Countermeasures
Legal representatives from Ghana, Djibouti, and Benin recently participated in an Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-sponsored internship program aimed at providing insight for drafting country-specific national legislation related to the implementation of the Chemical... Read More »
Scientists, engineers, and technicians from the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Nuclear/Radiological Advisory Team (NRAT) recently conducted advanced maritime training aboard the Maersk Detroit in order to expand their advanced shipboard operational skill sets while on the... Read More »
The Alabama Department of Public Health recently announced the launch of a serious infectious disease response network in order to help identify and respond to potential outbreaks as they occur.
According to Mary McIntyre, chief medical officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health, the... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted accelerated approval to benzidazole for the treatment of Chagas disease in children aged 2 to 12 years old.
While the drug is one of the few treatments approved for use in adults, benzidazole now becomes the only approved treatment... Read More »
Start-ups and small biotech companies are the most-promising developers for new medical countermeasures for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats, but they face serious challenges, according to Battelle's Senior Market Manager for Medical and CBRN Products Russell Coleman.... Read More »
With support from China, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Ghana itself, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has pulled the last kilogram of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) from Ghana.
“Ghana demonstrated an exemplary commitment to helping reduce the risk of... Read More »
The USS John Paul Jones recently fired from the Aegis Combat System two Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) Dual I missiles to successfully intercept a medium-range ballistic missile target in a test off the coast of Hawaii.
The test, supported by the U.S. Navy, Missile Defense Agency and Lockheed... Read More »
The 11th annual International Law Enforcement IP Crime Conference, held this week in New York, aims to increase international partnerships to prevent intellectual property crime and form enforcement strategies.
The event was co-hosted by INTERPOL and the National Intellectual Property Rights... Read More »
Gigi Gronvall, a senior associate at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, recently spoke about the role of synthetic biology in national security at Edgewood Chemical Biological Center’s 100th Anniversary Speaker Series at Aberdeen Proving Ground near Aberdeen, Maryland.
Gronvall is... Read More »
The Nebraska Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) recently underwent an inspection of its patient care, quality control, and other critical facets and was subsequently reaccredited by the College of American Pathologists.
The reaccreditation places the lab among 7,700 other accredited facilities... Read More »
A five-day training course aimed at building the capacity of countries in southeast Asia to address border management issues tied to illicit immigration and human trafficking was recently hosted by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) at its Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI)... Read More »
The U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently completed tests of its B61-12 gravity bombs at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada.
Dropped from an F-15E aircraft, the tests sought to evaluate the weapon’s non-nuclear... Read More »
After arresting 30 illegal aliens near the Otay Mesa port of entry in the San Diego sector, U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered a tunnel apparently being used to smuggle illegal aliens into the United States.
The agents encountered 30 people including 23 Chinese nationals and seven Mexican... Read More »
A meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assembled experts in human and animal health last week to address early warning systems for animal-to-human (zoonotic) disease outbreaks.
“Early detection is the key,” Trevor Shoemaker, a CDC epidemiologist formerly based in Uganda,... Read More »
A recently developed mathematical model accurately forecasted that a large-scale cholera outbreak would peak in war-torn Yemen by early July 2017, triggering more than 750,000 cases.
The model was developed by researchers at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan.
While various amounts of... Read More »
Future measles vaccination strategies in high-fertility countries should focus on increasing childhood immunization rates, while immunization campaigns targeting adolescents and young adults should be required in low-fertility countries, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at... Read More »
Battelle’s DroneDefender recently announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Dedrone to examine ways to develop an end-to-end solution to provide complete airspace security for sensitive infrastructure.
The nonbinding, non-exclusive memorandum will aim to explore potential... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in conjunction with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), recently announced that they will jointly sponsor the 2018 Global City Teams Challenge (GCTC), a competition that will focus on designed-in cybersecurity solutions for... Read More »
Researchers are tracking down biothreats like tularemia but are facing a number of challenges including avoiding false positive tests, according to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Specifically, the laboratory is investigating the... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers recently arrested at Arizona’s Port of Nogales two Mexican nationals and two U.S. citizens attempting to smuggle approximately $685,000 worth of cocaine and methamphetamine.
Early on Aug. 18, officers referred a 27-year-old Mexican man and an... Read More »
The Laredo Sector Border Patrol (LSBP) recently released a public service announcement (PSA) describing the dangers of illegally crossing the border.
The PSA, titled “No Arriesgue Su Vida” (Don’t Risk Your Life), highlights the potential dangers of relying on smuggling cartels to cross... Read More »
An illegally-trafficked tiger cub was found by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during inspection of a vehicle headed into California from Mexico last week.
The attempt took place at Otay Mesa port of entry when two suspects--18 and 21-years-old, respectively--pulled up in a Chevy... Read More »
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), part of the U.S. Army’s Research Development and Engineering Command, recently unveiled its newly-renovated chemical agent explosives chamber at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland.
The facility is now the only location in the... Read More »
In the wake of reports that an estimated 700,000 federal civilians, military personnel, and industry employees cannot perform their duties as a result of a backlog for security clearance background checks, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) issued a series of recommendations in order to... Read More »
The United States Air Force (USAF) recently awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin Corporation and Raytheon Company to mature design concepts and prove developmental technologies for the new Long Range Standoff weapon (LRSO).
USAF is on track to replace the AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missile... Read More »
Representatives of the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group (ITWG) recently presented the results of the organization’s fifth Collaborative Materials Exercise (CMX) at the American Chemical Society's national meeting in Washington D.C.
The group of scientists, law... Read More »
In strict violation of U.S. law, the TSA has announced a rising trend in attempts to bring firearms into the skies, with 3,391 uncovered at security checkpoints in 2016--a 28 percent increase over 2015.
Thus far, 2017 does not seem to be doing any better. At San Antonio International Airport... Read More »
The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) recently published a reminder about safety practices for microbiology labs following a July 2017 outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium associated with clinical and teaching microbiology labs.
The outbreak infected 24 people infected in 16 states. The... Read More »
In anticipation of President Trump’s official visit to the Border Patrol Station in Yuma, Arizona, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) applauded the president’s decision to visit the station while highlight the work his committee has done towards immigration issues.... Read More »
A new advanced imaging technology (AIT) machine was recently installed at the DuBois Regional Airport (DUJ) in Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The state-of-the-art machine’s target recognition software enables passengers a more... Read More »
After a Zika virus epidemic in 2015 and an outbreak of yellow fever earlier this year, Brazil runs a serious risk of being affected by Oropouche fever, a tropical viral infection similar to dengue fever, according to a recent study by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) in Brazil.... Read More »
National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists reported a new step forward in understanding and developing tools against tick-borne viruses this week, with the development of a laboratory model to study flaviviruses.
Specifically, it was researchers at Rocky Mountain Laboratories--a part of the... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently awarded three Phase 1 agreements for its mobile force protection (MFP) program, an initiative that focuses on countering the proliferation of small, unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS).
The agreements were awarded to Dynetics, Inc. of... Read More »
A gene variant that affects cholesterol levels could increase a person’s risk of contracting typhoid fever while a common cholesterol-lowering medication can protect zebrafish against the bacterium Salmonella Typhi, according to a recent study by researchers at Duke University.
Intrigue for... Read More »
Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector Border Patrol Agents discovered this week 60 illegal aliens attempting to cross the border in a produce trailer that reached a temperature of 49 degrees Fahrenheit.
After a canine unit alerted agents about the truck, it was referred to secondary inspection.... Read More »
