Rebel Attack in Congo Ebola Zone Kills 18 ( Reuters) At least 14 civilians and four soldiers were killed on Saturday in a six-hour attack by rebels on the town of Beni in eastern Congo, the army and local officials said, disrupting efforts to contain an Ebola epidemic in the area. Go to article

Ebola Deaths in Eastern Congo Hit 100 ( News.com.au) One hundred people have now died from an Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo with health authorities struggling to contain the deadly disease in the area near the borders with Uganda and Rwanda. Go to article

Situation Report of Cholera Outbreak in Borno State No. 18: 23rd September 2018 ( ReliefWeb) The total number of suspected cholera cases reported as at 23rd of September 2018 stands at 2,512, with 42 associated deaths, (CFR - 1.67%). 1000 in Jere, 434 in MMC, 318 in Magumeri, 29 in Kaga, 83 in Konduga, 119 in Chibok, 11 in Shani, 32 in Damboa and 486 in Ngala LGAs. Go to article

Stay Safe After Hurricane Florence: CDC Priority Messages for September 23, 2018 ( CDC) Hurricanes can cause dangerous and destructive high winds, storm surge, heavy rain, and flooding. Carbon monoxide poisoning from generators, electrocution from downed powered lines, and drowning from wading or driving through floodwaters can cause injury and even death. Go to article

NIH Supports Study of Health Risks and Resilience Following Hurricanes Irma and Maria ( NIH) Eight new awards will help researchers examine the health impacts in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands following the physical damage and community-level hardships left by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Go to article

Chemical Terrorism: A Strategy and Implementation Plan Would Help DHS Better Manage Fragmented Chemical Defense Programs and Activities ( GAO) We found that DHS recently consolidated some of its chemical defense programs into a new Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. But several agency's components, including Customs and Border Protection and the US Coast Guard, still run their own programs. Sharing resources and information department-wide could make DHS's chemical defense more effective. Go to article

Health Preparedness Plan for Dengue Detection During the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo ( PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases) Participants in mass gathering events are at risk of acquiring imported and locally endemic infectious diseases. The 2014 dengue outbreak in Tokyo gathered attention since it was the first time in 70 years for Japan to experience an autochthonous transmission. Go to article

Financing the 2030 Agenda: What Is It and Why Is It Important? ( UN News) António Guterres launches his strategy to finance the 2030 Agenda to put the world on a more sustainable path, this 24 September, ahead of the General Assembly's annual general debate. Go to article

DHS Says National Cyber Strategy Will Enhance Efforts to Combat Cybercrimes ( Homeland Preparedness News) President Donald Trump launched the National Cyber Strategy last week, the first "fully articulated" cyber strategy since 2003. The strategy calls for integrating cyber into the four pillars of the National Security Strategy. Go to article

United States Calls for Global Cooperation in Quelling Antibiotic Resistance ( Homeland Preparedness News) During the UN General Assembly on Sept. 25, Alex Azar, the US DHHS Secretary, will call on world leaders to address the evolving threat of antibiotic resistance. Failure to prepare for and reverse antibiotic resistance could lead to global catastrophe, as such resistance has now taken root across the world. Go to article

The FDA Amendments Act of 2007 -- Assessing Its Effects a Decade Later ( NEJM) Prescription-drug policy in the US has developed through a process of punctuated evolution, often driven by crises. Progressive-era concern about "patent medicines" that contained primarily alcohol or opium led to mandatory labeling under the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. Go to article

Tuberculosis Is a Threat to Global Health Security ( Health Affairs) Heads of state gather this month for the UN General Assembly on tuberculosis, the first time in the disease's 3,000-year history that such a high-level meeting has been held. So why hold one now? Thanks to the success of treatment in lowering mortality from HIV, TB has recently surpassed HIV as the world's leading infectious disease killer, with 1.7 million deaths attributed to the disease in 2016. Go to article

No One Knows Exactly What Would Happen If Mosquitoes Were to Disappear ( The Atlantic) When Delphine Thizy talks to people about eliminating malaria by targeting mosquitos, the one question she says everyone asks -- "whether you're talking to someone in a village in Africa who has never studied biology or an ecologist or a UN ambassador" -- is this: What are the consequences? Go to article

Reducing the Risk of Nuclear War Begins in the Classroom ( Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) As long as nuclear weapons exist, they will continue to pose a severe threat to the planet and its inhabitants. Whatever helpful role nuclear weapons may have played in deterring great power conflict since World War II, it is difficult to imagine that their benefits are worth the perpetual risk of their use. Go to article