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The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) announced on Monday that it has built an enhanced threat detection device called CASTLE that increases the range of detection for CBRNE threats.
CASTLE, which stands for CBRNE assessment science and technology lab at ECBC, greatly... Read More »
A new report released on Monday by the Syrian-American Medical Society revealed that more than 600 chemical attacks have killed 1,491 people during the five years of ongoing conflict in Syria.
The report, “The New Normal, Ongoing Chemical Attacks in Syria,” found that 69 chemical weapon... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a study on Wednesday detailing the various actions the National Capital Region Coordination (ONCRC) has taken to help improve emergency communications interoperability in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The NCR is a defined area that... Read More »
After a three-day consultation on the virus, the World Health Organization released the criteria on Wednesday by which Zika virus research and development should advance.
The first way to to combat the virus to is continue to develop novel ultiplex tests for flaviviruses, or viruses related to... Read More »
The Alliance for Biosecurity applauded Wednesday’s Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approval of the Medical Countermeasure Innovation Act, S. 2055.
The legislation would accelerate the development of new vaccines and medicines meant to protect American citizens from... Read More »
According to a study released on Monday by the Governing Institute, AT&T and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), 80 percent of elected and appointed officials say that they don’t know if their home state has a cybersecurity incident plan in place.
The survey included responses from a... Read More »
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director General Ahmet Uzumcu announced last week that the European Union has provided a total of $5 million for fact-finding work in Syria and other joint United Nations ventures.
“This important contribution will enable the... Read More »
A coalition of New York congressional representatives last week announced more than $60 million in federal grants to support counterterrorism and emergency preparedness activities in counties across New York State.
The group included New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), along with U.S. Sens. Chuck... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday responded to a letter led by Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) urging the agency to add Zika virus to the FDA tropical disease priority review voucher (PRV) program.
In its response, the FDA opted to not add the virus to its voucher program.
By... Read More »
Immunovaccine, Inc., announced on Wednesday that it will begin a research project toward the development of a vaccine to fight against the emerging Zika virus.
Immunovaccine said the vaccine will be developed using its proprietary DepoVax platform, which has produced some promising results in... Read More »
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced the National Commission on Security and Technology on Monday.
The commission was formed in the wake of the Apple’s public refusal to follow the FBI’s order to program a backdoor into... Read More »
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on Wednesday about the continuing danger posed by Zika virus to the Americas and plans to respond to the virus both nationally and internationally.
Zika virus is primarily spread through the bite of an infected mosquito. Such... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) issued a warning on Monday to her colleagues regarding the future of food security and agro-terrorism.
“An agroterrorism attack would impact the most basic of human needs—the food we eat. Furthermore, the food and agriculture sector is critically important to... Read More »
R3 Technologies, a company specializing in radar detection systems, recently announced that its CBD-1000 concealed bomb detecting device is close to commercialization.
“The suicide bomber can walk into a crowded place unnoticed and inflict a horrifying amount of death and destruction,”... Read More »
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) recently announced that it has developed a device known as SmartCAR that uses colorimetric assay to identify such dangerous chemical compounds as anthrax, ricin and plague.
“Although much of the technology in SmartCAR is commercial off-the-shelf, it... Read More »
The Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) commenced a training exercise last week aimed at handling environments affected by chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats (CBRNE).
The course, entitled “Hazardous Materials Evidence Collection for CBRNE Incidents (HEC),”... Read More »
The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) announced the signing of a series of licensing agreements on Thursday with Biodetech, LLC, allowing the company to utilize the Agents of Biological Origin Identifier (ABOid).
ABOid is a pathogen identification platform developed by... Read More »
A subcommittee hearing chaired by U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) on Thursday heard testimony from leading cybersecurity experts on the serious national security threats currently faced by the U.S. from other nation states and malicious cyber actors.
The hearing, held by the House Homeland... Read More »
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) introduced the Terrorist Release Transparency Act, H.R. 4580, on Tuesday.
The legislation aims to ensure that the public, along with foreign partners, have access to critical details before terrorists are released from the Guantanamo Bay... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) released a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on Monday on the steps the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can take regarding unaccompanied children (UAC) crossing the southern U.S. border.... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) responded to concerns on Thursday regarding questions it received on its request for proposal (RFP) and the deployment of the nationwide public safety broadband network.
“We are pleased with the interest and questions we received from industry,... Read More »
Meetings of the Five Country Ministerial and the Quintet of Attorneys General meetings were jointly held on Feb. 16-17 by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Director of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to discuss the latest issue surrounding international security.
Lynch and Johnson’s... Read More »
SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc., announced on Wednesday that it produced a new human antibody therapeutic to threat the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) utilizing its novel DiversitAb production platform.
MERS-CoV was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The World... Read More »
The International Association of Fire Chiefs Foundation announced on Monday that it has received a $10,000 grant from Emergent BioSolutions to provide 12 scholarships for qualified hazmat response professionals to attend the International Hazardous Materials Response Teams... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) announced at the end of January that it will create open-access datasets for researchers and industry.
To fund this venture, the DoE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) $3 million for two projects... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., announced on Wednesday that its ruggedized, military-grade auto-injector platform will be tested and developed as a platform for nerve agent antidote delivery by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Battelle.
Emergent’s Emergard platform, selected from several... Read More »
As part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) program, DARPA recently set up a series of tests to discover the capability of a smaller scale of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
The goal of the FLA program is to develop algorithms that would... Read More »
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) warned on Tuesday that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) has begun using chemical weapons in targeted attacks against American-supported fighters.
The reported attacks occurred in August during fighting in northern Iraq, targeting the... Read More »
Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoğlu held a meeting with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Wednesday at OPCW headquarters in The Hague.
Ahmet Uzumcu, director-general of the OPCW, briefed the prime minister on the OPCW’s work implementing the Chemical... Read More »
The U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on Friday to learn from experts about current preparedness shortcomings and to assess the types of biological threats facing the United States.
The hearing, chaired by U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), was entitled... Read More »
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed the “Combat Terrorist Use of Social Media Act of 2016” on Wednesday, which was co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA).
“I want to thank both Chairman Johnson and Senator Booker for working with me on this... Read More »
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood released a statement following the Obama administration’s release of its FY 2017 budget proposal.
In his statement, Greenwood decries Obama’s action, warning that budget would directly threaten the goal of... Read More »
The Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies held its “International Cooperation in Combating Terrorism: Review of 2015 and Outlook for 2016” on Monday at the National Press Club, featuring a panel of experts from the Blue Ribbon Panel who warned that bioterrorism remains a growing... Read More »
The Center for Cyber and Homeland Security (CCHS) based at George Washington University recently announced that it is launching a new project primarily focused on the role of the private sector in active defense against cyber threats.
The goal of the project is to find a definitive answer to the... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced its research priorities on Friday for studies to investigate how Zika virus infection affects reproduction, pregnancy and the developing fetus.
The virus is currently present in approximately 30 countries and territories, notably in Latin... Read More »
