FEMA Was Sorely Unprepared for Puerto Rico Hurricane, Report Says ( New York Times) FEMA's plans for a crisis in Puerto Rico were based on a focused disaster like a tsunami, not a major hurricane devastating the whole island. The agency vastly underestimated how much food and fresh water it would need, and how hard it would be to get additional supplies to the island. Go to article

See Also: 2017 Hurricane Season FEMA After-Action Report ( FEMA) The unprecedented scale, scope, and impacts of the complex combination of hurricanes Harvey, capabilities FEMA has developed and improved since hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Following the 2017 hurricane season, FEMA conducted an after-action review of the agency's preparations for, immediate response to, and initial recovery operations for hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. The 2017 Hurricane Season FEMA After-Action Report captures transformative insights from a historic hurricane season that will help the Agency, the emergency management community, and the nation chart the path into the future. Go to article

The Strange and Curious Case of the Deadly Superbug Yeast ( Wired) A pathogen that resists almost all of the drugs developed to treat or kill it is moving rapidly across the world, and public health experts are stymied how to stop it. It's a yeast, a new variety of an organism so common that it's used as one of the basic tools of lab science, transformed into an infection so disturbing that one lead researcher called it "more infectious than Ebola" at an international conference last week. Go to article

An Ebola Outbreak Has Just Been Stopped. Here's What It Tells Us About Containing Epidemics. ( Harvard Business Review) After a month with no new cases, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo appears to be under control and weeks away from officially ending. Less than three months since it was declared, and after only about 50 cases, this outbreak's efficient containment is a remarkable achievement that stands in stark contrast to the West African epidemic that spiraled into a two-year global crisis with over 28,000 cases. Go to article

Safety and Immunogenicity of an Oral Tablet Norovirus Vaccine, a Phase I Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial ( JCI Insight) Noroviruses are the leading cause of epidemic acute gastroenteritis and foodborne diarrheal disease in humans. However, there are no approved vaccines for noroviruses. Potential correlates of protection identified through human challenge studies include mucosal IgA, memory B cells, and serum-blocking antibody titers (BT50). Go to article

Researchers Identify Target for Novel Malaria Vaccine ( Medical Xpress) A Yale-led team of researchers have created a vaccine that protects against malaria infection in mouse models, paving the way for the development of a human vaccine that works by targeting the specific protein that parasites use to evade the immune system. The study was published by Nature Communications. Go to article

See Also: Neutralization of the Plasmodium-Encoded MIF Ortholog Confers Protective Immunity Against Malaria Infection ( Nature Communications) Plasmodium species produce an ortholog of the cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor, PMIF, which modulates the host inflammatory response to malaria. Using a novel RNA replicon-based vaccine, we show the impact of PMIF immunoneutralization on the host response and observed improved control of liver and blood-stage Plasmodium infection, and complete protection from re-infection. Go to article

UPDATE: Source of Nerve Agent Contamination Identified ( Metropolitan Police) On Wednesday, 11 July, a small bottle was recovered during searches of Charlie Rowley's house in Amesbury. It was taken to the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down, Wiltshire, for tests. Following those tests, scientists have now confirmed to us that the substance contained within the bottle is Novichok. Further scientific tests will be carried out to try and establish whether it is from the same batch that contaminated Sergei and Yulia Skripal in March - this remains a main line of enquiry for police. Go to article

China, Russia, and the US Are All Building Centers for Military AI ( Defense One) Russia and the US are moving closer to opening their own centers for military-related research into artificial intelligence, as China did in the spring of last year. But the three governments have differing approaches. Go to article