Research
A newly-developed Ebola virus disease (EVD) vaccine was found to be well-tolerated with no safety concerns, according to a Phase 1 randomized clinical trial conducted by a team of researchers led by the Canadian Immunization Research Network.
The vaccine used in the trial, the vesicular... Read More »
A bacterium called Wolbachia may prevent mosquitoes from transmitting deadly flaviviruses such as dengue fever and Zika virus, according to a recent study conducted by researchers from the Indiana University-Bloomington (IU).
According to the study, which was published in a recent issue of the... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (R-FL) recently sent a letter to U.S. Army Acting Secretary Robert Spencer seeking assurances that the vaccine will be affordable for U.S. patients as they need it.
The request was made prior to the U.S. Army granting commercial exclusivity of a taxpayer-funded Zika virus... Read More »
The University of Nebraska Medical Center is transforming and centralizing infectious disease response and biodefense research with the creation of the Global Center for Health Security.
Such efforts are part of the brave new world of public health which, for years, has been plagued with... Read More »
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an organization within the U.S. Department of Commerce, recently awarded $38.5 million for 33 different research and development projects that seek to advance broadband communication technologies for first responders.
The grants are... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted fast track designation for Aeolus Pharmaceuticals’ treatment to prevent respiratory failure among patients at risk for radiation pneumonitis following a radiological incident which often leads to acute radiation syndrome (Lung-ARS).
... Read More »
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, the Battle Memorial Institute, and Priority Designs recently partnered to produce an improved protective mask against biological agents for soldiers in the field.
The new... Read More »
A Tulane University-lead study recently revealed how a small protein found within the Ebola virus may be responsible for the virus’ ability to spread rapidly from person-to-person.
Ebola-infected patients are known to produce large quantities of a compound known as delta peptide. The... Read More »
A team of researchers from the Duke-NUS Medical School and Singapore General Hospital recently repurposed a non-invasive cancer detection method in order to track dengue infection in mouse models in real time.
Typically used to detect solid tumors, positron emission tomography (PET) has the... Read More »
Researchers from the Sandia National Laboratories recently developed a new method for verifying attributes of a nuclear warhead, which could help address issues of conducting verification measurements while also protecting sensitive design elements.
The method, described as Confirmation using... Read More »
In recent tests of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) observed radio chatter and flight data streams to help verify that the system could deliver a payload to target.
LLNL researchers were on hand at... Read More »
A Phase 1/2 clinical trial to test an experimental chikungunya virus vaccine candidate, called MV-CHIKV, recently began enrolling healthy adults at three sites in the United States.
A previous Phase 1 trial of MV-CHIKV was conducted in 2014 by vaccine developer Themis Bioscience of Vienna,... Read More »
A vaccine based on the Zika virus NS1 protein was shown to give single-dose protection against the virus in an immunocompetent lethal mouse challenge model, according to a recent study presented by Farshad Guirakhoo, chief scientific officer of GeoVax, Inc.
Guirakhoo presented his findings at... Read More »
A five-year, $7.7 million grant to study the effects of Zika and West Nile virus on the human central nervous system was recently awarded to researchers at Georgia State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Florida State University.
The three-part study will aim to develop... Read More »
A team of scientists led by Katherine Hastie and Erica Ollmann Saphire from the Scripps Research Institute recently discovered the means in which the Lassa virus uses to enter human cells, which they believe provides a blueprint to design a potential vaccine for the virus.
Lassa virus, which... Read More »
The Zika virus may have circulated undetected for up to a year in certain regions before public health officials could identify it, according to a recent study conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
NIH... Read More »
Researchers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) are taking a leading role in the development of vaccines to combat some of the world’s most-infectious diseases, including Zika virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), malaria, and chikungunya virus.
After the... Read More »
A manganese-based peptide antioxidant of Deinococcus combined with radiation was shown to be a promising step in developing a vaccine to counter both the Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus (VEEV) and Chikungunya virus, according to a recent study conducted by the Uniformed Services University... Read More »
Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes are significantly worse vectors for transmitting dengue fever, however, the means in which spread is established and continued among urban mosquito populations remains unclear, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of California at Davis... Read More »
A new mask that provides individual respiratory, eye, and skin protection from various chemical and biological warfare agents, including radiological particulates, for pilots and aircrew recently underwent testing at Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) facilities at Maryland's Aberdeen... Read More »
According to a thesis published recently by Lund University in Sweden, it may be possible to analyze mobile phones and other objects that come into close contact with the body to determine if an individual has been exposed to a radioactive substance.
The thesis stems from concerns that a large... Read More »
The Ebola virus harms the body’s natural defenses by binding directly to white blood cells, which expedites the virus’ lethal effects, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB), the University of Washington, and the National... Read More »
In the weeks since AT&T was awarded a contract to develop the first nationwide broadband network for first responders, FirstNet has since been begun the process of providing each state governor with a notice of completion for the request for proposal process.
While AT&T was awarded with the... Read More »
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes may also transmit other flaviviruses like Zika virus, chikungunya, and dengue fever within the course of one bite in a process called coinfection, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Colorado State University (CSU).
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are known... Read More »
A group of scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) were recently recognized with the Secretary of Energy’s Appreciation Award for their contributions in the response efforts to the West African Ebola epidemic of 2014-2015.
Katrina Waters, Mary Lancaster, Mike Spradling,... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), through its Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), recently announced the availability of $6 million in funding for research in combating antimicrobial resistance.
The funds were authorized as part of the the 2014 Farm Bill and will be... Read More »
The results of two recent studies of Dartmouth University’s investigational tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, DAR-901, have expedited the vaccine’s acceptance for use in an upcoming randomized trial to determine if it can prevent the earliest stages of infection.
The inactivated vaccine is... Read More »
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently adopted and published a recommendation made by its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP), concerning the use of PaxVax’s cholera vaccine, Vaxchora.
The recommendation, which was unanimously approved by the CDC’s... Read More »
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti recently visited Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to hold a meeting with the country’s national authorities to discuss an effective response plan in regards to the recently-verified outbreak of... Read More »
A team of scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently began an initiative on developing technologies to detect trace amount of fentanyl, heroin, and other substances to help prevent accidental exposure for law enforcement.
Through a research paper... Read More »
Mosquito-borne viruses, such as Zika, dengue, and chikungunya, are being transmitted at lower temperatures than previously believed, according to a recent study published by researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) and Stanford University.
The study, which was published in a recent... Read More »
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) issued a statement of public support last week for the recent congressional passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which helps support a variety of infectious disease programs for public health benefit in the United States and... Read More »
Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) recently described 10 clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) enzymes that have “Pac-Man-like” behaviors that chew up RNA, which could be used to detect infectious viruses.
Each enzyme is a... Read More »
Independent testing of approximately three dozen biodetection products was recently conducted by researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in order to evaluate their effectiveness in detecting biothreat agents like anthrax and ricin for first responders.
The independent... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), in conjunction with the California Department of Public Health and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, recently held a radiological security workshop May 2-3 to discuss radiological materials and ways to reduce the risks they pose.
The... Read More »
