Countermeasures
A group of Florida lawmakers recently urged the Air Force to consider the Florida Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing for the next series of F-35 basing decisions.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was joined by Reps. John Rutherford (R-FL), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Michael Waltz (R-FL) and Mario... Read More »
The U.S. Senate advanced bipartisan legislation sponsored by Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) designed to enhance cybersecurity in the public and private sector.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cyber Hunt and Incident Response Teams Act requires DHS to establish... Read More »
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar co-hosted Wednesday the “Meeting of Regional Ministers of Health on Ebola Preparedness and Response” during the 74th United Nations General Assembly.
Foremost on the ministers’ minds were the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the... Read More »
Scientists may have changed the way Chikungunya vaccines can be designed, produced, and stored, with the creation of a new type of synthetic vaccine that can be stored at warmer temperatures without the need for refrigeration.
The results of the vaccine study, published in Science Advances... Read More »
The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee recently advanced legislation that would establish a cybersecurity advisory committee to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Committee.
The goal of the advisory committee would be to advise and consult the director as well as... Read More »
The Department of Defense’s Medical CBRN Defense Consortium (MCDC) awarded $20 million to Emergent BioSolutions Inc. for the development of an auto-injector to treat nerve agent-induced seizures.
The device, which will contain diazepam (5 mg/mL), is being designed for intramuscular... Read More »
Special agents from Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) Cyber Crimes Center and the Illicit Finance and Proceeds of Crime Unit recently taught a darknet training course to more than 100 local and state law enforcement personnel in Colorado.
The goal was to provide information on darknet... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the vaccine Jynneos to treat smallpox and monkeypox in adults.
It is the only currently FDA-approved vaccine for this disease.
“Following the global Smallpox Eradication Program, the World Health Organization certified the eradication of... Read More »
Since the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) began selling foreign partners defense items and services through its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, it has charged a transportation fee, but those account balances have now grown by more than 1300 percent, without guidance or proper adjustments.... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently introduced legislation designed to aid in securing the nation’s telecommunications supply chain.
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR) have joined Reps. Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Brett Guthrie (R-KY)... Read More »
Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) leaders are expressing support for a recently signed public health order focusing on vaccine technology development, prioritization, and emphasizing vaccination importance.
President Donald Trump announced the executive order in advance of what is... Read More »
Lockheed Martin officials said flight tests of the firm’s Sikorsky HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopter have determined the aircraft’s new tactical mission kit operates as designed, ensuring seamless transitioning to evaluation.
“This tactical mission kit leverages the knowledge we’ve gained... Read More »
One of the largest research contracts ever awarded to the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) was announced by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) this week, to the potential tune of more than $200 million over the next seven years.
Initially, the... Read More »
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently held a test of emergency response plans in Hershey, Pa., in conjunction with local and state organizations.
The test assessed tactical response and coordination to a complex and coordinated attack.
The exercise was in the... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Center for Global Health was designated as a Collaborating Center for Biosafety and Biosecurity by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO).
The designation -- the first awarded to a CDC/WHO collaborating... Read More »
The Sept. 14 gas explosion that stoked a fire at a Russian bioweapons facility in Siberia where viruses and bacteria including smallpox, Ebola and anthrax are stored reminded the world that humans are only one catastrophic biological event away from a pandemic that could kill tens of millions of... Read More »
President Donald Trump signed an executive order that directs the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense to propose a plan and budget to modernize the development of flu vaccines.
The plan must be submitted within 120 days. The goal is to improve preparedness for... Read More »
Proposed funding allocations by the Senate Appropriations Committee address some of the most urgent threats to public and individual, the Infectious Diseases Society of America said.
The bill’s allotment of $168.5 million for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC)... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) intends to provide $14 million and expertise support for the advanced development of an investigational Ebola treatment being pursued by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics of Miami.
Ridgeback is manufacturing the therapeutic drug known as... Read More »
The House of Representatives has advanced a measure sponsored by Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) designed to aid the effort to stop money laundering supporting criminal activity.
The legislation was advanced with unanimous support.
The Advancing Innovation (AI) to Assist Law Enforcement Act... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kevin K. McAleenan recently unveiled the agency’s plan to address terrorism and targeted violence during an event co-hosted by the Heritage Foundation.
The DHS Strategic Framework for Combating Terrorism and Targeted Violence at the Brookings... Read More »
There’s a new word on the street that packs a lot of punch: cyberbiosecurity, which is introducing a host of new multilayered threats to biodefense.
Members of the newly named Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense — formerly the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense — last week sought a... Read More »
Despite the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) recommendations -- since 2013 -- that a single dose of yellow fever vaccine will protect people for a lifetime, new research shows that might not hold true for the youngest among the populace.
The aforementioned WHO recommendation was based on... Read More »
During an address at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space & Cyber conference, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper encouraged military adaptability against potential space threats and cyberattacks.
Esper also said the emergence of Russia and China also expedites the need for adaptable... Read More »
In anticipation of the 2020 elections, federal lawmakers have approved $250 million in support of state and local governments’ efforts to strengthen election security.
The Senate Appropriations Committee recently granted approval to the allotment via an amendment to the Financial Services and... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency recently awarded Western Maryland more than $5.6 million through the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program.
The bulk of the funding, $5.5 million, was awarded to Frederick County while... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Drug Enforcement (DEA) is initiating an effort to combat the drug abuse epidemic in the South Coast region of Massachusetts.
The DEA is initiating a “360 Strategy” in that region – which is a comprehensive diversion control, law enforcement, and prevention program to... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense recently awarded Virginia Tech a $7.5 million Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative grant to study information latency, the measure of how quickly or slowly networked devices transmit information.
Virginia Tech will receive the funds over five years.... Read More »
Legislation that would prohibit the U.S. government from procuring drones manufactured by covered foreign entities identified as national security threats was introduced in the U.S. Senate this week.
The American Security Drone Act of 2019 was introduced by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick... Read More »
BAE Systems has secured a $318 million Army contract to upgrade M88 recovery vehicles to an M88A3 configuration designed for single-vehicle recovery of the latest version Abrams tank.
“As the U.S. Army’s primary recovery vehicle, the M88 plays a critical role in the Army’s Armored Brigade... Read More »
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and state forensic lab researchers in Maryland and Vermont have developed a new technique designed to improve drug evidence testing safety.
Lab researchers have demonstrated a process allowing police to test whether a baggie or other package... Read More »
A Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security report commissioned by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) released this week showed the foundations for responding to a high-impact respiratory pathogen pandemic could use some work the world over.
A high-impact respiratory pathogen... Read More »
U.S.-based white supremacists have dramatically increased their coordination and information sharing which has led to a spike in right-wing extremist violence in the United States and Europe over the past decade, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation League and five European organizations.... Read More »
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar met with the Republic of Uganda President Yoweri Museveni this week to discuss a multilateral response to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The United States has long had a partnership with Uganda on... Read More »
Opioid vaccines hold the potential to counteract the plague of opioid-affiliated deaths that have swept the United States in recent years, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
While clinical trials have begun, numerous barriers remain to use.
The matter of what exactly is... Read More »
