Private
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 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing (PAHPA) Innovation Act, S. 1379, became law on Monday with the president’s signature, prompting accolades from national stakeholders, company executives and federal lawmakers.
The far-reaching law ensures the United States will be better... Read More »
Science and technology firm Battelle is a finalist in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s Opioid Detection Challenge.
The $1.55 million global prize competition seeks to develop tools to aid the process of locating illicit opioids in international... Read More »
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), first responder communications are at serious risk with the pending, 2021 sale of the T-Band part of the radio spectrum.
In 11 large metropolitan areas, police, firefighters and other first responders rely heavily on that spectrum, and in... Read More »
In the fight against malaria, researchers are examining high-resolution images to chart the progress and burden of the disease on a geographic scale.
The research was conducted over two separate studies from 2000 to 2017. They were led by the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP), in collaboration with... Read More »
Delta Air Lines, in partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), will install facial recognition at three airports over the next month.
The technology will be installed at boarding gates and will be used for international flights. It can save approximately nine minutes of boarding... Read More »
Raytheon Company and Northrop Grumman Corporation have partnered to develop, produce, and integrate Northrop Grumman's scramjet combustors to power Raytheon's air-breathing hypersonic weapons.
“The Raytheon / Northrop Grumman team is quickly developing air-breathing hypersonic weapons to keep... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is developing millimeter wave shoe screening technology designed to enhance airport security.
The initiative stems from the Screening at Speed Program, which began in 2016 and is pursuing transformative research... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a global campaign urging governmental adoption of the AWaRe tool to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance, adverse effects, and costs.
The AWaRe tool was developed by the WHO Essential Medicines List. It files antibiotics into three... Read More »
Raytheon Company and Black Sage recently partnered as a means of enhancing integrated drone detection and mitigation initiatives.
“As we saw at Gatwick and Heathrow airports, drones operating inside commercial air corridors are posing a real challenge," Todd Probert, vice president of... Read More »
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis recently discovered that an experimental flu drug known as favipiravir cures mice infected with the potentially lethal Bourbon virus.
At least, that’s the case with mice. The drug has been previously approved in Japan... Read More »
A recent study from the University of Cambridge alleges that half of all Ebola outbreaks have gone unseen and unrecorded since the virus was first discovered in 1976.
While this supports advocates’ push for improved detection and rapid response to the disease, it also means the situation... Read More »
International leaders and organizations are unprepared for a global catastrophic biological event, according to a report from Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Science and Security, the Center for Global Development, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
Leaders and organizations... Read More »
A new study suggests that comprehensive health system planning can stymie the effects of a deliberate release of smallpox in a city, a nightmare scenario for public health officials.
The research, which was published today in the online journal PLOS One, said that if a health system response is... Read More »
A new case of Ebola has popped up in Uganda, in the first incident of international cross-over since an outbreak began in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) back in August 2018.
While governmental and international agencies have worked hard to keep the disease from spreading... Read More »
The latest dengue research reveals that within approximately 60 years, the risk of the virus dengue will grow to such an extent that it will put at risk more than 6 billion people, due to population growth, climate change, and increased urbanization.
The virus is one spread by mosquitoes, and... Read More »
A bill introduced in the Senate would require shell companies to disclose their true owners to the U.S. Department of Treasury.
The Improving Laundering Laws and Increasing Comprehensive Information Tracking of Criminal Activity in Shell Holdings (ILLICIT CASH) Act would help law enforcement... Read More »
California’s Camp Pendleton hosted the annual Wildland Fire School last week, during which firefighters safely cleared out overgrown grasslands using prescribed fire.
The technique eliminates fuels from training areas and prevents future large-scale wildland fires. It also allowed firefighters... Read More »
Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, last month flight tested its Black Hawk helicopter with full-authority, fly-by-wire flight controls.
The technology completely removes mechanical flight controls from the aircraft. Its development is part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s... Read More »
Under a new partnering agreement with Themis Bioscience, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) will provide up to $21 million for the company’s phase 3-ready Chikungunya vaccine.
CEPI seeks to hasten regulatory approval of the vaccine by providing a large portion of the... Read More »
Three South Dakota entities recently joined forces to combat what they said is the ever-increasing issue of cybercrime, aided by a new Sioux Falls cyber intelligence analyst.
The state Department of Public Safety and the Sioux Falls Police Department will provide funding for the post, which will... Read More »
The capabilities of first responder network FirstNet were proven in a recent exercise in a remote part of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, where the network was relied on for emergency communications during a search and rescue exercise.
FirstNet cooperated with the Virginia Communications Cache,... Read More »
New research from scientists at the Universities of Surrey and Cambridge has investigated a relatively undefined concept in disease research -- vulnerability -- and assessed it for both Ebola and Lassa fever.
Vulnerability is the assessment of a country’s ability or lack thereof to resist or... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has partnered with Azimuth1 to develop a navigation app called QuickRoute, specially designed for first responders.
The app warns users about hazards along the route and takes into account factors like traffic... Read More »
The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, the Alliance for Biosecurity, and the Trust for America’s Health on Wednesday applauded the overdue reauthorization of the nation’s all-hazards preparedness and response law addressing public health threats, whether naturally occurring or... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Emergent BioSolutions Inc. approval to change the storage conditions and manufacturing facility for its oral cholera vaccine, Vaxchora.
Specifically, the FDA's approval of the Prior Approval Supplement (PAS) submitted by the company... Read More »
Raytheon Company recently secured a two-year contract for the Air Force Mentor Protégé program to aid Infinity Technology Services (ITS) in bolstering its cybersecurity services outlay.
“Encouraging small business is a good thing for the government, as well as Raytheon, and ITS brings a... Read More »
The Department of Defense (DOD) recently awarded Texas Biomedical Research Institute a $2 million grant through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program to develop a Zika Virus vaccine.
Zika is a mosquito-borne disease that can result in birth defects such as microcephaly.
"If... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded a 10-year, $535 million contract to Emergent BioSolutions Inc. for the supply of Vaccinia Immune Globulin Intravenous (VIGIV) into the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile in support of smallpox preparedness.
VIGIV is the only... Read More »
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has joined forces with vaccine safety organization Brighton Collaboration on a new project dedicated to assessing the safety of CEPI-funded vaccine candidates.
The project has been dubbed the Safety Platform for Emergency vACcines... Read More »
An experimental new drug from Gilead Sciences, Inc. has proven effective in treating lethal doses of Nipah virus in four African green monkeys, following testing with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Nipah virus, an emerging pathogen mainly found in Bangladesh and India, is... Read More »
Representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) stated at the 72nd World Health Assembly this week that continued breakdowns in communication, data, and planning are hindering an effective response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
That outbreak, which has... Read More »
Tapestry Solutions, a subsidiary of Boeing, got a 10-year contract from the U.S. Air Force to provide weapon planning software (WPS) for the U.S. military and allied forces.
The software is designed to help military officials plan missions, including routes, threats, and points for weapons... Read More »
A team of researchers from the University at Buffalo and Temple University recently found that depriving a specific fungus’ access to iron can be the key to combatting it.
Candida albicans, like many fungi, relies on iron to survive. It is abundant in the mouth and relies heavily on saliva --... Read More »
A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture recently determined Kansas State University researchers are tackling the nation’s most prominent zoonotic diseases.
Citing "8 Zoonotic Diseases Shared Between Animals... Read More »
