December 4, 2018

PRESS RELEASE 
House Passes SMART IoT Act and Two Bills to Advance Public Health. The House of Representatives today passed three bipartisan Energy and Commerce Committee bills. Collectively, the bills promote the use of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and advance public health. (House Committee on Energy and Commerce, 11/28/18) 

RESEARCH
Similar Levels of Antimicrobial Resistance in US Food Service Ground Beef Products With and Without Raised without Antibiotics Claim. The US ground beef with "raised without antibiotics" (RWA) label claims are perceived as harboring fewer bacteria with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) than are found in conventional (CONV) ground beef with no such label claim. A total of 370 ground beef samples from CONV ( n  = 191) and RWA ( n  = 179) production systems were collected over 13 months from three food service suppliers . (Journal of Food Protection, 11/26/18) 

NEWS
House Lawmakers, Alliance for Biosecurity Urge Senate to Pass Pandemic, All-hazards Reauthorization Bill. Federal officials are pushing for the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018 (PAHPA), which was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in September, to be signed into law this year. (Homeland Preparedness News, 11/30/18)

NEWS
How FDA Helps Make MCMs Available in Emergencies . The first in an occasional series on the ways FDA helps prepare for and respond to public health emergencies. (FDA, 11/28/18)

STATEMENT
Statement on Claim of First Gene-Edited Babies by Chinese Researcher.  NIH is deeply concerned about the work just presented at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong by Dr. He Jiankui, who described his effort using CRISPR-Cas9 on human embryos to disable the CCR5 gene. (NIH, 11/28/18)

REPORT
Situation Update: Summary of Weekly FluView Report. According to this week's FluView report, seasonal influenza activity increased slightly in the United States. The proportion of people seeing their health care provider for influenza-like-illness (ILI) is above the national baseline for the first time this season, however this increase may be influenced in part by a reduction in routine health care visits during the Thanksgiving holidays. (CDC, 11/30/18)

See Also: Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report. (CDC, 11/30/18)

REPORT
Progress Toward Regional Measles Elimination - Worldwide, 2000-2017. In 2010, the World Health Assembly set three milestones for measles prevention to be achieved by 2015: 1) increase routine coverage with the first dose of measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) among children aged 1 year to ≥90% at the national level and to ≥80% in every district; 2) reduce global annual measles incidence to less than five cases per million population; and 3) reduce global measles mortality by 95% from the 2000 estimate. (CDC, 11/30/18)

NEWS
Universal Influenza Vaccine Candidate Reduces Transmission of Virus Best When Given Nasally in Mice. Current influenza vaccines protect only against matched or very closely related strains of influenza virus, and the vaccine formulation is based on scientific predictions of which strains will circulate during influenza season. That can lead to failure of protection when mismatched strains emerge unexpectedly. (FDA, 11/28/18)

NEWS
Reinventing Drug Discovery and Development for Military Needs. Flying at 50,000 feet, diving deep in the ocean, or hiking for miles with gear through extreme climates, military service members face conditions that place unique burdens on their individual physiology. The potential exists to develop pharmacological interventions to help service members complete their toughest missions more safely and efficiently, and then recover more quickly and without adverse effects, but those interventions must work on complex physiological systems in the human body. (DARPA, 11/28/18)

NEWS
SBA Low-Interest Disaster Loan May Enable Hurricane Michael Survivors to Begin Recovery Immediately. As a homeowner or renter you may be able to begin your recovery from Hurricane Michael immediately with a low-interest SBA disaster loan. Eligible renters and homeowners alike may borrow up to $40,000 to repair or replace personal property damaged or destroyed in the disaster. (FEMA, 11/30/18) 

PRESS RELEASE
Bill Improving National Earthquake Preparedness Sent to President's Desk. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) praised today's House passage of S. 1768, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2018, for the President's signature. (House.gov, 11/27/18)

NEWS
Trump's Nominee for USDA Science Post Calls New US Climate Report 'Genuine'. The entomologist nominated to be the chief scientist at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, DC said today he accepts the conclusions of a new federal report on climate change that President Donald Trump has dismissed and that he hopes science can help farmers adapt to some of the harmful effects already being cause by global warming. (Science, 11/28/18)

REPORT
Federal Select Agent Program Strategic Plan: FY18-FY21. We are pleased to share this FSAP Strategic Plan, which will guide our efforts for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2018 through FY2021. Our joint strategic planning effort serves as a clear reminder of the many successes we have achieved together over nearly two decades as FSAP, as well as the myriad challenges against which we must continue to focus in order to sustain and enhance biosafety and security of BSAT in the United States. (USDA, 11/27/18)

This Week's Hearings

Department of Defense's Artificial Intelligence Structure, Investments, and Applications. Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities. 12/05/2018, 10:00 AM. RHOB, Rm 2118. More