The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security gathered biosecurity experts from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the United States at a meeting this spring to identify shared priorities that underscore the dynamic and challenging biosecurity issues facing countries in Southeast Asia. "Regional coordination and collaboration are vital to rapidly detecting, characterizing, and responding to infectious disease events to reduce the chance of global transmission, but many practical, financial, and political barriers make close coordination a challenge," the Center's project team said in its meeting report released in July 2017.

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July 25, 2017
Public Health & Healthcare Preparedness
NEWS
CDC Issues Travel Notice for Sri Lanka Because of Dengue Outbreak.  The Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka has reported 103,114 suspected dengue cases and more than 250 deaths since the beginning of the year.  (Outbreak News Today, 7/23/17)
 
NEWS
White House Developing Comprehensive Biosecurity Strategy: Official.  The Trump administration is developing the first comprehensive strategy to defend the United States against disease pandemics and biological attacks by terrorists, the top White House homeland security official said on Thursday.  (Reuters, 7/20/17)
 
BLOG
Ebola Aftermath: Restoring Trust in Hospitals in Guinea.  In the aftermath of the 2014-2016 epidemic and in the face of its reemergence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, USAID is working with partners, communities and policymakers to help Guinea recover and stay resilient. Through a combination of hospital renovations, medical equipment donations and community engagement, we are rebuilding the people's trust in the healthcare system so they will resume using hospitals and clinics.  (Department of State, 7/20/17)
 
COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT
Strengthening Processes and Building Capacity to Facilitate Regulatory Review and Approval of Medical Countermeasures During Public Health Emergencies with the World Health Organization. This FOA is a request for a sole-source application from the World Health Organization (WHO) a cooperative agreement between ASPR and the WHO for fiscal years 2017-2019. This FOA seeks to build upon the WHO Emergency Use Assessment and Listing procedures that the WHO developed for Ebola IVDs, vaccines and medicines, and Zika IVDs and laboratory technologies.  (Grants.gov, 7/19/17)
 
PRESS RELEASE
CDC Reminds Travelers to Europe: Protect Against Measles.  More than 14,000 cases of measles have been reported in Europe since January 2016, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. In the past year, 35 people across Europe have died from the disease, according to the World Health Organization.  (CDC, 7/19/17)
 
REPORT
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate: H.R. 1628 Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017.  The number of people who are uninsured would increase by 17 million in 2018, compared with the number under current law. That number would increase to 27 million in 2020, after the elimination of the ACA's expansion of eligibility for Medicaid and the elimination of subsidies for insurance purchased through the marketplaces established by the ACA, and then to 32 million in 2026.  (Congressional Budget Office, 7/19/17)

See also: Senate Republicans Still at Impasse After Late-Night Health Care Meeting (Politico, 7/19/17)

BLOG
Integrating Genomics into Public Health Surveillance: Ushering in a New Era of Precision Public Health.  How can the tools of genomics be used in public health surveillance? Through CDC's Advanced Molecular Detection initiative, whole genome sequencing of pathogens is already changing infectious disease surveillance and outbreak investigations.  (CDC, 7/19/17)
 
NEWS
House Appropriations Subcommittees Approve FY 2018 State & Foreign Operations (SFOPs) and Health & Human Services (HHS) Appropriations Bills.  On July 19, 2017, the House Committee on Appropriations approved both the FY 2018 State & Foreign Operations (SFOPs) and the FY 2018 Labor, Health & Human Services (LHHS) appropriations bills. The SFOPs bill includes funding for US global health programs at the State Department and the US Agency for International Development, while the LHHS appropriations bill includes funding for global health programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.  (Kaiser Family Foundation, 7/19/17)

See also: Bill Report - Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2018 (US House Committee on Appropriations, 7/19/17)
 
STATEMENT
Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, on the Funding Awards to States for FDA Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Implementation.  This new law is transforming our food safety system from one that responds to contamination to one that prevents it in the first place. This change cannot happen without the support of our state partners who are helping food producers and growers understand and achieve the new requirements promulgated at Congress' direction.  (FDA, 7/19/17)
 
