Countermeasures
In testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Dr. Helen Boucher -- treasurer for the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) -- called for action to circumvent the growth of antimicrobial resistance.
“While bacteria develop resistance in nature,... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently reviewed reports issued from December 2009 through March 2019 on various biological threats and biodefense efforts.
The agency concluded many challenges remain.
GAO concluded in 2011 that there was no broad, integrated national strategy and... Read More »
The International Atomic Energy Agency recently confirmed Iran violated the restrictions on stockpiling enriched uranium specified in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In response, three Republican senators sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging the administration to put... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published guidance for first responders and emergency managers on how to respond in the first minutes of a radiological dispersal device (RDD), or “dirty bomb.”
The guidance was developed by the DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T)... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said an agency waiver would expedite construction of three miles of a new border wall system in the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector.
The work would be located west of Roma near Fronton, in Starr County, Texas, with the waiver... Read More »
Immigration and Custom and Enforcement (ICE) Executive Associate Director Nathalie R. Asher recently offered an assessment of the agency’s January-March 2019 enforcement statistics, citing a commitment to arresting unlawfully present aliens.
“During this time period, more than 85 percent of... Read More »
Dr. Baozhang Wang -- an associate professor in Georgia State University’s Institute for Biomedical Sciences -- received $3.26 million in federal funding this week to help develop a universal flu vaccine over the next five years.
"A novel approach to fighting the flu is needed because there are... Read More »
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories recently discovered a vulnerability in a standard open-source software for genomic analysis DNA-based medical diagnostics.
Such a vulnerability leaves the software open to cyberattacks.
Researchers found a weak spot while studying the software’s... Read More »
Since the U.S. Army discovered in 1904 that mosquitoes were transmitting yellow fever, malaria, and other diseases, they have been working on ways to protect themselves.
Even in modern times, US troops, deployed to mosquito-infested areas, have been using basic or crude protections.... Read More »
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is encouraging Florida League of Cities and Florida Association of Counties officials to take advantage of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) resources to bolster cybersecurity efforts.
Rubio recently forwarded correspondence to both organizations in response to... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently introduced legislation designed to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct an annual study of deepfakes and other types of similar content.
Deepfakes are hyper-realistic, digital manipulations of real content depicting events that did not... Read More »
House Republican recently introduced fours bills as part of the Republican’s American Security Agenda.
The agenda is aimed at combating new and evolving threats by providing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with resources, reforming structure and management, and granting the agency... Read More »
The Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Association (DARPA) established a program to deliver powerful new defenses against public health and national security threats.
The program -- called the PReemptive Expression of Protective Alleles and Response Elements (PREPARE) –... Read More »
Scientists at UC Riverside are celebrating a discovery about 30 years in the making: a neurotoxin component of a bacteria with the potential to kill malaria-bearing Anopheles mosquitoes, without risk to humans.
The scientists said the neurotoxin poses no risk to any living thing beyond these... Read More »
House lawmakers have advanced an emergency spending package containing a provision restoring a robust Customs and Border Protection (CBP) presence along the northern border.
“Restoring hours at these ports is critical to commerce, emergency medical services, and to everyone who lives and... Read More »
Citing it as an investment in the nation’s Intelligence Community, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) recently commended the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passage.
The NDAA, which addresses fiscal year 2020,... Read More »
A new study built on machine learning recently identified four bat species that have the potential to spread Nipah virus in India, which was hit by a virus outbreak in 2018.
The study, published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, claims that its findings could help guide surveillance and... Read More »
The U.S. Senate recently passed the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that includes $74 million for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) located at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
Funding for the base will be used to continue upgrades to... Read More »
The healthcare community needs to address antimicrobial resistance, or future generations will be at risk, a leading health expert said at the first-ever joint meeting of G20 Finance and Health Ministers in Osaka, Japan last week.
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi,... Read More »
Dr. Asha George understands firsthand the threats biological agents can cause. George, who is executive director of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, served in Operation Desert Storm. She knows what it’s like to be standing on the battlefield wondering whether antimicrobial resistant... Read More »
Marine Corps personnel recently joined the Army and Navy in a joint training initiative designed to increase combat operational readiness in amphibious and prepositioning operations.
Marines with the 2nd Transportation Support Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics... Read More »
The Marine Corps has awarded a $67 million contract modification to BAE Systems and Iveco Defence Vehicles to develop variants for the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) Family of Vehicles program.
The effort would enhance battlefield situational awareness and firepower, with the contract calling... Read More »
New legislation, recently introduced by U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), seeks to increase vaccination rates through a campaign of awareness, grants, and research support.
Primarily, under the VACCINES Act, the Centers for Disease Control and... Read More »
Three government agencies are partnering with national and international first responders to address the problem of fires in the wildland-urban interface (WUI).
The WUI is an area between the undeveloped land and urban areas. Fires in the WUI spread quickly and cover acres. Homes in the WUI are... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense designated Fort Drum in Jefferson County, N.Y., as an East Coast Missile Defense Site.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) commended the choice.
“I am proud to announce that after years of leading the effort on behalf of Fort Drum on the House Armed Services... Read More »
Lockheed Martin has secured a two-year $561.8 million contract to produce Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles for the Army and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers.
“The new-build ATACMS rounds under this contract will include sensor technology that provides the recently qualified... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is acting upon GAO recommendations offered to enhance airport screening tests while also addressing vulnerabilities.
In order to test screening at airports, TSA personnel regularly covert tests to... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently launched a large clinical trial to investigate the drug delamanid, understanding its safety and efficacy in regards to multidrug-resistant strains of tuberculosis (TB).
Throughout the study, MDR-TB will be compared to the older isoniazid in... Read More »
Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate Tuesday would amend the Federal Employee Compensation Act to make it easier for firefighters who were injured or became ill as a result of their service to be covered by federal workers’ compensation.
Currently, federal law does not recognize certain... Read More »
A new report from U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Tom Carper (D-DE) details the failure of eight federal agencies, over the course of two administrations, to address vulnerabilities in their IT infrastructure.
The senators, who serve as the chairman and ranking member of the Permanent... Read More »
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) introduced a measure designed to create minimum standards preventing federal law enforcement officers’ service weapons from becoming lost and stolen.
The Federal Law Enforcement and Public Protection Act stems from the fact in recent years in the Bay Area and... Read More »
Engineering and integrations systems firm BAE Systems has secured a five-year, $90 million contract to modernize and maintain C5ISR systems embedded within vehicles, watercraft, and specialized communications platforms.
The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity pact spans five years while... Read More »
The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could continue indefinitely without proper funding and an end to in-country fighting, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In a speech to Member States in Geneva, WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus... Read More »
The fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes $1.7 billion in funding to upgrade 165 Abrams tanks and a $249 million for upgrading Stryker Vehicles, a $78 million increase from last fiscal year.
The bill also increases the Abrams tanks’ rate of production in Lima,... Read More »
The program that reimburses state, counties and local jurisdictions for up to 50 percent of the cost of body armor vests purchased for law enforcement officers was included this week will get funded via a House appropriations bill.
The U.S. House approved the Bulletproof Vest Partnership program... Read More »
