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Today's Headlines: July 24, 2017
 
Biological Agents & Infectious Diseases
 
High Levels of Resistant E Coli Found in Indian Poultry ( CIDRAP) A survey of commercial poultry producers in India has revealed high levels of antibiotic resistance in chickens raised for meat and eggs, a finding researchers say could have serious health implications. Go to article


Domestic Preparedness & Response

Pediatrics and Public Health: Working Together to Prepare for Emergencies ( CDC) Did you know that 1 in 4 people in the US are children? Children represent a considerable portion of our population and they are among our nation's most vulnerable citizens. When a public health emergency or disaster strikes, children are often the most severely affected. Go to article


Government Affairs & National Security

Achievements, Challenges and Major Outputs for 2016 ( ECDC) 2016 was another busy year for ECDC. Throughout the year, ECDC provided scientific and technical support to the European Commission, the Parliament, and the Member States. To give you just one example: during the course of the year, ECDC responded to 41 formal requests from the Commission, 19 of which were forwarded from Members of the European Parliament. Go to article


Global Health Security

After Syria Sarin Attack, Doctors Train to Treat Chemical Weapons Victims ( Reuters) Wearing chemical suits and gasmasks, Syrian doctors rush to a house where white smoke wafts over a group of people choking and coughing, some calling out for help. It is a training exercise but the scenario is all too real for many of the doctors, who treated victims of a chemical attack 3 months ago and suffered symptoms themselves after being contaminated by a deadly nerve agent. Go to article


Medicine & Public Health

Govt to Provide Not-Yet-Approved Medicines in Outbreaks ( The Japan News) The government intends to provide free medicine to developing nations where there have been outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Ebola virus disease and bird flu, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. The medicines have not yet been approved in Japan, but they are expected to be effective against such diseases. Go to article

Why a Biodefense Firm is Going on a Spending Spree ( Washington Post) Emergent Biosolutions, a Maryland-based government contractor that helps maintain the US stockpile of infectious disease vaccines, has been doling out a lot of cash this week as it continues to expand its drug portfolio. Go to article

Geo-Economic Variations in Epidemiology, Patterns of Care, and Outcomes in Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Insights from the LUNG SAFE Prospective Cohort Study ( The Lancet) Little information is available about the geo-economic variations in demographics, management, and outcomes of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. We aimed to characterise the effect of these geo-economic variations in patients enrolled in the Large Observational Study to Understand the Global Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Failure. Go to article

Potential and Challenges of Serotherapy for Severe Influenza ( The Lancet) We congratulate John Beigel and colleagues in doing the 1st randomised-controlled, multicentre trial on adjunctive immune plasma for severe influenza, and reported clinical benefits when given before 5 days of illness, compared with neuraminidase inhibitor treatment alone.  Go to article


Science & Technology

Could Cows be the Vaccine Factories of the Future? ( STAT News) Famously, the word vaccine comes from the Latin word for cow--a namesake that traces back to the late 1700s. Now cows are once again at the cutting edge of vaccine science. Thanks to a quirk of how cows make antibodies, they are helping researchers understand human immunity. Go to article

US Defence Agencies Grapple with Gene Drives ( Nature) National security community examines the risks and benefits of technology to quickly spread genetic modifications. Go to article

Fatal Sarin Poisoning in Syria 2013: Forensic Verification Within an International Laboratory Network ( Forensic Toxicology) During the UN fact-finding mission to investigate the alleged use of chemical warfare agents in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2013, numerous tissues from a deceased female victim, who had displayed symptoms of cholinergic crisis, were collected. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons authorized 2 specialized laboratories in the Netherlands and Germany for forensic analysis of these samples. Go to article


Other 21st Century Threats

Trump's Special Ops Pick Says Terror Drones Might Soon Reach the US from Africa. How Worried Should We Be? ( Defense One) On a dusty beach in far western Africa, a group of men hop out of a pickup truck. They quickly assemble a small commercial drone and send it winging northwest across the Atlantic Ocean. A bit more than a day later, it will make landfall over the southeastern US coast--its explosive payload still intact. Go to article

How ISIS Nearly Stumbled on the Ingredients for a 'Dirty Bomb' ( Washington Post) On the day the Islamic State overran the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014, it laid claim to one of the greatest weapons bonanzas ever to fall to a terrorist group: a large metropolis dotted with military bases and garrisons stocked with guns, bombs, rockets and even battle tanks. Go to article

Artificial Intelligence and National Security ( Belfer Center Study) Partially autonomous and intelligent systems have been used in military technology since at least the Second World War, but advances in machine learning and Artificial Intelligence represent a turning point in the use of automation in warfare. Though the US military and intelligence communities are planning for expanded use of AI across their portfolios, many of the most transformative applications of AI have not yet been addressed. Go to article

The Future of Military Robotics Looks Like a Nature Documentary ( War on the Rocks) BBC has followed up 2006's Planet Earth, perhaps the greatest nature documentary of all time, with an even greater sequel. This past week, Planet Earth II received 10 Emmy Award nominations. Go to article
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