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Operating on the knowledge that Ebola and malaria are both endemic to Central and West Africa, and that many people treated for Ebola have been found to be infected with malarial parasites as well, researchers from Texas Biomed and the University of Iowa are working to assess a connection between... Read More »
Even as tuberculosis (TB) becomes the most common infectious disease in the world, a new study by an international research team has determined that only around 25 percent of new cases of antibiotic-resistant strains are being detected.
Such a result marks a need for dramatic changes in... Read More »
BAE Systems technology successfully demonstrated its ability to provide U.S. intelligence organizations with data from BAE Systems’ Geospatial eXploitation Products (GXP) Platform and access to geospatial imagery.
The technology, XTS Guard 5, was equipped with the GXP platform demonstrated... Read More »
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) officials have initiated the first Marburg vaccine in a Phase 1 adult clinical trial evaluating safety and immunogenicity.
“Given the recent deadly outbreak of Marburg virus in Uganda, there is a critical need to develop a safe and effective... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions completed its acquisition of Adapt Pharma and its flagship product NARCAN Nasal Spray, which is used to treat opioid overdose.
Emergent paid $735 million to acquire Adapt Pharma, including an upfront payment of $635 million with up to $100 million in cash for potential... Read More »
An international collection of scientists have developed a new vaccine with the potential to shield people from both Lassa fever and rabies, and the drug has proven successful in preclinical testing.
Known as LASSARAB, the vaccine utilizes a weakened rabies carrier injected with genetic material... Read More »
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced this week that a strategic partnership between the department and Johnson & Johnson will seek to advance efforts against chemical, biological, radiation, nuclear, disease, and antimicrobial threats in the United States.
The two... Read More »
In the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, which hit Florida’s panhandle this week, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) said residents of the area need to know the public health risks and how to mitigate them.
The category 4 hurricane – which the U.S. Department of Health and... Read More »
A large-scale biological event shouldn’t mean that the nation’s thousands of state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments fend for themselves waiting for federal assets to arrive, a new bipartisan report of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense says.
“We can take steps now... Read More »
As a founding director of the nation’s first bioterrorism preparedness program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1999, Dr. Scott Lillibridge didn’t realize then what would emerge as the almost surreal scope of biothreats now challenging the United States.
But now he knows,... Read More »
One of the critical problems for getting pandemic vaccines out there is a bottleneck formed by the necessity of tests to determine their potency, but a new type of test -- VaxArray -- may bring immediacy to the system.
"With the 100th year anniversary since the 1918 influenza pandemic, there has... Read More »
Raytheon Co.’s long-range DeepStrike missile recently met the U.S. Army's Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) requirement.
In July in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Raytheon integrated its new launch pod missile container into the Army's M270 MLRS and M142 HIMARS launchers. Marines and soldiers assisted... Read More »
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is working to determine the best method of crafting a 10-year global health security vision to protect national interests, according to a recent CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security meeting.
CSIS’s health... Read More »
Private contractor Lockheed Martin is actively upgrading the U.S. Army’s operational capability through enhanced energy storage developments.
Some of the upgrades have included a Lithium-based energy storage system, intelligent microgrids and supporting infrastructure to help them function.... Read More »
With the danger of African swine fever growing each year -- and now poised to spread into Asia -- experts at Kansas State University and the Biosecurity Research Institute are taking notice and taking action to keep it from infecting the United States as well.
African swine fever is a... Read More »
BAE Systems, a British multinational defense, security, and aerospace company, recently revealed its Smart D2 system, next-generation threat management technology that can defend military aircraft and dispense countermeasures.
The system protects aircraft and aircrews from existing and emerging... Read More »
Experts in the areas of nuclear and radiological emergencies convened at an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) symposium this week to discuss ways to communicate during such emergencies effectively.
"Communication is a challenge that we all face together," Juan Carlos Lentijo, deputy... Read More »
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston recently developed a cheaper way to create vaccines without sacrificing their safety or effectiveness.
The way forward focuses on cost-cutting in both storage and production. Traditionally, many vaccines are... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions completed its acquisition of PaxVax, a company that develops specialty vaccines that protect against infectious diseases typhoid and cholera.
Emergent now has two PaxVax vaccines – Vivotif, which treats typhoid fever, and Vaxchora, which treats cholera. Emergent acquired... Read More »
Defense contractors Raytheon and Northrop Grumman/Ball Aerospace will compete for the right to be mission payload providers on the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared missile warning satellite system.
The next-gen system replaced the traditional Space Based Infrared... Read More »
The University of Montana is responsible for the creation of a new universal flu vaccine, under a five-year, $10 million contract awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The award was granted to Jay Evans, director of UM’s Center for Translational Medicine, who will be joined by... Read More »
Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands and Keio University in Japan are currently exploring infectious disease test alternatives through the use of a special glowing paper strip, a drop of blood, and a digital camera.
The study, published in the journal... Read More »
Israel-based Morphisec has received $200,000 from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to develop technology solutions to prevent financial institution cyberattacks.
Morphisec will work to extend, deploy, test, and evaluate a Moving Target Defense... Read More »
A study conducted by New York University confirmed that text messages are a rapid means of information spread amidst public health crises, representing an invaluable means of data sourcing.
"Sourcing data from individuals directly, such as through mobile phones, has the potential to provide... Read More »
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) announced this week that it would take part in an experimental treatment for the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) currently being pursued by international cooperation.
Their involvement focuses on ZMapp, a treatment that utilizes three antibodies as part of its... Read More »
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) recently named Edward Parkinson acting CEO of FirstNet Authority.
Parkinson was a staff member on the House Homeland Security Committee... Read More »
Texas A&M University was selected to lead a consortium of U.S. academic institutions, among others, for a new Center of Excellence (COE) for Cross-Border Threat Screening and Supply Chain Defense (CBTS).
The project will be funded by a $3.85 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Human and Human Services (DHHS) has contracted with the company Genentech in managing and sharing the cost to develop a portfolio of medical treatments designed to counter the spread of influenza and other health security threats.
DHHS, operating through its Biomedical... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) selected BAE Systems this week for a new research and development contract to address current and future technology needs among the military.
In so doing, DOD has also put Bae Systems in the running for future contract task orders -- one of 15 companies to... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is sponsoring Siga Technologies on its development of an intravenous formulation of TPOXX -- a smallpox antiviral medication of which DHHS is currently purchasing additional doses.
“We want to save as many lives as possible after a... Read More »
Boeing has secured a $9.2 billion Air Force contract to produce T-X aircraft, which officials said would replace the Air Education and Training Command's 57-year-old fleet of T-38C Talons.
The agreement calls for Boeing to deliver 351 T-X aircraft, 46 simulators and associated ground equipment,... Read More »
Two institutions are taking up the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) call for more affordable, improved and adapted antibiotic formulations for children in low and middle-income countries, with an agreement focused on enhancing generic antibiotics and access.
The participants are the... Read More »
Whether for search and rescue or warfare operations, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced last week their efforts to advance current understanding of underground environments, and the formation of a competition of nine teams to do so.
The recently selected teams... Read More »
Rockwell Collins’ military ground radio achieved a major milestone recently as the National Security Agency (NSA) issued the company’s device a Type-1 certification.
Officials said certification for the AN/PRC-162(V)1 RT-2048(C)U validates that the radio provides protected handling of... Read More »
A recently released Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) report suggests nuclear weapons and related systems are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks and implores nuclear-armed states to take measures to prevent attacks.
“Nuclear Weapons in the New CyberAge: A Report of the Cyber-Nuclear Weapons... Read More »
