August 14, 2018

BLOG

ASPR's Vision for Building Readiness: Sustaining Robust and Reliable Public Health Security Capabilities. ASPR advocates for the sustainment of robust and reliable public health security capabilities, primarily through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but also through other components of HHS. Working together, we must improve the detection and diagnosis of infectious diseases and other health threats. We also must be ready to get critical medical countermeasures to patients when seconds count.  (PHE, 8/10/18)

PRESS RELEASE

CDC Supporting Response to New Ebola Outbreak in North Kivu/Democratic Republic of the Congo. For the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), CDC has deployed experienced Ebola experts to DRC and the World Health Organization to provide guidance on coordination of outbreak response, laboratory testing, disease contact tracing, infection control, and health communication.  (CDC, 8/9/18)

NEWS

Puerto Rico: 1,400 Died from Hurricane but Toll Still at 64. Puerto Rico is estimating in a report to Congress that Hurricane Maria killed more than 1,400 people, though an island official said Thursday that the confirmed toll remains frozen at 64 pending a scientific review due out soon.  (AP News, 8/9/18)

RESEARCH

Health Protection: Military Concepts Applied to the Civilian World. A national commitment to health protection-reinforced by holding leaders accountable for results-would improve population health, reduce health care spending, and boost our nation's economy.  (AJPH, 8/8/18)

PRESS RELEASE

USDA Begins 2018 Field Evaluation of New Oral Rabies Vaccine in Raccoons, Other Wildlife. APHIS' Wildlife Services leads the cooperative National Rabies Management Program that works to prevent the spread of rabies in wildlife. The program currently uses another rabies vaccine to control the disease in raccoons, coyotes, and foxes.  (AJPH, 8/8/18)

PRESS RELEASE

Babies with Zika-related Health Problems Continue to Need Attention. About 1 in 7 babies now 1 year or older who were born to women with Zika virus infection during pregnancy had one or more health problems possibly caused by exposure to the virus before birth, according to a recent report.  (CDC, 8/7/18)

See Also:  Zika-Associated Birth Defects and Neurodevelopmental Abnormalities Possibly Associated with Congenital Zika Virus Infection - US Territories and Freely Associated States, 2018 (MMWR, 8/10/18)

PRESS RELEASE

CDC Hosts International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases. The CDC and the Task Force for Global Health, Inc., will host the 2018 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta later this month. This conference brings together about 1,500 global scientists and public health professionals to exchange innovative research and ideas on emerging infectious diseases and ways to prevent them.  (CDC, 8/7/18)

BLOG
CDC Works with Countries to Identify Children Infected with Hepatitis B Virus and Generate the Evidence for Hepatitis B Vaccine Birth Dose Introduction. A research team from CDC is working in Haiti and the Philippines to determine the number of children infected with Hepatitis B virus, and will continue to provide technical and financial support to generate the evidence to introduce the birth dose and improve hepatitis B vaccination around the world.  (CDC, 8/6/18)

NEWS
Rep. Brooks Focuses on Biodefense, Public Health. US Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.) introduced a bill to strengthen the nation's biodefense resources. The measure prepares the country for emergencies that include infectious disease, natural disasters, and chemical and biological attacks.   (WFYI Indianapolis, 8/6/18)

See also: H.R.3299 - Strengthening Public Health Emergency Response Act of 2016 (Congress.gov, 8/18)

WORKSHOP

Strategic National Stockpile Preparedness Course. The Strategic National Stockpile Preparedness Course is a five-day course designed to give Federal, state, and local officials information on how to best plan and prepare for a public health emergency and how to use and manage the Strategic National Stockpile in response to a terrorist attack, natural disaster, or technological accident.  (NACCHO, 8/18)

WORKSHOP

Registration for the 2018 Public Health Informatics Conference is Now Open. Join the National Association of County and City Health Officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Aug. 20-23 for the next Public Health Informatics Conference, Connecting Systems and People to Improve Population Health.  (NACCHO, 8/18)

