Countermeasures
The Government of Nigeria recently announced the launch of a 10-day campaign aimed at immunizing 873,837 people against yellow fever in the states of Kwara and Kogi.
Beginning on Oct. 13, the effort mobilized more than 200 health workers and volunteers to immunize individuals between the ages of... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently announced a week-long event to challenge teams from academia, industry, and the software defined radio (SDR) enthusiast community through a series of hacking sessions called the DARPA Bay Area SDR Hackfest on Nov. 17.
According to... Read More »
A joint discovery by the Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden recently found elusive drug resistance genes in bacteria.
Bacteria have been evolving in recent years, mutating to meet our own efforts against them. Even otherwise harmless bacteria can pass... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) recently wrote a letter to the director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), following the first case of locally transmitted Zika in 2017, asking the organization to prioritize Zika prevention efforts.
"The Zika outbreak isn't over and continues... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced a $750,000 Small Business Innovation Program (SBIR) Phase II contract awarded to BlueRISC, Inc. in Amherst, Massachusetts, for the development of a malware attack prediction and identification solution.
“The growth in the frequency,... Read More »
The Seychellois Ministry of Health recently notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of a probable case of pneumonic plague emanating from a man who visited Madagascar, which has been experiencing an outbreak of plague in its major cities and other non-endemic areas since August of this... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers stationed at the Santa Teresa Port of Entry in New Mexico recently made a seizure of 9.5 pounds of heroin in a single incident.
The seizure occurred on Oct. 12 when a 28-year old male Mexican citizen driving a... Read More »
Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently convened with representatives from state and federal agencies for the first Government Coordinating Council (GCC) for the Election Infrastructure Subsector.
Joining DHS were representatives from the Election Assistance... Read More »
Several security and health organizations recently launched an initiative to reduce the use of risk-significant radioactive source-based devices in medical and research applications in order to reduce the risk of terrorists acquiring this material.
Radioactive sources are used in various... Read More »
The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, a privately funded group established in 2014 to ascertain the current biodefense capabilities of the United States and issue expert recommendations to encourage change, has grown increasingly worried about microbial forensics and biological... Read More »
House Homeland Security Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-TX) recently released October’s Terror Threat Snapshot, a monthly assessment of terror threats and efforts to combat them.
The report noted there have been at least 483 plots, attacks, and arrests linked to Islamist extremism targeting... Read More »
Officials with U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) recently said they have begun executing a new limited acquisition authority to speed up its acquisitions processes for cyber-specific tools.
The command awarded its first contract under its new authority of Sept. 29, which covers technology-related... Read More »
The Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently participated in a ceremony marking the completion of the destruction of the Russian Federation’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles under OPCW verification protocols.
Held at the residence of... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) faces various challenges in implementing its public safety broadband network, according to a recent review conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
GAO was tasked by Congress to asses FirstNet’s efforts to establish the... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) gathered together first responders and public safety professionals earlier this month for a summit focused on flood resiliency.
It was the third annual gathering of the National Geospatial Preparedness Summit (NGPS). It... Read More »
In an effort to help federal agencies identify biodefense capabilities and identify priorities for spending, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a study Wednesday tracking national activities that contribute to biological threat awareness.
Key players involved in the study... Read More »
Elusys Therapeutics, Inc. announced Wednesday that it delivered the first doses of its treatment for inhalational anthrax, ANTHIM (obiltoxaximab) Injection, to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
The company is providing the treatment to the SNS, the U.S. government’s store of... Read More »
Reps. Norma J. Torres (D-CA), Bradley S. Schneider (D-IL), and Eliot L. Engel (D-NY) introduced a bill Wednesday that would require federal firearms licensees to report the sale of two or more long guns within a five-day period.
This requirement already exists for handguns, but long guns, such... Read More »
Two Ebola vaccine candidates pose no major safety concerns and can elicit immune responses by one month after initial vaccination, according to a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted in Liberia
The clinical trial was coordinated by researchers with the Partnership for... Read More »
The U.S. Border Patrol, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney Office for the District of Vermont, recently announced criminal charges for three individuals connected to a 15-person human smuggling attempt in Derby, Vermont.
Hector Ramon Perez-Alvarado, a 25-year old Honduran citizen, was charged... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T recently launched a developer program aimed at encouraging public safety innovation to equip first responders with state-of-the-art communication tools.
FirstNet said the initiative would also bring public safety professionals closer to... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Wednesday it would conduct a technical demonstration of facial recognition biometric technology at one Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) for 30 days.
As part of the... Read More »
Looking to a drug already on the market for treating thrombocytopenia, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has joined a private corporation in evaluating its use against radiation injuries.
The drug in question is approved for use to treat low blood platelet counts resulting... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently began phasing in new security at airports through upstate New York, which requires passengers to place all electronics larger than a cell phone in bins for X-ray screening.
“TSA constantly enhances its security procedures to stay ahead... Read More »
A group of Latin American and Caribbean first responders recently participated in an emergency response training event involving chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals held at the Spanish National NBC Defense School in Madrid, Spain.
Developed by the Organization for the... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) recently entered into a nine-month, $12 million contract with Achaogen, Inc to develop an antibiotic called C-scape that could treat certain types of drug-resistant bacteria and infections caused by bacteria used in biowarfare.... Read More »
A research team at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) was recently awarded more than $2 million from Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. to begin a Zika virus vaccine trial in Brazil.
Led by David Diemert and Jeffrey Bethony, both professors of... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Field Operations at Charleston Seaport as well as local, state, federal law enforcement and emergency services agencies recently participated in a training session aboard the Carnival Ecstasy cruise ship.
The training session, led by CBP,... Read More »
Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) recently wrote to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai to ask for an evaluation of the resiliency of the United States’ wireless networks.
Pallone requested that the commission review the... Read More »
In response to reports that more than 230 cases of plague have appeared in Madagascar since August, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently sent a shipment of 1,190,000 doses of antibiotics and released $1.5 million in emergency funds in order to mitigate the spread of the disease.
The... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently unsealed federal terrorism charges against three men who allegedly plotted attacks in New York City in summer 2016 in support of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which were ultimately stopped by law enforcement.
The three men, a 19-year... Read More »
Amendments to the Border Security for America Act that include provisions to conduct thorough threat assessments, equip front-line agents with the latest technology and ensure accountability from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were recently passed by the House Homeland Security... Read More »
Sanofi’s ACAM2000 and associated contracts are now in the possession of Emergent BioSolutions Inc, following payment of a $117.5 million acquisition.
In all, Emergent has gained control of the only smallpox vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a cGMP live viral... Read More »
A joint project between private, academic and military interests has the potential to make screening and treating populations for infectious diseases easier and safer.
The $11.7 million multi-year project, to create a new universal surveillance platform for infectious disease outbreaks, will be... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is urging the importance of preparedness when it comes to biomedical research in the face of major disease outbreaks and pandemics.
In an article published in The Journal of the American Medical Association by Anthony Fauci,... Read More »
