Government
The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) produced its first biosafety curriculum for police colleges to advance law enforcement capability and preparedness in responding to biological incidents on Tuesday.
The initiative was developed under Project Rhino and seeks to address... Read More »
Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Dan Ragsdale and U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) unveiled a major renovation to the ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Forensic Laboratory on Tuesday.
“The men and women who work at this... Read More »
The House Homeland Security Committee released its “Terror Gone Viral” report that shows that the wave of terror attacks in the past month have helped ISIS reach a record-level of plotting following the attacks in Germany, France and Orlando.
“ISIS terrorists have reached an alarming and... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy, chaired a hearing on the Securing Energy Infrastructure Act, S. 3018, and to examine protections designed to guard against energy disruptions last week.
“In the United States, we too often we... Read More »
The Alliance for Biosecurity applauded the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday for passing the Strengthening Public Health Emergency Response Act, H.R. 3299, which now heads to the House floor for a vote.
The bill was sponsored by U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks (R-IN) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA).... Read More »
Soligenix released positive preliminary proof-of-concept results on Monday from its collaboration with Axel Lehrer to develop a heat-stable subunit Ebola virus vaccine.
Lehrer is a doctor in the Department of Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology at the John A. Burns School of... Read More »
U.S. Reps. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) and Jim Langevin (D-RI) introduced two bills on Thursday aimed at strengthening collaborative cybersecurity research and development efforts with Israel.
The first bill, the United States-Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2016, will create a... Read More »
The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill on Thursday introduced by U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks (R-IN) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) aimed at incentivizing investments in vaccines and treatments for dangerous and deadly diseases identified as threats to our national security.
The Strengthening... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced legislation on Wednesday to assist communities in preparing for and responding to active shooter events.
The bill, the Active Shooter Preparedness Enhancement Act of 2016, would ensure that the Department of Homeland Security... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded the initial funding of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office’s (DNDO) Securing the Cities program to Chicago on Wednesday to build upon the agency’s increase in capabilities to detect and protect against radiological and nuclear threats.... Read More »
Researchers at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) and CBI Polymer recently explored how a HydroGel can be modified to decontaminate surfaces contaminated with harmful biological agents, such as the anthrax-inducing Bacillus anthracis.
HydroGel is a biosynthetic polymer that can be... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-ME) urged the Senate on Tuesday to move forward with his legislation that seeks to protect critical U.S.-based energy infrastructure from a potential catastrophic cyber-attack.
King urged his colleagues to take action on the Securing Energy Infrastructure Act of 2016 in... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began a series of actions this week designed to combat the emerging threat of Zika virus and to mitigate its spread throughout the U.S. and the world.
The FDA began with important steps to help protect the safety of the blood supply. One of the first... Read More »
The European Parliament has taken an important step toward protecting victims of potential biological, chemical and other types of terrorist attacks in the European Union with its new draft counterterrorism directive that is being negotiated this week.
The European Parliament’s Civil... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) announced its support on Thursday for a bill authored by U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-ME) that aims to control the spread of Zika virus.
The Strengthening Mosquito Abatement for Safety and Health (SMASH) Act aims strengthen the nation’s ability to... Read More »
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) recently announced that is has developed a decontamination spray that enables soldiers at the unit level to decontaminate vehicle surfaces in the field immediately after exposure to a chemical warfare agent and continue with their mission.
The... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) on Friday met with federal and local partners to discuss security operations and procedures at the Philadelphia International Airport.
During his trip, Carper toured the airport’s checkpoint areas that screen approximately 31 million passengers per year.
In... Read More »
The European Commission launched a new public-private partnership on cybersecurity on Tuesday that is expected to trigger $1.9 billion of investment by 2020.
The partnership is part of a series of a new initiatives to better equip Europe against cyber attacks and to strengthen the... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) agents arrested two Pennsylvania men last week at Boston’s Logan International Airport on cocaine smuggling allegations.
The two men, Erick Dominguez-Santos and Ezra Mendez, were arrested after officers discovered more... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) met with New Mexico National Guard officials in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Saturday to discuss increasing resources for counter drug efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Additional talks included efforts to enable the New Mexico National Guard to become the first... Read More »
An independent panel of public health, emergency response and communication experts issued a report on Friday on the Ebola epidemic of 2014, identifying recommendations to improve the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) response to urgent public health threats.
Concerns... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) moved forward on Friday with its preparations for a public-private partnership to deploy and operate a nationwide public safety broadband network.
During their meeting in Chicago, the FirstNet board of directors provided strategic guidance for... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) allocated $275 million on Wednesday for six FY2016 DHS competitive preparedness and grant programs to support state, local, tribal and territorial partners.
The grant program funds come in addition to the more than $1.3 billion in non-competitive... Read More »
A coalition of research institutions published a report in the Clinical Infectious Disease Journal on Wednesday that analyzed the immune responses of Ebola patients treated in the United States.
The coalition includes the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control (CDC), the Emory University School... Read More »
With the goal of improving U.S. threat preparedness, U.S. Rep. Daniel Donovan (R-NY), who serves on the House Homeland Security Committee, recently introduced legislation to help fight potential terror attacks in urban areas and in cyberspace.
Donovan recently introduced the Terrorist Asset... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on Tuesday that found that the National Guard, part of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), has made progress incorporating the Homeland Response Force (HRF) into the chemical, biological radiological and nuclear (CBRN) response... Read More »
The National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) released a report on Tuesday detailing how a single dose of either of two experimental Zika vaccines protected mice infected with the virus for four to eight weeks after receiving the inoculations.
NIAID said that this... Read More »
Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) presented data on Monday regarding gene sequences and the global variations in malaria parasites.
NIAID researchers determined the genomes of approximately 200 P. vivax strains that recently infected people in... Read More »
The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) produced a policy briefing on Monday highlighting preparedness measures to minimize the risk of Zika virus spreading in continental Europe.
The briefing is primarily to protect pregnant women and those who wish to become pregnant,... Read More »
The Greater Rochester International Airport, in a partnership with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, expanded its canine explosives detection program on Friday.
A German Shepherd named Lola recently completed a three-month training... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions, Inc.’s Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing (CIADM) received a task order on Monday valued at up to $21.9 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop and manufacture a Zika vaccine.
Three cGMP lots... Read More »
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet held a hearing on Tuesday to examine the progress of FirstNet, the first nationwide, high-speed network dedicated to public safety.
Chairman of the Subcommittee... Read More »
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) assisted the United States Armed Forces this month in protecting warfighters from exposure to chemical agents that could contaminate the coatings of contemporary combat vehicles.
ECBC researchers who specialize in material decontamination learned... Read More »
The United States Senate voted 58-38 on Wednesday to reject an amendment that would enable the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to more quickly obtain the electronic transaction records of suspected terrorists.
The amendment was offered by U.S. Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and John McCain... Read More »
A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers introduced legislation on Wednesday to protect critical energy infrastructure from potentially catastrophic cyber attacks.
The Securing Energy Infrastructure Act of 2016 was co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID), Angus King (I-ME), Martin Heinrich (D-NM)... Read More »
