Biological Agents & Infectious Diseases
Four Countries Report H5N1 as H5N8 Detections Continue (
CIDRAP) Four countries in different parts of the world reported new highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in poultry, while others report more H5N8 detections in both wild birds and poultry, according to media reports and notifications from the World Organization for Animal Health.
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Outbreak of Chikungunya in Pakistan (
The Lancet) Pakistan, along with other Asian countries, is undergoing substantial climate changes. The summers are getting harsher, whereas the winters are getting milder with every passing year. The rising temperature has nurtured the outbreak of many arboviral illnesses in the region, including malaria and dengue.
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Global Health Security
CEPI: Preparing for the Worst (
The Lancet) The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saw the launch of an ambitious global initiative aimed at preventing epidemic emergencies. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations plans to develop vaccines that can be quickly deployed in the event of an infectious disease outbreak. It is the first concrete action to follow the recommendations of the various post-Ebola panels.
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A New Day for African Public Health (
The Lancet) In 2016 alone, Africa experienced many disease outbreaks, including yellow fever in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and cholera in South Sudan. It is widely acknowledged that public health systems across the continent need to be strengthened to prevent, detect, and respond to future infectious disease outbreaks rapidly and effectively.
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Enhancing Community Engagement in Preparedness: Crucial for Ensuring Effective Response (
ECDC) The ECDC report highlights that public health emergency preparedness often focuses on institutional capabilities alone, including provision of material and financial resources, technical expertise and political influence, while overlooking community capabilities. However, the success of institutional preparedness plans depends upon acceptance by the public to ensure that the execution of plans is complete and successful at community-level.
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Medicine & Public Health
Integrating Advanced Molecular Technologies into Public Health (
Journal of Clinical Microbiology) Advances in laboratory and information technologies are transforming public health microbiology. High-throughput genome sequencing and bioinformatics are enhancing our ability to investigate and control outbreaks, detect emerging infectious diseases, develop vaccines, and combat antimicrobial resistance, all with increased accuracy, timeliness, and efficiency.
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Why Tuberculosis Persists (
Project Syndicate) There are 3 reasons why TB persists: political leaders do not understand the sociology behind it, scientists lack an effective paradigm to attack it, and the rich and famous no longer die from it. TB once affected every stratum of society, but it now afflicts the most vulnerable populations.
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Science & Technology
When Scientific Advances Can Both Help and Hurt Humanity (
US News & World Report) For the last decade, scholars, scientists and government officials have worked to figure out regulations that would maximize the benefits of the life sciences while avoiding unnecessary risks. "Dual-use research" that has the capacity to be used to help or harm humanity is a big part of that debate.
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Should Anyone Really Control Who Gets to Use CRISPR? (
Gizmodo) Last week, the US Patent and Trademarks office handed down a decision in one of the most high-profile patent cases of the century. In a one sentence ruling, an appeals board granted the rights to the powerful gene editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 to the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, while leaving the door open for rival CRISPR pioneer UC Berkeley to file a new patent to lay claim to those same discoveries.
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Gene Editing in Legal Limbo in Europe (
Nature) Germany is having trouble deciding whether plants that are gene-edited should be regulated as if they were genetically modified. Confused? You're not alone: the issue has split the German government and has left scientists across Europe in limbo.
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The Mutation Rates and Mutational Bias of Influenza A Virus (
bioRvix) Influenza virus has a high mutation rate, and this low replicative fidelity contributes to its capacity for rapid evolution. Clonal sequencing and fluctuation tests have suggested that the mutation rate of influenza A virus is 7.1 x 10-6 - 4.5 x 10-5 substitutions per nucleotide per cell infection cycle and 2.7 x 10-6 - 3.0 x 10-5 substitutions per nucleotide per strand copied (s/n/r).
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Other 21st Century Threats
The Very Drugged Nazis (
New York Review of Books) Norman Ohler, a German journalist, novelist, and filmmaker, was intrigued when a disc jockey in Berlin told him that the Third Reich was riddled with drugs and suggested that somebody should make a film about it.
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'Total Catastrophe of the Body': A Russian Story (
New York Review of Books) On Thursday, February 2, the young Russian journalist and pro-democracy activist Vladimir Kara-Murza was at his in-laws' apartment in Moscow when he suddenly felt ill. He appeared confused and disoriented. His parents-in-law rushed him into a taxi and to a hospital. By the time they arrived, Kara-Murza was experiencing organ failure.
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How the Hit Team Came Together to Kill Kim Jong Nam (
Wall Street Journal) Police identify embassy official as suspect in apparent poisoning of Kim Jong Un's half brother. The hit squad assembled here quickly from 3 countries and practiced at least twice at posh shopping malls before executing their brazen assault at the airport.
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