NEWS

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Urges Senate Action on Cybersecurity. Warning that the cyber threats to the United States are not going away, and in fact continue to grow, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) has urged the Senate to take action.  (Homeland Prep News, 8/10/18)

NEWS

GAO Urges DHS to Share More Info on Chemical Facilities with First Responders. Warning of the potential danger presented by attackers targeting hazardous chemical facilities, the Government Accountability Office is urging the Department of Homeland Security to share more information with first responders who may need to respond to security incidents.  (Homeland Preparedness News, 8/10/18)

NEWS

JAIC: Pentagon Debuts Artificial Intelligence Hub. On June 27, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan issued a memorandum that formally established the Defense Department's new Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC). According to the memo, JAIC's overarching aim is to accelerate the delivery of AI-enabled capabilities, scale the impact of AI tools, and synchronize the department's AI efforts.  (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 8/8/18)

REPORT

FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act: An Overview of H.R. 5515. The FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act approved by Congress would authorize $708.1 billion in discretionary appropriations for national defense-related activities of the Department of Defense and other agencies.  (Congressional Research Service, 8/7/18)

REPORT

Wildfire Statistics. The Forest Service -- within the US Department of Agriculture -- carries out wildfire management and response across the 193 million acres of the National Forest System. The Department of the Interior manages wildfire response for more than 400 million acres of national parks, wildlife refuges and preserves, other public lands, and Indian reservations.  (Congressional Research Service, 8/2/18)

WORKSHOP

Participate in FBI-CDC Radiological Awareness and Response Workshop. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are sponsoring a radiological awareness and response workshop throughout the nation at no cost. This workshop will include discussions on inter-agency cooperation, roles and responsibilities during an incident, radiological criminal/epidemiology, and more.  (NACCHO, 8/18)

NEWS

The First Gene-Silencing Drug Wins FDA Approval. The first drug that takes advantage of this natural biological process, called RNA interference, was approved August 10 by the Food and Drug Administration. It targets a rare hereditary disease that causes misshapen proteins to build up in patients' nerves, tissues and organs, causing loss of sensation, organ failure and even death.  (ScienceNews, 8/10/18)

RESEARCH

Is the Priority Review Voucher Program Stimulating New Drug Development for Tropical Diseases? Congress created the tropical disease priority review voucher program to stimulate new drug development for tropical diseases. An analysis of the pharmaceutical pipeline indicates that the development of drugs for these tropical diseases has increased. However, the effects of the program are not uniform across all diseases, as malaria and tuberculosis have seen significant new drug development, while other diseases have not.  (PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 8/9/18)

REPORT

Regulation of Cell-Cultured Meat. Cell-cultured meat (also referred to as lab-grown meat, clean meat, in vitro meat, imitation meat, synthetic meat, and fake meat) is grown in laboratories from animal cell cultures. Both the Department of Health and Human Services' Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture have released statements claiming oversight of cell-cultured meat.  (Congressional Research Service, 8/9/18)

NEWS

Staying Chill, Even When Disaster Strikes: How NIST's Cryogenic Teams Protect Invaluable Specimens. When most people prepare for a hurricane, they buy food and water. But when NIST scientist Amanda Moors sees one of those big, red, pinwheel-shaped storms appear on the weather map, she buys liquid nitrogen. If a hurricane hits her lab and there's a power outage, a lot of the biological and environmental specimens archived there could be lost if she and her colleagues don't adequately fill up the liquid nitrogen freezers and make sure the backup generators are ready.  (Medium, 8/5/18)

REPORT

Federal Research and Development (R&D) Funding: FY2019. President Trump's budget request for FY2019 includes approximately $131.0 billion for
research and development (R&D), of which $118.056 billion is included in the
President's budget and an estimated additional $12.9 billion in nondefense discretionary R&D is requested as part of an addendum to the President's budget.  (Congressional Research Service, 8/3/18)

This Week's Hearings

There are no hearings scheduled for this week.