time ( Homeland Preparedness News) DARPA announced plans on Tuesday to develop new sensors and networks that are capable of detecting chemical, biological and explosives threats in real time, which will alert authorities immediately. Go to article

Next Generation 911: National 911 Program Could Strengthen Efforts to Assist States ( US Government Accountability Office) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's National 911 Program's most recent national survey on Next Generation 911 (NG911) implementation indicated that about half of states were in some phase of transition to NG911 in 2015, but that state and local progress varied. Go to article

Government Affairs & National Security

CDC Requests Funds to Build New Maximum-Security Laboratory ( STAT News) CDC is asking Congress for money for a new building to house the laboratories that work on the deadliest pathogens known to humankind. The existing building, which went into service in 2005, will need to be replaced by 2023 or so to avoid major disruptions in the work, senior agency staff told STAT. Go to article

Trump vs. "Disease X" ( Vox) The WHO recently released a list of eight diseases most likely to spark a public health emergency. Some we know, like the hemorrhagic fevers Ebola, Lassa, and Marburg, which can cause their victims to bleed out from their gums and eyes. Go to article

DHS Releases First Responder Technology Guide for Industry ( Homeland Security) Through the Next Generation First Responder Apex Program, DHS has collaborated with first responders and industry to identify capability gaps in technology. The 5-year Apex program uses technology to give firefighters, law enforcement officers and paramedics enhanced protection, communication and situational awareness. Go to article

Global Health Security

Regime Covering Up Severity of Flu in China, According to Chinese Media ( The Epoch Times) This flu season has been particularly severe, considered one of the worst in a decade in the US, and sickening many in different parts of the globe, from Hong Kong to Australia. In China, deaths caused by the flu may be underreported, which has kept the public unaware and unprepared for the brutal virus, according to a recent report by Chinese media Caixin. Go to article

Global Influenza Seasonality to Inform Country-Level Vaccine Programs: An Analysis of WHO FluNet Influenza Surveillance Data Between 2011 and 2016 ( PLOS: One) By analyzing publicly available surveillance data from 2011-2016, we produced country-specific estimates of seasonal influenza activity for 118 countries in the 6 WHO regions. Go to article

Cutting Global Health Programs Puts Americans at Risk ( AAFP) Here's an unfortunate heads up: The program that helped stop Ebola in its tracks may be gone by next fall. Family physicians should be on notice, because the implications are serious--both for public health and for our practices.  Go to article

Medicine & Public Health

WHO Releases Recommended Composition of 2018-2019 Influenza Virus Vaccines for Use in the Northern Hemisphere ( Outbreak News Today) The WHO convenes technical consultations in February and September each year to recommend viruses for inclusion in influenza vaccines for the northern and southern hemisphere influenza seasons, respectively. Go to article

Detection of Zika Virus Using Reverse-Transcription LAMP Coupled with Reverse Dot Blot Analysis in Saliva ( PLOS: One) In recent years, there have been increasing numbers of infectious disease outbreaks that spread rapidly to population centers resulting from global travel, population vulnerabilities, environmental factors, and ecological disasters such as floods and earthquakes. Go to article

FDA Oversees Destruction and Recall of Kratom Products; And Reiterates Its Concerns on Risk Associated with This Opioid ( FDA) The FDA today announced the voluntary destruction and recall of a large volume of kratom-containing dietary supplements manufactured and distributed nationwide under the brand names Botany Bay, Enhance Your Life and Divinity by Divinity Products Distribution of Grain Valley, Missouri. Go to article

What I Saw Treating the Victims from Packland Should Change the Debate ( The Atlantic) As I opened the CT scan last week to read the next case, I was baffled. The history simply read "gunshot wound." I have been a radiologist in one of the busiest trauma centers in the nation for 13 years, and have diagnosed thousands of handgun injuries to the brain, lung, liver, spleen, bowel, and other vital organs. I thought that I knew all that I needed to know about gunshot wounds, but the specific pattern of injury on my computer screen was one that I had seen only once before. Go to article

Drug That Promises to Kill Flu in a Day Approved in Japan (The Wall Street Journal: subscription required) Japan has approved a drug that its maker says can kill the flu virus in 24 hours, paving the way for what health experts believe could be a breakthrough in the way the illness is treated. Go to article

Science & Technology

Pandemic Flu Vaccines: New Potency Assay Could Shave Weeks Off the Timeline ( Outbreak News Today) InDevR, a Boulder-based analytical technology and life science company, this week announced that it has expanded its VaxArray® product portfolio with a new reagent kit to address the "need for speed" in combating flu viruses with pandemic potential. Go to article

Other 21st Century Threats

Inside the Command Center Keeping the Winter Olympics Safe ( Wired) It's a Sunday during the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, at one in the afternoon--at least in this simulation. The US security forces in charge of protecting Team USA receive word of an explosion outside the main entrance of the hockey arena, where teams have been battling for gold. Go to article