Countermeasures
A newly-developed Ebola virus disease (EVD) vaccine was found to be well-tolerated with no safety concerns, according to a Phase 1 randomized clinical trial conducted by a team of researchers led by the Canadian Immunization Research Network.
The vaccine used in the trial, the vesicular... Read More »
Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), recently met with senior Chinese government officials during an official OPCW visit to China to deliver a lecture of chemical weapons destruction and the threat of chemical weapons use by non-state... Read More »
A bacterium called Wolbachia may prevent mosquitoes from transmitting deadly flaviviruses such as dengue fever and Zika virus, according to a recent study conducted by researchers from the Indiana University-Bloomington (IU).
According to the study, which was published in a recent issue of the... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will soon be demonstrating new computed tomography (CT) scanners at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and the Logan International Airport in Boston over the course of the month.
The technology will strengthen threat detection... Read More »
As the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) locks in its budget priorities, on the potential chopping block is the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC)—a potentially devastating public health concern, one expert says.
That center, which aided governmental response... Read More »
Three amendments, authored by U.S. Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), were included in the recently-passed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Authorization Act of 2017 by the U.S. House of Representatives, each of which addresses a specific challenge in disaster response, oversight and... Read More »
U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to a checkpoint inspection site along Interstate 15 in Temecula, California recently seized more than 100 pounds of alleged cocaine in a single incident.
The situation began as officers encountered a 2000 Infinity QX4 SUV driven by an unnamed 46-year old man.... Read More »
In the wake of a recent report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which found that Zika infection during any trimester of a pregnancy can lead to severe birth defects, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) called on public health leaders to... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (R-FL) recently sent a letter to U.S. Army Acting Secretary Robert Spencer seeking assurances that the vaccine will be affordable for U.S. patients as they need it.
The request was made prior to the U.S. Army granting commercial exclusivity of a taxpayer-funded Zika virus... Read More »
The University of Nebraska Medical Center is transforming and centralizing infectious disease response and biodefense research with the creation of the Global Center for Health Security.
Such efforts are part of the brave new world of public health which, for years, has been plagued with... Read More »
During a meeting of the Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Program, various scientists and experts from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) partner countries recently examined opportunities for cooperation to address emerging security-related challenges.
Organized in conjunction with... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stationed along various ports of entry in southern California recently seized more than 540 pounds of illicit narcotics over a series of incidents throughout the weekend.
In total, agents seized more than 372 pounds of methamphetamine, 120 pounds... Read More »
Beginning this week, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will be assessing new checkpoint screening technology at a designated TSA PreCheck lane at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.
The assessment is part of a proof-of-concept demonstration to evaluate both... Read More »
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an organization within the U.S. Department of Commerce, recently awarded $38.5 million for 33 different research and development projects that seek to advance broadband communication technologies for first responders.
The grants are... Read More »
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology recently held a hearing to assess cybersecurity risks within wireless technologies and the networks to which they connect.
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who chairs the subcommittee, said the... Read More »
U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Laredo Sector in Texas recently rescued 59 undocumented immigrants over the course of three incidents.
The first incident occurred on June 2, when a tractor-trailer approached agents at the Highway 35 Checkpoint. After a brief round of questioning, the... Read More »
A Latvian man was recently extradited from Poland to face charges in Minneapolis regarding his involvement in a “scareware” hacking scheme, which targeted the website of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and caused millions of dollars in losses.
Peteris Sahurovs, known by the hacker pseudonyms... Read More »
In a public letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), a group of Democratic House members requested that the committee hold a hearing regarding the country’s ability to be prepared for and respond to various biological threats.
The group, which... Read More »
Smiths Detection, a manufacturer of threat detection and screening technologies for military and homeland security applications, recently received explosives detection system (EDS) cabin baggage (CB) approvals for three of its scanners from the European Union (EU).
After its HI-SCAN 6040aTiX... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted fast track designation for Aeolus Pharmaceuticals’ treatment to prevent respiratory failure among patients at risk for radiation pneumonitis following a radiological incident which often leads to acute radiation syndrome (Lung-ARS).
... Read More »
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, the Battle Memorial Institute, and Priority Designs recently partnered to produce an improved protective mask against biological agents for soldiers in the field.
The new... Read More »
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) with the Newark Field Office in New Jersey recently conducted an immigration enforcement operation from June 5 to 9, which resulted in the arrest of 113 criminal targets throughout its jurisdiction.
Each... Read More »
The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) recently held an international counterterrorism meeting in Athens, Greece to discuss regional and global trends on foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and the threats they pose to their home countries.
The meeting was held under... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently installed the latest checkpoint screening technology at six different Minnesota airports over the past five weeks.
Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT), an advanced body-scanning system, scans passengers for metallic and non-metallic items... Read More »
A Tulane University-lead study recently revealed how a small protein found within the Ebola virus may be responsible for the virus’ ability to spread rapidly from person-to-person.
Ebola-infected patients are known to produce large quantities of a compound known as delta peptide. The... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stationed at various ports of entry in the San Diego and Imperial Counties in California recently seized more than 830 pounds of narcotics over multiple incidents.
In total, CBP seized 388 pounds of methamphetamine, 250 pounds of marijuana, 162... Read More »
A 27-year old Virginia man, Mohamad Jamal Khweis, was convicted by a federal jury on Wednesday of providing material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to court evidence,... Read More »
Speaking at the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Annual General Meeting in Cancun, Mexico, IATA Director-General Alexandre de Juniac said cracks were beginning to show in the natural partnership on security between governments and airlines.
Specifically, de Juniac was... Read More »
A team of researchers from the Duke-NUS Medical School and Singapore General Hospital recently repurposed a non-invasive cancer detection method in order to track dengue infection in mouse models in real time.
Typically used to detect solid tumors, positron emission tomography (PET) has the... Read More »
A group of 14 Republican members of the U.S. Senate recently filed a bill to make Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Security Act (FISA) permanent before it is set to expire later this year.
Specifically, Section 702 applies to surveilling communications of non-U.S. persons located outside... Read More »
After President Trump released his FY2018 budget, which called for cutting the number of Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams from 31 to just eight, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) publicly urged Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly to maintain VIPR funding at current... Read More »
Researchers from the Sandia National Laboratories recently developed a new method for verifying attributes of a nuclear warhead, which could help address issues of conducting verification measurements while also protecting sensitive design elements.
The method, described as Confirmation using... Read More »
In recent tests of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) observed radio chatter and flight data streams to help verify that the system could deliver a payload to target.
LLNL researchers were on hand at... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stationed at the Sarita Checkpoint in Rio Grande Valley, Texas recently seized more than 44 pounds of cocaine in a single incident.
The incident began as agents referred a local commercial bus for a secondary inspection after a K-9 unit alerted... Read More »
A Phase 1/2 clinical trial to test an experimental chikungunya virus vaccine candidate, called MV-CHIKV, recently began enrolling healthy adults at three sites in the United States.
A previous Phase 1 trial of MV-CHIKV was conducted in 2014 by vaccine developer Themis Bioscience of Vienna,... Read More »
