Ebola Case Counts Spike Again in DRC(CIDRAP) Over the weekend, the ministry of health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) recorded 28 new cases of Ebola, and will likely confirm another 20 new cases today. With nearly 50 cases in 3 days, the outbreak is experiencing another spike in activity following the discovery of cases in neighboring Uganda last week.Go to article
(PEW)Every federal grant dollar spent on natural disaster mitigation projects, such as elevating buildings or retrofitting infrastructure to reduce the impact of future events, saves $6 on average in post disaster recovery costs, according to a 2018 study by the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). Go to article
Global Health Security
We Must Prepare for the Next Pandemic(New York Times: Subscription required) When the next pandemic strikes, we’ll be fighting it on two fronts. The first is the one you immediately think about: understanding the disease, researching a cure and inoculating the population. The second is new, and one you might not have thought much about: fighting the deluge of rumors, misinformation and flat-out lies that will appear on the internet. Go to article
(Reuters)Health workers have got the all-clear to use three experimental Ebola treatments in Uganda, a week after the deadly disease spread over the border from Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said on Tuesday.Go to article
Health System Capacity in Sydney, Australia in the Event of a Biological Attack with Smallpox (PLOS: One) Planning for a re-emergent epidemic of smallpox requires surge capacity of space, resources and personnel within health systems. There are many uncertainties in such a scenario, including likelihood and size of an attack, speed of response and health system capacity. We used a model for smallpox transmission to determine requirements for hospital beds, contact tracing and health workers (HCWs) in Sydney, Australia, during a modelled epidemic of smallpox.Go to article
Science & Technology
Synthetic Evolution(Nature Biotechnology)The combination of modern biotechnologies such as DNA synthesis, λ red recombineering, CRISPR-based editing and next-generation high-throughput sequencing increasingly enables precise manipulation of genes and genomes. Beyond rational design, these technologies also enable the targeted, and potentially continuous, introduction of multiple mutations. While this might seem to be merely a return to natural selection, the ability to target evolution greatly reduces fitness burdens and focuses mutation and selection on those genes and traits that best contribute to a desired phenotype, ultimately throwing evolution into fast forward.Go to article
Breeding Crops to Feed 10 Billion(Nature Biotechnology) Crop improvements can help us to meet the challenge of feeding a population of 10 billion, but can we breed better varieties fast enough? Go to article
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Published by Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
