Today's Headlines: March 22, 2018
Global Health Security
US at Critical Juncture with Global Health Security Agenda (
Homeland Preparedness News) The US is part of the international plan to prevent the naturally occurring, accidental or deliberate spread of infectious diseases, but remains among many countries hampered by the inadequate or underprepared systems around the world that can't effectively deal with rapidly emerging unexpected threats.
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Lassa Fever and Global Health Security (
Lancet) Seeing the terms "viral haemorrhagic fever" and "west Africa" together will conjure grave images for our readers. The 2013-16 Ebola virus disease epidemic was an unprecedented event, not only in terms of illness and death but also for showing the frailties of international preparedness for infectious disease outbreaks. Nigeria is in the midst of its largest ever outbreak of Lassa fever.
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Pandemic Preparedness and Forecast (
Nature Microbiology) Geographic mapping of pathogen emergence risk, as recently done for viral haemorrhagic fever in Africa, provides an important tool for targeting interventions. More comprehensive preparedness and prediction systems that increase surveillance and forecast infectious disease outbreak growth and spread in real time are also needed.
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Government Affairs & National Security
Longtime AIDS Researcher Robert Redfield Picked to Lead CDC (
Washington Post) A leading AIDS researcher, who is well respected for his clinical work but has no experience running a governmental public-health agency, was named Wednesday to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement that Robert Redfield, a 66-year-old virologist and physician, has "dedicated his entire life to promoting public health and providing compassionate care to his patients, and we are proud to welcome him as director of the world's premier epidemiological agency."
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Medicine & Public Health
Flu Skies: How Influenza Might Spread On a Plane (
Smithsonian.com) In the classic 1995 disaster flick Outbreak, an Ebola-like virus mutates and becomes airborne. In one of the most sobering scenes of the movie, the pathogen is sucked up into the ventilation system of an airplane, infecting almost everyone on board. Such scenes of plane-contracted illness are not easy to shake, leaving the creeping feeling that flying is a game of cold-and-flu Russian roulette.
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NCEZID 2O17 Accomplishments (National Center for Emerging & Zoonotic Infectious Diseases) CDC has been described as the eyes and ears for our country when it comes to public health. This report describes the work of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases - the part of CDC charged with focusing on emerging diseases and diseases that are spread between animals and people.
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Science & Technology
Influenza A Virus Superinfection Potential Is Regulated by Viral Genomic Heterogeneity (
bioRxiv) Defining the specific factors that govern the evolution and transmission of influenza A virus populations is of critical importance for designing more effective prediction and control strategies. Superinfection, the sequential infection of a single cell by two or more virions, plays an important role in determining the replicative and evolutionary potential of IAV populations. The prevalence of superinfection during natural infection, and the specific mechanisms that regulate it, remain poorly understood.
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First Vaccine for Lassa Fever Ready 'Within a Year' (
The Telegraph) A vaccine for Lassa fever could be ready for testing on human volunteers by the end of this year, scientists have said. This will be the first time a vaccine for the disease will be tested on humans and could prove a breakthrough in developing other vaccines.
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Other 21st Century Threats
A 'One Hundred Year Taboo'? One Graphic that Shows How Chemical Weapons Have Veen Used over Time (
The Telegraph) The use of one of the world's deadliest weapons - Novichok - to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, on British soil has sparked global alarm over chemical weapons. Such weapons have been used in warfare throughout history - but the first large-scale use of chemical weapons took place just over one hundred years ago during World War One, where both sides used gases including chlorine, phosgene and mustard gas against their enemies on the battlefield.
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