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San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Defense (DoD) for its failure to report dishonorable discharges and criminal conviction information to the national criminal background check system for gun sales.
The military is required to... Read More »
A team at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute recently created an alternative model to mimic Zika virus infection, allowing for further steps on the road to a vaccine and treatment.
The virus wreaked havoc in South America over the last couple years, and even Texas has seen its first... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently issued new treatment guidelines to eliminate lymphatic filariasis, a parasitic tropical disease spread by mosquitoes that has infected an estimated 70 million people around the world.
WHO’s new treatment guidelines reflect research from the... Read More »
The Canadian Department of National Defense awarded today an $8 million contract for delivery of the anthrax combating drug Anthrasil to Emergent BioSolutions Inc.
The news comes on the heels of Health Canada’s approval of Anthrasil under new regulations. With that approval, it is marked for... Read More »
Thanks to cooperative efforts from Ugandan and Kenyan authorities working with international health organizations, an outbreak of Marburg virus disease has been contained in Uganda just a few weeks after its detection.
The reversal of fortunes has been praised by the World Health Organization,... Read More »
The recent Chemical Biological Defense Science and Technology Conference featured presentations from 70 U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) researchers on topics ranging from protective armor coatings to battlefield sensing to pharmaceutical-based agents.
Organized by the... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns of rapidly spreading cases of Diphtheria in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have taken shelter.
Already, six have died and more than 110 suspected cases have been linked to the disease by health partners in-country. A mix... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) requested information this week about how many government agencies have complied with a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) directive to identify Kaspersky Labs software on government computers and to plan for its removal.
DHS Binding Operational Directive (BOD)... Read More »
Nigeria, which has been stricken by outbreaks of yellow fever, received aid from the International Coordinating Group (ICC) last week in the form of 1.4 million vaccines.
Distribution of those vaccines will be aided by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is working to support the... Read More »
The Twenty-Second Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) recently appointed H.E. Ambassador Fernando Arias of Spain as the next director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Ambassador Arias will take over... Read More »
Efforts to modernize the Douglas Port of Entry in southeastern Arizona advanced on Friday with the General Services Administration (GSA) awarding a contract to Tuscon-based architectural firm Line and Space to conduct a feasibility study.
The feasibility study will aim to evaluate and identify... Read More »
A study by researchers at Hokkaido University recently used mathematical models to determine that the risk of the pneumonic plague epidemic in Madagascar spreading elsewhere in the world is limited.
The researchers estimated that the number of exported cases was below 0.1 person in each country... Read More »
Effective Jan. 1, 2018, Terry Wallace has been appointed director of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and president of Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS), which operates the laboratory for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
Norman J. Pattiz and Barbara E. Rusinko,... Read More »
While there appears to be hope for Madagascar with the slowing of a pneumonic plague outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns it is too early to call off containment measures.
The number of new infections has been in steady decline for several weeks now, according to the Madagascar... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently delivered 1,000 vials of anti-toxins and 17 tons of medical supplies to Sana’a, Yemen, after a three-week delay caused by the closure of sea and air ports.
“It is shocking that in 2017, there are children dying of an ancient disease that is... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is taking forward steps in the battle against Anthrax--notably by putting up $3,199,221 in funds to Tangen BioSciences for development of a new, low-cost diagnostic.
That money was doled out back in September, establishing a... Read More »
A federal organization with a varied history as part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate is marking 70 years of service to national security’s scientific needs this month.
The National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) has worked under a... Read More »
The Emergent BioSolutions Inc. facility in Canton, Massachusetts, will soon be manufacturing the ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine, thanks to approval of a license by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week.
ACAM2000 is notable for being the only FDA-licensed vaccine for active... Read More »
According to recent analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the compound annual growth rate of defense spending will likely increase in 58 of 71 nations between 2017-2021 as the global defense environment becomes increasingly complex.
PwC Global Defense Perspectives 2017 analyzes defense... Read More »
Responding to a growing concern over laser attacks against pilots and air crews, engineers from BAE Systems have created a new system to block such transmissions and prevent deterioration of vision.
“Lasers operate at specific wavelengths,” Leslie Laycock, executive scientist at BAE Systems,... Read More »
The National Security Council’s release of a new charter for the Vulnerabilities Equities Process (VEP) drew praise from U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) on Wednesday for bolstering transparency and for bringing diverse stakeholders into the conversation.
Cybersecurity Advisor Rob Joyce... Read More »
BAE Systems will develop a space evaluation and analysis testbed that enables the military to develop, integrate and analyze advanced space enterprise command and control (C2) under a contract announced by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on Tuesday.
Under the contract,... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported recently that the three previously reported cases of Marburg virus disease in the Kween District of Eastern Uganda had died as of November 3, resulting in an overall case-fatality rate of 100 percent for the outbreak.
The Ugandan Ministry of Health... Read More »
The global security and risk management advisory firm known as The Chertoff Group has become one of a select few companies to be granted a SAFETY Act “qualified anti-terrorism technology” designation for its methodology by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The company uses what they... Read More »
America's long-range ballistic missile defense system recently added a 44th interceptor as Boeing and the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) team announced that a missile had been loaded into a silo.
The GMD system consists of command and control facilities, communications terminals, and a... Read More »
After serving as the acting director of the Army’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) since May, Eric Moore was named the permanent director of ECBC by Maj. Gen. Cedric Williams effective Oct. 29.
ECBC is tasked with research and development efforts related to non-medical components of... Read More »
An outbreak of pneumonic plague in Madagascar and Seychelles carries a moderate risk of spread to neighboring Indian Ocean islands, which is mitigated by the naturally short incubation period of the virus and the institution of exit screening measures at ports of entry, according to a recent update... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) provided an update on Wednesday regarding the recently confirmed outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD) emanating from Uganda’s Kween District.
As of Oct. 24, five cases of MVD have been reported. One case has been confirmed through laboratory testing,... Read More »
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) announced this week an agreement to partner on building the National Mutual Aid System (NMAS) with health and safety solutions company Intermedix and spatial analytics company Esri.
The NMAS will replace the IAFC’s Mutual Aid Net tool built... Read More »
Motorola Solutions recently introduced new integrated software-based communication solutions for first responders, which combine the company’s ASTRO 25 land-mobile radio (LMR) systems and public safety broadband.
“We are introducing new solutions and future concepts that use ASTRO 25 for... Read More »
The Alliance for Biosecurity formally recognized the sustained efforts of U.S. Rep. Charles Albert “Dutch” Ruppersberger, D-Md., to improve how the United States prevents and combats biosecurity threats with its Congressional Biosecurity Champion Award.
Congressman Ruppersberger on Oct. 19... Read More »
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Deputy Director-General Hamid Ali Rao highlighted chemical safety and security as a priority area for engagement during a recent official visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, for the International Seminar on Advanced Chemical Safety and Security... Read More »
Aerojet Rocketdyne announced Wednesday that its propulsion systems used in Raytheon’s Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB guided missile recently supported a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led, multinational naval exercise off the coast of Scotland.
The exercise, called Formidable... Read More »
The U.S. Navy and Missile Defense Agency, supported by Lockheed Martin, successfully completed a series of tests of the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) 4.0.3 Aegis Combat System in the Atlantic Ocean.
The agency completed the tests as part of Formidable Shield 2017 (FS-17), a North Atlantic... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) launched Tuesday the Hidden Signals Challenge, a competition that seeks ideas for novel uses of existing data to discover emerging biothreats.
The competition offers a $300,000 prize.
“This Challenge is... Read More »