ANNOUNCEMENT
USDA Detects a Case of Atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in Alabama.  The US Department of Agriculture announced an atypical case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, a neurologic disease of cattle, in an eleven-year old cow in Alabama.  This animal never entered slaughter channels and at no time presented a risk to the food supply, or to human health in the United States.  (APHIS, 7/18/17)
 
PRESS RELEASE
CDC Awards $12 Million to Help States Fight Opioid Overdose Epidemic.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be awarding this week more than $12 million to 23 states and the District of Columbia to support their responses to the opioid overdose epidemic. The funds will be used to strengthen prevention efforts and better track of opioid-related overdoses. CDC expects to announce additional funding awards for state opioid overdose prevention programs later in the summer.  (CDC, 7/17/17)
 
NOTICE
Announcement of Intent To Establish the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group and Solicitation of Nominations for Appointment to the Working Group Membership. The US  Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces establishment of the Working Group. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is responsible for ensuring the conduct of and support for epidemiological, basic, translational, and clinical research related to vector-borne diseases, including tick-borne diseases.  (Federal Register, 7/17/20)
 
RESEARCH
Identification and Pathological Characterization of Persistent Asymptomatic Ebola Virus Infection in Rhesus Monkeys. USAMRIID scientists show  that persistent EBOV infection in rhesus monkeys could serve as a model for persistent EBOV infection in humans, and demonstrate that promising candidate medical countermeasures may not completely clear EBOV infection.  (Nature Microbiology, 7/17/17)

See also: "Post-Ebola Syndrome" is Something Else to Keep You Up at Night (Ars Technica, 7/19/17)
 
NEWS
Texas Actress Gets 18 Years for Mailing Ricin to Obama.  A minor actress from Texas was sentenced Wednesday to 18 years in prison for sending ricin-tainted letters to President Obama, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and the head of his gun-control group. Richardson apologized Wednesday before being sentenced by US District Judge Michael Schneider.  (USA TODAY, 7/16/17)
 

REPORT
Global Health Engagement Activities. This issuance establishes the definition for the Department of Defense's global health engagement (GHE) activities; assigns responsibilities and prescribes procedures for the conduct of GHE activities with partner nation entities; and establishes the DoD GHE Council, and prescribes Council functions, responsibilities, membership, and procedures. (Department of Defense, 7/12/17)

 
NEWS
"Get a Lawyer": Federal Judge Throws Out Anti-Naled Suit.  Two Miami Beach residents' lawsuit to halt the aerial spraying of naled, the pesticide used to fight Zika in Miami-Dade County, was thrown out of court Wednesday. Their efforts were stymied by their lack of legal representation, which federal judge Federico Moreno pointed out immediately.  (Miami Herald, 7/12/17)
 
GUIDANCE
21st Century Cures Act: MCM-Related Cures Provisions.  Many provisions of Cures Act law that are intended to facilitate the development of medical products will facilitate development of medical countermeasures.  (FDA, 7/11/17)
 
Homeland Security & Disaster Preparedness
REPORT
Public-Safety Broadband Network: FirstNet Has Made Progress Establishing the Network, but Should Address Stakeholder Concerns and Workforce Planning.  GAO (1) examined FirstNet's efforts to establish the network; (2) obtained stakeholder views on network reliability, security, and interoperability challenges FirstNet faces and its efforts to address them; and (3) assessed FirstNet's plans to oversee its network contractor.  (GAO, 7/20/17)

See also: FirstNet - Efforts to Establish the Public-Safety Broadband Network (GAO, 7/20/17)
 
NEWS
Department of Homeland Security Authorization of 2017 Needs Your Support.  H.R. 2825, the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act of 2017, which Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) introduced, would be the Department's first ever reauthorization - and for certain parts of the Department would be their first actual authorization. This unprecedented legislation reflects the Department's importance in our national security efforts, and solidifies our mission to protect our nation and its future.  (The Hill, 7/20/17)

See also: House Approves First Ever Reauthorization of DHS (Washington Examiner, 7/20/17)
 
NEWS
DIUx Set to Get Emergency Cash Infusion.  Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, revealed Tuesday that the Pentagon is preparing a fiscal reprogramming request to keep the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, or DIUx, running at full speed. DIUx is the brainchild of former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, who announced its creation in May 2015. Tasked with bridging the gap between the Pentagon and Silicon Valley, the California office opened in August 2015.  (Defense News, 7/18/17)
 
