November 7, 2017
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Public Health & Healthcare Preparedness
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REPORT
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Often called "the voice of CDC," the MMWR series is the agency's primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations.
(CDC, 11/3/17)
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NEWS
Chasing a Killer.
Along a narrow, winding river, a team of American scientists is traveling deep into the Congo rain forest to a village that can be reached only by boat. The scientists are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and they have embarked on this watery journey to solve a decades-old mystery about a rare and fatal disease: monkeypox.
(Washington Post, 11/3/17)
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NEWS
Chipotle Stockholders' Suit Says Company, CDC Kept Secrets.
Using Freedom of Information Act requests, the attorneys representing the Chipotle stockholders pressed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for details about the track record of the Denver-based burrito chain. The CDC's records show 14 outbreaks from October 2014 through December 2016, according to court documents filed this week.
(Food Safety News, 11/3/17)
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FACT SHEET
The US Government and Global Health Security.
With an initial five-year horizon (2014-2019), the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) was created to help countries build the basic capacities required under the International Health Regulations (IHR), elevate pandemic threats as a global priority, and bring together actors across governments and societies to address infectious diseases. Today, the US remains a key member of the initiative as part of the GHSA Steering Group, and recently, the Administration has expressed support for the extension of the GHSA for an additional five years.
(Kaiser Family Foundation, 11/1/17)
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REPORT
The President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.
The primary goal of the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis is to develop an effective set of recommendations for the President to combat the opioid crisis and drug addiction in our nation. Many of the recommendations that follow will require appropriations from Congress into the Public Health Emergency Fund, for block grants to states and to DOJ for enforcement and judicial improvements.
(The White House, 10/31/17)
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COMMENTARY
Lessons Learned from Emergency Response Vaccination Efforts for Cholera, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, and Ebola.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supports countries to plan, implement, and evaluate emergency vaccination response. Here, CDC researchers describe work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with global partners to support emergency vaccination against cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, and Ebola, diseases for which a new vaccine or vaccine formulation has played a major role in response.
(CDC, 10/31/17)
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LETTER
Top Dems Spell Out Criteria for New HHS Secretary.
The ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and the Senate Health Committee, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), outlined those criteria in a letter to Trump Monday, indicating they will vigorously oppose any nominee who supports many of the administration's policies and agenda items.
(The Hill, 10/31/17)
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Homeland Security & Disaster Preparedness
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NEWS
How a Pentagon Research Project Convinced Vladimir Putin of a Coming Biowar.
It all began with a thinly worded tender posted by the US Air Force's largest medical research outfit, the 59th Medical Wing, on the government's Federal Business Opportunities clearinghouse. The tender called for the collection of "synovial tissue and RNA samples" from Caucasians -- a designation that has thrown the Russians for a loop - in Russia. The tender didn't specify what the samples were intended for, but Russian journalists noticed the researchers "will not consider tissue samples from Ukraine."
(Air Force Times, 11/2/17)
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PRESS RELEASE
DHS Acting Secretary Elaine Duke Visits Puerto Rico.
Today, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke and Acting Deputy Administrator of FEMA Daniel Kaniewski traveled to Puerto Rico to discuss Hurricane Maria recovery efforts with Federal Coordinating Official Mike Byrne and his senior leadership team. The meetings included briefings from FEMA officials and the US Department of Defense, including US Northern Command and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
(Department of Homeland Security, 11/2/17)
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NEWS
Should FEMA be a Standalone Agency? A
major proposed realignment has focused on removing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from the Department of Homeland Security. Some have asserted that FEMA could be more effective as a stand-alone cabinet-level department. Others have argued that the melding of FEMA into the department provides synergy and resources that support FEMA's overall mission.
(National Interest, 10/29/17)
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Science & Technology Policy
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NEWS
Trump's Nominee For NASA Chief Could Remake The Agency.
Before Rep. Jim Bridenstine was nominated to lead NASA, he already had unorthodox ideas about what it should do. In 2016, as one of Oklahoma's congressmen, he proposed the American Space Renaissance Act, which he called a "pioneering doctrine" that would refocus NASA's mission. The space agency would concentrate on human spaceflight and "permanently secure the United States of America as the preeminent spacefaring nation."
(FiveThirtyEight, 10/31/17)
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| How Effective is the Science and Technology Directorate?: Stakeholder Perspectives. US House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response. 11/7/2017, 10 AM. House Capitol Visitor Center, Room 210. More |
Nomination of Kirstjen M. Nielsen to be Secretary, US Department of Homeland Security. US Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs. 11/8/17, 10 AM. Dirksen 342.
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Hearing on Hurricane Recovery Efforts in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. US Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources. 11/14/17, 9:30 AM.
Dirksen 366.
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