Dengue Virus Can Thrive in Mosquitoes Thanks to Talaromyces Fungi (
Outbreak News Today) A species of fungus that lives in the gut of some
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes increases the ability of dengue virus to survive in the insects, according to a study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The fungus exerts this effect by reducing the production and activity of digestive enzymes in the mosquitoes.
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Domestic Preparedness & Response
The Firestorm This Time: Why Los Angeles Is Burning (
Wired) The Thomas fire spread through the hills above Ventura, in the northern greater Los Angeles megalopolis, with the speed of a hurricane. Driven by 50 mph Santa Ana winds--bone-dry katabatic air moving at freeway speeds out of the Mojave desert--the fire transformed overnight from a 5,000-acre burn in a charming chaparral-lined canyon to an inferno the size of Orlando, Florida, that only stopped spreading because it reached the Pacific.
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Oklahoma Border Town Leery of Planned Bioterror Test (
US News and World Report) The US Department of Homeland Security announcement that it was conducting biosecurity drills in the Oklahoma farming town of Newkirk was tucked among the local weekly newspaper's classified ads. The notice mentioned a "low level outdoor release of inert chemical and biological simulant materials" and directed people to a science-heavy website explaining why the agency chose the community.
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After Harvey, Irma, and Maria, an Opportunity for Better Health--Rebuilding Our Communities as We Want Them (
American Journal of Public Health) Damage from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria is likely to cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Countless homes, schools, hospitals, vehicles, and critical infrastructure have been damaged or wiped out. Rebuilding will take years, even decades. There is no silver lining in this crisis, but there is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to rebuild the affected communities in ways that make Americans safer, healthier, and better prepared for the next challenge and to remind all communities of the importance of engaging in preplanning for disasters so they are more resilient and better able to realize healthier communities.
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Global Health & Security
Uganda Ends Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak (
WHO) Uganda has successfully controlled an outbreak of Marburg virus disease and prevented its spread only weeks after it was first detected, the WHO said on Friday (December 8). "Uganda has led an exemplary response. Health authorities and partners, with the support of WHO, were able to detect and control the spread of Marburg virus disease within a matter of weeks," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
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Millions in Need of Humanitarian Assistance in Yemen (
Lancet) The situation in Yemen-one of the world's worse humanitarian crises--risks deteriorating further. The death of Ali Abdullah Saleh might accelerate conflict. Sharmila Devi reports. Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former president of Yemen, was killed on Dec 4 in fighting with the Iran-aligned Houthi militia in the capital Sana'a, Reuters reported, further raising fears for a country in which aid officials say some 20ยท7 million people need humanitarian or protection support.
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Government Affairs & National Security
Secretary Nielsen Announces the Establishment of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (
Homeland Security) Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen today announced the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security's Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. The CWMD Office will elevate and streamline DHS efforts to prevent terrorists and other national security threat actors from using harmful agents, such as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear material and devices to harm Americans and US interests.
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DHS's Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Program Consolidation Efforts (
GAO) GAO's prior work has shown that the Department of Homeland Security should complete, document, and make available analyses of key questions related to its chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives (CBRNE) consolidation proposal. In August 2016, we reported that several key factors were not included when DHS evaluated its organizational consolidation of CBRNE functions.
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Medicine & Public Health
Long Term Outcomes in Survivors of Epidemic Influenza A (H7N9) Virus Infection (
Nature Scientific Reports) Patients who survive influenza A (H7N9) virus infection are at risk of physical and psychological complications of lung injury and multi-organ dysfunction. However, there were no prospectively individualized assessments of physiological, functional and quality-of-life measures after hospital discharge. The current study aims to assess the main determinants of functional disability of these patients during the follow-up.
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America, It's Time to Get Ready for the Flu (
Los Angeles Times) It's the most wonderful time of the year - the time when the flu makes its presence known in the US. You may not have given influenza much thought, but that's OK - health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been doing it for you. They say the virus had been lying low through October, but that's changed since early November.
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Viruses Are the Antibiotics of the Future (
Motherboard) Bacteriophages and the enzymes they produce are being used in Russia to kill bacteria that is resistant to every known type of antibiotic. Since antibiotics were developed in the 1940s, several types of bacteria have naturally developed antibiotic resistance and some are already resistant to every known antibiotic in the world.
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Science & Technology
Google Is Giving Away AI That Can Build Your Genome Sequence (
Wired) On Monday, Google released a tool called DeepVariant that uses deep learning--the machine learning technique that now dominates AI--to assemble full human genomes. Modeled loosely on the networks of neurons in the human brain, these massive mathematical models have learned how to do things like identify faces posted to your Facebook news feed, transcribe your inane requests to Siri, and even fight internet trolls.
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Cyberbiosecurity: from Naive Trust to Risk Awareness (
Trends in Biotechnology) The cyber-physical nature of biotechnology raises unprecedented security concerns. Computers can be compromised by encoding malware in DNA sequences, and biological threats can be synthesized using publicly available data. Trust within the biotechnology community creates vulnerabilities at the interface between cyberspace and biology. Awareness is a prerequisite to managing these risks.
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DNA Has Gone Digital - What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (
The Conversation) Biology is becoming increasingly digitized. Researchers like us use computers to analyze DNA, operate lab equipment and store genetic information. But new capabilities also mean new risks - and biologists remain largely unaware of the potential vulnerabilities that come with digitizing biotechnology.
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