Monitoring USG action on readiness and response
Published by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
Editors: Diane Meyer, RN, MPH; Divya Hosangadi, MSPH & Amanda Kobokovich, MPH
New from the Center for Health Security

Clade X: State and Local

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security is excited to announce that we will be presenting a tailored version of the original day-long Clade X exercise at the NACCHO-hosted Preparedness Summit in Saint Louis, MO on Tuesday, March 26 from 1:30-5:00PM. The exercise, “Clade X: State and Local,” will focus on domestic public health challenges during a severe pandemic and illustrate high-level strategic decisions and policies that the US will need to pursue in order to diminish its consequences. The exercise debrief will be conducted by Dr. Stephen Redd, Director for the Center for Preparedness and Response at the US CDC. Participants are encouraged to pre-register by using these instructions, also available at the Preparedness Summit online schedule. If you plan on attending the Preparedness Summit, we hope to see you at Clade X: State and Local!

Risk Communication Strategies for the Very Worst of Cases

A new report by a team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security reframes the discussion of the most severe biological threats to provide policy advocates with an additional tool to help them catalyze expansive international support for work on pandemic prevention and response. Read More.
March 12, 2019
Public Health & Healthcare Preparedness
UPDATE
Situation Update: Summary of Weekly FluView Report. According to this week’s FluView report, overall influenza activity remains elevated and is similar to activity reported last week. 48 states and Puerto Rico continue to report widespread flu activity and 32 states are experiencing high influenza-like-illness (ILI) activity levels. (CDC, 3/8/19)
RESEARCH
Associations Among School Absenteeism, Gastrointestinal and Respiratory Illness, and Income — United States, 2010–2016. During 2010–2016, parents of children from low-income households were more likely to report recent childhood gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses than were higher income parents. Although parents of children from low-income households were less likely to report missing any school, these children tended to miss more school days, on average, when they did miss school. (MMWR, 3/8/19)
RESEARCH
Update on Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus Outbreaks — Democratic Republic of the Congo and Horn of Africa, 2017–2018. During 2017–2018, four cVDPV type 2 outbreaks, with 42 cases to date, occurred in six provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and required multiple response supplementary immunization activities (SIAs). In Somalia, concurrent cVDPV type 2 and cVDPV type 3 outbreaks occurred, first identified by sewage testing months before occurrence of 12 paralytic cases to date. (MMWR, 3/8/19)
NEWS
Battelle Sends Representatives to Congo to Help First Responders Combat Ebola Outbreak. Battelle, an applied science and technology nonprofit company, recently sent two employees to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to provide training to local healthcare officials in dealing with the Ebola Virus. (Homeland Preparedness News, 3/6/19)
PRESS RELEASE
HHS’ BARDA Funds Its First Marburg Virus Vaccine Development. To increase national health security against biothreats and protect public health, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will partner with Public Health Vaccines LLC of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to develop a potential vaccine against Marburg virus. No licensed vaccine for this virus exists today. (HHS, 3/5/19)
PRESS RELEASE
Deadly Staph Infections Still Threaten the US. More than 119,000 people suffered from bloodstream Staphylococcus aureus (staph) infections in the United States in 2017 – and nearly 20,000 died, according to a new Vital Signs report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (CDC, 3/5/19)
MEETING
Blood Products Advisory Committee Meeting Announcement. On March 20, 2019, in the morning, BPAC will meet in open session to discuss and make recommendations on strategies to reduce the risk of Zika virus (ZIKV) transmission by blood and blood components. The committee will discuss whether universal testing of blood donations for ZIKV is an appropriate strategy considering the decline of the ZIKV epidemic in the US and worldwide. (FDA, 3/19)
RESEARCH
Case Investigations of Infectious Diseases Occurring in Workplaces, United States, 2006–2015. Few publications have explored these factors in the United States; a literature search yielded 66 investigations of infectious disease occurring in US workplaces during 2006–2015. Reported cases appear to be concentrated in specific industries and occupations, especially the healthcare industry, laboratory workers, animal workers, and public service workers. (CDC, 3/19)
RESEARCH
Tuberculosis Surveillance and Control, Puerto Rico, 1898–2015. To describe the current low incidence of reported cases, provide key lessons learned, and detect areas that may affect progress, the authors systematically reviewed the literature about the history of TB surveillance and control in Puerto Rico and supplemented this information with additional references and epidemiologic data.  (CDC, 3/19)
Homeland Security & Disaster Preparedness
NEWS
USDA Strengthens Partnerships and Protections to Keep African Swine Fever Out of the Country. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced additional steps to keep African swine fever (ASF) from entering the United States, even as the disease spreads internationally. These steps strengthen the protections announced last fall after the deadly swine disease reached China. (USDA, 3/6/19)
NEWS
FDA Takes New Steps to Protect Food Products from Deliberate Attacks. The US Food and Drug Administration today released a revised draft guidance, “Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration: Guidance for Industry,” to support compliance with the intentional adulteration (IA) rule set forth under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). (FDA, 3/5/19)

Radiological & Nuclear Disaster Preparedness
NEWS
Opportunity for Funding of Radiation Medical Countermeasures Research. CMCRC is a network of research institutions focused on basic, translational, and applied studies with the goal of generating new medical products to assess and address damage caused by radiation exposure from a mass casualty incident. (NIH, 3/6/19)
WORKSHOP
Workshop on Radiation Preparedness: Provide Your Input on Tools for Radiation Planning and Training. This two-part workshop held on March 25, 2019 from 1:00-4:30PM CT as a pre-conference session at the 2019 Preparedness Summit will focus on population monitoring training and tools for radiological emergency planning. (NACCHO, 3/19)
Science & Technology Policy
NEWS
House hosts roundtable on Valley Fever. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), co-chairman of the Congressional Valley Fever Task Force, held a Valley Fever roundtable on Wednesday, hosting scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), doctors, patient advocates, researchers, and Congressional members. (Homeland Preparedness News, 3/8/19)
NEWS
USDA and FDA Announce a Formal Agreement to Regulate Cell-Cultured Food Products from Cell Lines of Livestock and Poultry. FSIS and FDA released a formal agreement to address the regulatory oversight of human food produced using this new technology. The formal agreement describes the oversight roles and responsibilities for both agencies and how the agencies will collaborate to regulate the development and entry of these products into commerce. (USDA, 3/7/19)
This Week's Hearings
Improving the Federal Response: Perspectives on the State of Emergency Management. Committee on Homeland Security. 3/13/19, 2PM. Cannon House Office Building, room number 310. More
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