NEWS
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center Celebrates 100th Anniversary.  With a crowd of more than 500 invited guests and workforce members assembled beneath a pavilion at the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., ECBC Acting Director Eric Moore, Ph.D., noted that while ECBC's mission lies in the research and development of technologies to defend US warfighters from chemical and biological threats, it has been generations of ECBC scientists, engineers, technicians, and support personnel who have written the organization's history.  (Global Biodefense, 7/18/17)
 
REPORT
Biological Defense: Additional Information That Congress May Find Useful as It Considers DOD's Advanced Development and Manufacturing Capability.  DOD has long expressed concerns about its ability to acquire and maintain the capability to research, develop, and manufacture medical countermeasures (e.g., vaccines) against biological warfare threat agents, toxins, and endemic diseases. In 2013, DOD partnered with a private-sector biopharmaceutical company to develop an ADM facility with the capability to use disposable equipment enabling timely changes in a production line for medical countermeasures.  (GAO, 7/17/17)
 
Radiological & Nuclear Disaster Preparedness
WORKSHOP
FBI/CDC Workshop: Radiological Awareness and Response.  This free workshop is a critical capability and capacity building program developed to test a multi-agency response to a Radiological Exposure Device (RED) or a Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD). The two-day workshop provides an opportunity for public health officials, first responders, and investigators to discuss their agencies' emergency response policies and procedures, to include interagency notification and information sharing processes. The workshop will take place on August 8-9, 2017 in New Orleans, LA.  (NACCHO, 7/17)
 
Science & Technology Policy
REPORT
Artificial Intelligence and National Security: a Study of Behalf of Dr. Jason Matheny, Director of the US Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity.  Though the United States 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. By looking at four prior cases of transformative military technology-nuclear, aerospace, cyber, and biotech-we develop lessons learned and recommendations for national security policy toward AI.  (Belfer Center, 7/21/17)

See also: The Future of Military Robotics Looks Like a Nature Documentary (War on the Rocks, 7/21/17)
 
NEWS
Trump's R&D Cuts Aren't Just Cruel, They Increase the Risk of Bioterrorism.  For every $1 the National Institutes of Health spends, it generates an estimated $8.38 in industry investment over eight years. Trump wants to cut 21 per cent of its budget.  (Wired, 7/20/17)

See also: Return on Innovation - Why Global Health R&D is a Smart Investment for the United States (Global Health Technologies Coalition, 7/20/17)
 
NEWS
GOP Effort to Make Environmental Science "Transparent" Worries Scientists.  The HONEST Act says the EPA can't take a particular action based on scientific research unless that research is "publicly available online in a manner than is sufficient for independent analysis and substantial reproduction of research results."  (NPR, 7/20/17)
 
NEWS
Defense Department Pours $65 Million into Making CRISPR Safer.  With one eye on potential bioterrorism threats, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency today announced $65 million in funding to seven projects around the country - including one led by UC Berkeley - to improve the safety and accuracy of gene editing. UC Berkeley will work with UC San Francisco and Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California to develop better ways to insert gene-editing molecules -- including CRISPR-Cas9 -- into living cells.  (Berkeley News, 7/19/17)

See also: 
NEWS
At ClinicalTrials.gov, Untested Stem Cell Clinics Advertise for Free!  In the last few years, some of these stem cell clinicians have begun posting large-scale studies on a government-run website called ClinicalTrials.gov, even though they're often not up to medical research standards or even in compliance with federal regulations. This allows them to masquerade their pay-to-participate studies as legit science.  (Wired, 7/19/17)
 
NEWS
Trump Just Nominated a Climate Change Skeptic to USDA's Top Science Post.  President Trump on Wednesday nominated Sam Clovis, a former college professor and talk radio host who has challenged the scientific consensus that human activity has been the primary driver of climate change, to serve in the Agriculture Department's top scientific post.  (Washington Post, 7/19/17)
 
COMMENTARY
I'm a Scientist. I'm Blowing the Whistle on the Trump Administration.  Joel Clement was director of the Office of Policy Analysis at the US Interior Department until last week. He believes he was fired for speaking out publicly about the dangers that climate change poses to Alaska Native communities.  (Washington Post, 7/19/17)
 
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