Private
Lassa Fever has broken out in Nigeria, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with 1081 suspected cases spread across 18 states.
Among these, 72 deaths have been confirmed as linked to the fever, though as many as 90 may have actually died from it. Four of the dead were health care... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate plans to hold a Next Generation First Responder (NGFR) Operational Experimentation (OpEX) in December to evaluate first responder technology solutions.
The DHS S&T Directorate issued a request for information (RFI)... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) laid out a point by point note of the necessities for a universal flu vaccine this week, publishing their strategy in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
For such a vaccine to be successful, the organization saw four main goals... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and Emory University recently hosted a workshop on radiological security in Atlanta, Georgia.
Workshop participants included representatives from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Federal Bureau of... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded a 12-month, $26 million contract to Emergent BioSolutions on Wednesday for the continued supply of Vaccinia Immune Globulin Intravenous (VIGIV) to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
Emergent BioSolutions developed VIGIV,... Read More »
A union of Emergent BioSolutions Inc. and Valneva SE has led to the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial for a Zika virus vaccine candidate in the United States.
The purified inactivated vaccine candidate, VLA1601, has been developed using the same manufacturing platform as Valneva’s... Read More »
More than 50 groups marshalled by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) seek an act of Congress to rush urgently needed new antimicrobial drugs to market that protect America’s national security and the health of its citizens against biothreats posed by antimicrobial resistant (AMR)... Read More »
Facing a Cholera outbreak in Mozambique that has gone on since Aug. 14, 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) has committed a great many resources, but now, they are also calling for nationwide improvements.
Since the start of the outbreak--an annual occurrence in Mozambique--1799 cases have... Read More »
Crowley Logistics has completed the first military delivery under a $2.3 billion Department of Defense (DoD) contract as of this week.
The company reported successful delivery by truck to the U.S. Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania, and future deliveries will include a mix of vendor... Read More »
The shift in Project BioShield Act of 2004 funding from its original 10-year appropriations cycle to year-by-year funding has posed challenges for the program by creating an uncertain climate for private-sector firms investing in developing medical countermeasures (MCM) against chemical,... Read More »
Motorola Solutions recently announced that it has agreed to acquire Avigilon, which provides advanced security surveillance solutions to a range of a range of commercial and government customers.
The enterprise value of the transaction is approximately US$1.0 billion including Avigilon's net... Read More »
After being sworn in as the director of the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) on Thursday, Dr. Eric Moore called for effective partnerships with chemical and biological defense stakeholders, academia and industry to develop technologies of the future for warfighters.
Moore,... Read More »
At Cybertech TLV, the largest convening of cybersecurity industries held in Tel Aviv, Israel, New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President and CEO James Patchett announced three Israeli cybersecurity firms had committed to expanding to New York City.
Israel-based investment... Read More »
Raytheon announced Wednesday that will be upgrading its Patriot Air and Missile Defense System under a $235 million modernization task order from the U.S. Army.
The U.S. Department of Defense announced the task order Monday. The United States and the other 13 Patriot partner nations that rely on... Read More »
New electronics and a revamped airframe were on display in Lockheed Martin’s controlled flight test of a Miniature Hit-to-Kill (MHTK) missile on Friday at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
The first test of the next-generation MHTK demonstrated its enhanced agility, accuracy, and... Read More »
Using rabies as a case study, researchers from across the world joined together to assess and promote the effectiveness of public awareness campaigns in spotting and preventing the spread of infectious diseases.
The study--published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection--focused on the... Read More »
Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked tech companies on Wednesday to explain their response to vulnerabilities known as Meltdown and Spectre that left devices using the companies’ processors susceptible to data theft.
The CEOs of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Intel,... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) recently received a $6 million grant from the Open Philanthropy Project that will help strengthen its efforts to mitigate global biological threats that have increased as the world has become more interconnected.
According to Dr. Elizabeth Cameron, NTI’s... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced this week that it will be working bilaterally with Israeli counterparts through five separate divisions on projects meant to aid public security.
While the United States and Israel began annual bilateral... Read More »
A Seattle-based software company that keeps police officers, firemen and other first responders connected to essential information while they’re working in the field has strengthened its hold on the public safety market.
NetMotion Software Inc. has distributed its security, performance and... Read More »
Sandia National Laboratories announced Tuesday that a recent program to develop computer modeling and simulation methods for how blasts on the battlefield cause injury could help improve designs for helmets and body armor.
The project focuses on improving understanding of how impacts from... Read More »
Leaders of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube recently appeared before a Senate panel to highlight efforts to curb terrorist recruitment, to ban users with extremist ideology, and to remove “how-to manuals” and other terrorism-related content.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) recently called on senators to take a series of steps in reauthorizing the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) to ensure that states, local communities, and medical providers can protect against threats to public health.
IDSA’s... Read More »
A stratified biodefense hospital system would provide the United States with a protective shield in the event the country experiences a man-made or natural biological catastrophe, panelists told members of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense.
The suggestion is one the panelists strongly... Read More »
Public health, when threatened not by Obamacare but by exposure to infectious diseases, natural disasters or chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) agents, is an area where members of Congress have been able to build bipartisanship.
Continuing such cross-party work will be... Read More »
In order to respond accordingly in the midst of large-scale biological events such as a terrorist attack or natural disaster, public and private organizations need to coordinate, but on Wednesday public health experts at a Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense meeting cited obstacles that highlight... Read More »
Participants in the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV) recently gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the fifth plenary meeting of the initiative, marking the completion of Phase 1 of the IPNDV.
Representatives more than 25 countries both with and without... Read More »
Seventy-five years after the first controlled nuclear chain reaction, Ernest Moniz, co-chair and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), recently warned that the United States faces “a different nuclear age” with miscalculation, diplomatic tensions, terrorism, technological advancements and... Read More »
Regents of the University of Michigan (U-M) and the Duke University Hospital now share a distinction among infectious disease and antimicrobial experts with their recent designation of Antimicrobial Stewardship Centers of Excellence by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).
The... Read More »
Smiths Detection announced Wednesday that it will supply a full range of security scanners, a total of 91 X-ray inspection systems, for the new passenger Terminal B and Cargo Complex LLC at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport.
The airport is building the new facilities to help handle... Read More »
During a visit to the plague-shaken nation of Madagascar, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), called for a $4 million investment to effectively combat the biological threat.
The most recent outbreak of pneumonic and bubonic plague in-country left... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Agency (DARPA) selected Tucson-based Raytheon Company Monday to complete development of software that enables unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to leverage collaborative autonomy to perform long-distance engagements in contested battle spaces.
After successful flight... Read More »
The Consortium for Verification Technology highlighted how students from partner universities contribute to nuclear nonproliferation research conducted at national laboratories during a recent annual meeting held at the University of Michigan.
Through the Consortium for Verification, the... Read More »
New best practices recently released by the wireless industry group CTIA outline steps for local governments to help maintain and restore wireless services during natural disasters and emergencies.
The guidelines call for better coordination and communication between wireless service providers... Read More »
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Lockheed Martin a $110 million contract on Wednesday to develop a low-cost, subsonic cruise missile with swarming capabilities, known as the Gray Wolf.
Lockheed Martin was awarded a five-year, phase 1 contract to develop and demonstrate the Gray... Read More »