Research
Backed by a $3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, researchers from the University of Dundee will push the LEADS4TB program to find new treatment options over the next three years.
"We want to improve how we do drug discovery for TB, and identify new candidate drugs to treat... Read More »
A new study recently published by researchers at the Zoonotic Bornavirus Consortium (ZooBoCo) theorized that, in the wake of eight new Borna disease virus linked deaths, the disease may have been operating unnoticed for decades behind the scenes.
Borna is a virus that leaps from shrews to... Read More »
Two Customs and Border Protection (CBP) locations have been selected to evaluate the operational impact of proposed regulatory changes requiring DNA sample collection from some in CBP custody.
Beginning this month, the Border Patrol is implementing the 90-day pilot program in the Detroit Sector.... Read More »
A study created by the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has demonstrated the promise of a new, universal flu vaccine, displaying long-lasting protection against six influenza viruses.
The... Read More »
The non-profit Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) announced this week that $1.4 million will be awarded to the British company Centauri Therapeutics, for a new platform in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria.
The platform is under development but... Read More »
Though everything might appear normal at first for Zika victims in the womb, according to a new report from a multi-institutional research group led by Children’s National Hospital, the long-term effects on Zika-exposed infants can fly under the radar.
In fact, in 77 out of 82 lab-confirmed... Read More »
Five members of New York’s congressional delegation recently sent a letter to top-ranking national security officials requesting an investigation into how foreign adversaries use social media to cause hate and civil unrest in the United States.
The letter was sent to Christopher Wray, Federal... Read More »
In its last weekly report of the year, covering Dec. 18 to Dec. 31, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 29 new confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease were logged in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The cases spread across four health... Read More »
In a recent study, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) discovered that intravenous tuberculosis (TB) vaccination provided significantly greater protection than traditional injections in... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a spending package that includes $25 million for gun violence research.
The bill—sponsored by Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) -- now moves to the Senate for consideration. The Senate will vote on final passage in the coming days.... Read More »
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have discovered that outbreaks of human disease may be due to genetic mutations and that viruses may change as they expand their geographic range.
The researchers studied how the Zika... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) established the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium.
This leadership consortium will encompass NIAID’s Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units (VTEUs). NIAID, which is part of the National Institute of Health (NIH),... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has delivered a cautious appraisal of the federal spending bill for FY 2020, noting that while it will strengthen public health and research efforts, it undercuts -- at Americans’ peril -- HIV investment and immunization efforts, among... Read More »
Approximately $200 million has been allocated for the creation of a universal influenza vaccine that could protect against multiple strains of the flu virus in Congress’s year-end spending package.
U.S. Sen, Edward Markey (D-MA) has spearheaded the effort to boost funding for the flu vaccine.... Read More »
A Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) research initiative examining worldwide critical infrastructure attacks determined America was the country most often targeted for cyberattacks regardless of motive.
The work showed the United States accounted for more than 19 percent of... Read More »
Recent tests of an experimental Zika virus vaccine in rhesus macaques, a primate, show the vaccine lowered levels of virus in pregnant monkeys and improved fetal outcomes, according to a new study in Science Translational Medicine.
Zika is transmitted via mosquitoes and through sex. It causes... Read More »
Bolstering what could become the first antibiotic developed and acquired by Project BioShield to treat drug-resistant bioterrorism agents, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) intends to supply up to $169 million to Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. over the next five years.
The... Read More »
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) recently awarded BAE Systems a more than $17 billion, 10-year multiple award indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract for Solutions for Intelligence Analysis 3 (SIA 3).
An IDIQ contract is awarded when the U.S. General Services Administration... Read More »
Researchers from Princeton University have found that climate change has the potential to make respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) outbreaks less severe but more common in high-risk areas.
The studies consisted of climate condition influence on annual outbreaks of RSV in the United States and... Read More »
Researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, recently developed a self-cleaning, plastic surface that repels bacteria.
The goal is to prevent the transfer of dangerous bacteria and antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
The surface is a treated form of conventional transparent wrap... Read More »
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), long a source of concerted health efforts to combat one of the largest Ebola outbreaks ever recorded, experienced a sharp increase in cases last week -- and many may be linked to an individual’s reinfection.
In all, 27 new cases were confirmed last... Read More »
One of the most searing memories Thomas Frieden had during the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak was one in which he deeply questioned the international community’s effectiveness in supporting the health infrastructure of Ebola-plagued nations.
Then head of the Centers for Disease Control and... Read More »
Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune have identified 150 possible inhibitors within the Nipah virus -- giving them starting points for drugs to target for the currently untreatable disease.
"We conclude that it is highly likely that the proposed inhibitors... Read More »
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers have detected 27 firearms at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, breaking 2017’s record.
The most recent weapon was found Tuesday in the carry-on bag of a Sparks, Maryland, resident. The man was carrying a .25... Read More »
Researchers at the University of Queensland have created a technology that will help create safer hybrid viruses at higher volumes for research and diagnostic efforts involving mosquito-borne diseases.
The key to the technology was the Binjari virus. Study researchers exploited the benign... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) issued a report recommending steps to improve the decision-making process for nuclear weapons use.
The President and Nuclear Weapons: Authorities, Limits, and Process specifically looks at the state of domestic and international law related to the use of... Read More »
The Stop TB Partnership launched an update to its plan to end tuberculosis that includes billions in annual funding.
The partnership’s Global Plan to End TB 2018-2022 calls for $2.6 billion per year for the research and development of new tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic tools, new drug regimens,... Read More »
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) are testing a vaccine to protect against serious diarrheal illnesses caused by food and water contaminated with bacteria like E. coli and Shigella.
Drs. Wilbur Chen and Eileen Barry will lead these tests, thanks to $4.5... Read More »
Per an agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Sanofi Pasteur will gain $226 million to increase its domestic pandemic influenza vaccine production capabilities.
This money will go to the clinical development and manufacturing of an adjuvanted recombinant pandemic... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommends the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) take steps to ensure screening technologies continue to meet requirements after they are installed at airports.
The TSA is responsible for security operations at approximately 440 TSA-regulated... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration launched CURE ID, an online repository that allows the clinical community to report their experiences treating infectious diseases.
CURE ID – which can be accessed via smartphone or other mobile devices – is a platform that enables the crowdsourcing of... Read More »
A new report by the RAND Corp. found that police crime centers that use technology, like remote cameras and analytic tools, may be able to reduce crime.
RAND researchers found significant reductions in some types of crimes in Chicago, including robberies and burglaries, using these tools and... Read More »
A new report recently showed that the Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) has a more than 81 percent effective rate among vaccinated children in Nepal.
The report, provided to the New England Journal of Medicine by the Typhoid Vaccine Acceleration Consortium (TyVAC), was based on a field study of... Read More »
U.S. Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) conducted 11 days of exercises and demonstrations in August in Sweetgrass, Mont.
The field test simulated illegal border crossings and evaluated portable, surveillance technologies that provide... Read More »
A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that despite more countries recognizing and prioritizing the dangers of climate change and its potential impacts on health, they are not entirely acting to confront the situation.
Of 101 countries surveyed, half have developed a... Read More »