Health Security Headlines
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T oday's Headlines: February 11, 2019

Biological Agents & Infectious Diseases
 
CDC: Flu Activity Hits Highest Level This Season (CIDRAP) The percentage of people visiting the doctor for influenza-like illness (ILI) last week jumped from 3.8% to 4.3%, the highest of the 2018-2019 flu season, according to today's weekly FluView update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Go to article
 
China Reports New Outbreak of African Swine Fever (Star Tribune) China has reported a new outbreak of African swine fever that is threatening the country's vital pork industry. Go to article 
 
Polio This Week as of 6 February 2019 (Polio Global Eradication Initiative) The 144th Session of the Executive Board concluded on 1 February with a renewed support from the public health leadership for a final push to end polio.   Go to article
   
Yellow Fever - Brazil (WHO) Brazil is currently in the seasonal period for yellow fever, which occurs from December through May. The expansion of the historical area of yellow fever transmission to areas in the south-east of the country in areas along the Atlantic coast previously considered risk-free led to two waves of transmission. Go to article
 

Government Affairs & National Security
 
Bill Links DHS, National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (Homeland Preparedness News) Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) recently introduced a measure designed to link the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC) to combat cybersecurity risks. Go to article
 
 
Global Health Security
 
WHO Supports Five Countries to Fight Lassa Fever Outbreaks (WHO) With five countries in Western Africa reporting outbreaks of Lassa fever, the World Health Organization (WHO) has scaled up its efforts to support the region's response to the disease. Go to article
 
Uganda: Ebola Preparedness Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA) - DREF Operation n° MDRUG041 update n° 03 (reliefweb) On May 8, 2018 the 9th Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was declared by the Ministry of Health. On 1st of August 2018, just one week after the declaration of the end of the Ebola outbreak in Equator province, the 10th Ebola epidemic of the DRC was declared in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri. Both provinces are among the most populated areas in the DRC and bordering Uganda and Rwanda. Go to article
   
UN Ready to Rise Above Political Fray and Help Venezuelans Based 'On Need, And Need Alone' ( UN News) The situation for ordinary Venezuelans is increasingly critical but the United Nations remains committed to providing humanitarian support, based on "need, and need alone", said a senior aid official on Friday. Go to article
 

Medicine & Public Health
 
Stopping the World's Biggest Infectious Killer  (Scientific American) Diseases that have plagued humanity since ancient times continue to hold billions of people back, and tuberculosis is one of the most significant among them. Today, there are an estimated 10-million-plus new TB cases each year, and the disease causes more than 1.6 million deaths, earning it the dubious honor of being the world's number one infectious killer. Go to article
 
 
Science & Technology
 
EXCLUSIVE: Controversial Experiments That Could Make Bird Flu More Risky Poised to Resume (Science) Controversial lab studies that modify bird flu viruses in ways that could make them more risky to humans will soon resume after being on hold for more than 4 years. Science Insider has learned that last year, a U.S. government review panel quietly approved experiments proposed by two labs that were previously considered so dangerous that federal officials had imposed an unusual top-down moratorium on such research. Go to article
 
Chinese Bioethicists Respond to the Case of He Jiankui (The Hastings Center) A preliminary investigation by Guangdong Province in China of He Jiankui, the scientist who created the world's first gene-edited babies,  found  that "He had intentionally dodged supervision, raised funds and organized researchers on his own to carry out the human embryo gene-editing intended for reproduction, which is explicitly banned by relevant regulations." Go to article
 
More Than 26 Million People Have Taken an at-home Ancestry Test (MIT Technology Review) Surging public interest in ancestry and health-propelled by heavy TV and online marketing-was behind a record year for sales of the tests, which entice consumers to spit in a tube or swab their cheeks and ship the sample back to have their genomes analyzed. Go to article
   
Fine-Scale Family Structure Shapes Influenza Transmission Risk in Households: Insights From a Study of Primary School Students in Matsumoto City, 2014/15. (bioRxiv) Background: Households are important settings for the transmission of seasonal influenza. Previous studies found that the per-person risk of within-household transmission decreases with household size. However, more detailed heterogeneities driven by household composition and contact patterns have not been studied. Go to article

 
21st Century Threats
 
Plummeting Insect Numbers 'Threaten Collapse of Nature' (Guardian) The world's insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a "catastrophic collapse of nature's ecosystems", according to the first global scientific review. Go to article



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