Countermeasures
In response to reports that President Donald Trump had canceled the planned June 12 summit with North Korea, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) called on Thursday to maintain pressure by continuing talks, engaging the international community and upholding tougher sanctions.
Portman, a member of the... Read More »
A U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) review has found that most states meet performance standards for infectious disease threats related to safety and coordination of first responders, but states reported mixed results regarding electronic lab reporting, epidemiology capacity, and... Read More »
A growing number of local law enforcement, private security, and public safety organizations are using new technology from BAE Systems to enhance public safety incident response.
BAE Systems’ Geospatial eXploitation Products OpsView product increases the safety of infrastructure by offering... Read More »
A team of USC Viterbi School of Engineering researchers recently announced the development of a new prototype for a portable instrument capable of early-stage malaria detection.
Details of the portable optical diagnostics system (PODS) prototype featured in ACS Sensors outline the process of... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) praised on Wednesday the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions’ (HELP) advancement of the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act (PAHPAIA).
The bill, S. 2852, would reauthorize various Pandemic... Read More »
The European Union (EU)-U.S. Joint Ministerial Meeting on Justice and Home Affairs held in Bulgaria on Tuesday and Wednesday allowed leaders to discuss joint efforts to combat terrorism, information sharing, efforts to prevent radicalization, aviation security, and chemical, biological,... Read More »
In the first joint U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. National Guard mission near the southern border, three Missouri Guard aviators and a CBP agent provided aerial reconnaissance support for CBP agents on the ground in the Tucson area on May 17.
The first aviation mission of... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced the launch of new technology, the Autonomic Intelligent Cyber Sensor (AICS), through its Transition to Practice (TTP) Program.
This is the 20th technology that has been developed and commercialized... Read More »
Amid a deadly outbreak of the bat-borne Nipah virus in India that has already killed 10 people, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said on Thursday it will provide up to $25 million to Profectus BioSciences Inc. and Emergent BioSolutions Inc. for the development and... Read More »
BAE Systems has secured a five-year contract to ensure the readiness of critical electronic warfare (EW) systems on the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft.
As part of the agreement with Lockheed Martin, officials said BAE Systems would manage the supply chain and establish the infrastructure... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently awarded the City of San Antonio, Texas $1.5 million in grants to help prevent, protect against, mitigate, and respond to acts of terrorism.
“San Antonio is one of the fastest-growing cities... Read More »
U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 49 foreign nationals in Philadelphia during an operation that extended from May 14 to May 20 that targeted aliens with criminal records, fugitives, re-entrants and other violators of federal immigration laws.
Of the 49 individuals... Read More »
An active shooter response training simulation recently organized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) from the Laredo Port of Entry enabled supervisors to focus on bolstering active shooter preparedness and prevention efforts.
Hosted by the Use of Force... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that New York was awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to enhance security preparedness and anti-terror activities through grant programming in fiscal year 2018.
New York City will receive $178 million under the... Read More »
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced this week that it is working with the Government of Puerto Rico to train emergency and healthcare workers to respond to mass casualty incidents.
FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness is running a four-day training course from May 29 to... Read More »
The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on May 23 approved 22-1 the pending Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018, S.2852.
S. 2852, introduced on May 15 by U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), would reauthorize certain programs under... Read More »
Results of a recent survey examined the thoughts of Americans concerning the potential impact infectious and emerging diseases facing other countries will have in the United States.
The effort, commissioned by Research!America and the American Society for Microbiology, showed 95 percent of... Read More »
Marines and first responders with Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF), the Provost Marshal’s Office, and MCAS Miramar Fire Department recently conducted an exercise that simulated a bioterrorism attack at MCAS Miramar, California.
Marines with... Read More »
With tuberculosis killing 1.7 million people in 2016, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) led more than 900 doctors, scientists, and researchers in calling United Nations (UN) Ambassador Nikki Haley to secure “concrete commitments” in this fall’s UN General Assembly High Level... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that $1.6 billion in funding would be made available to state and local governments, nonprofits, transportation authorities and the private sector to bolster terrorism prevention, response, recovery, and mitigation efforts in fiscal year... Read More »
Las Vegas will receive $5 million to help prevent terrorist attacks under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) grant program, reflecting an increase of $2.13 million from the previous year.
U.S. Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) has been leading a push... Read More »
The Laredo Sector Border Patrol Foreign Operations Branch (FOB), working with the Government of Mexico (GoM), prevented a large shipment of narcotics from entering the United States last week.
Border Patrol agents with the Foreign Operations Branch, along with officials from the Mexican... Read More »
In anticipation of what is projected to be the busiest summer travel season ever nationwide, the Oakland International Airport will be using highly visible canines specially trained to detect explosives and explosive components.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Alameda County... Read More »
U.S. Reps. James Langevin (D-RI) and Peter King (R-NY) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) recently introduced the Joint Task Force to Combat Opioid Trafficking Act.
The bill would enable Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create a Joint Task Force to improve coordination of the interdiction... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) would have a greater capacity to track and prevent exposure to blasts that can leave service members with traumatic brain injury (TBI) under a bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on Friday.
Introduced by U.S. Reps. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Elizabeth... Read More »
The director of national intelligence would be required to report on efforts by foreign governments, individuals or entities to bribe President Trump, the Trump family or Trump Administration officials under an amendment to the fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) introduced... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Treasury would be authorized to create a “Border Wall Trust Fund” to accept public donations for the planning, design, construction or maintenance of a southern border wall under legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday.
Introduced by U.S.... Read More »
Scientists at Harvard Medical School have discovered that antibodies made in response to a vaccine for one hemorrhagic fever virus -- Junin -- can also disarm another virus, Machupo.
This breakthrough is significant because it sets the stage for the design of vaccines that can work against... Read More »
The lack of both a protective vaccine and a proactive worldwide plan for tackling the spread of a catastrophic global pandemic resulted in the death of 150 million people across Earth during the recent Clade X simulation exercise hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
And minus... Read More »
People around the world are becoming more resistant to antifungal treatments, and according to researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Exeter, the end result could be increased outbreaks of disease and food shortages.
Improvements must be made to how existing drugs are... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) recently launched its Reporting Offsite Arrival – Mobile (ROAM) app, which operators of small vessels can use to report their entry into Florida.
To use the app, travelers input their biographic, conveyance and trip details and submit their trip for... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives approved four bills last week that would take steps to enhance protections for law enforcement officers through stricter penalties, additional resources and improved collaboration with local communities.
The Protect and Serve Act, H.R. 5698, aims to prevent... Read More »
Government officials and health experts from around the world will attend the 71st World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva this week, where the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) will give presentations on the importance of health and security and the Global Health Security (GHS) Index.
NTI experts... Read More »
Use of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) global databases has been on the rise in recent years amid growing threats of terrorist attacks in Europe, with inquiries to stolen and lost travel documents data increasing by more than 200 percent since 2014.
Delegates recently... Read More »
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is calling on students and young professionals from around the world to offer new ideas regarding communication around nuclear and radiological emergencies.
Calling the effort the “Young Innovative Communicators Competition,” participants must... Read More »
