Emerging Infectious Diseases
The demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) has continued to increase while supply has been limited by rapid consumption and supply chain disruptions, according to a new study by the Congressional Research Service.
The Congressional Research Service report – called COVID-19 and... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced plans this week to release guidance on the systematic screening of tuberculosis (TB), including an updated means of addressing the disease through new approaches, new technologies, and the latest evidence.
“Systematic screening is critical to... Read More »
Organizations gained an easy way to assess the costs of COVID-19 testing plans this week, in the form of a free, online calculator funded and launched by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Recognizing that... Read More »
The Department of Defense (DoD) has initiated eight Defense Production Act Title III actions as a means of retaining workforce capabilities throughout disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The action would also restore some jobs lost due to the pandemic while sustaining and strengthening... Read More »
Under the terms of a new agreement, Kaneka Eurogentec S.A. will help produce INOVIO’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4800, joining a global manufacturing consortium that also includes Thermo Fisher Scientific, Richter-Helm BioLogics, and Ology Biosciences.
"Our partnership with Kaneka... Read More »
The latest test to be authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) represents a major milestone amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: the first combination test capable of detecting both COVID-19 and influenza A and B using samples collected at home.
“With just one swab or sample,... Read More »
According to a new report by IBM Security X-Force, malicious cyber actors are targeting the COVID-19 cold chain, an integral part of delivering and storing a vaccine at safe temperatures.
Cyber attackers, posing as officials from biomedical companies, are sending phishing emails to executives... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) is advocating equitable COVID-19 vaccine global access, noting that placing low and lower-middle-income nations (LLMICs) without access would cause significant economic damage.
The WHO-led ACT Accelerator serves a unique global collaboration supporting... Read More »
Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Ben Cardin (D-MD), John Thune (R-SD), and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced last week a measure they said is designed to address funding for a COVID-19 vaccine public advocacy campaign.
The bill would fund a science-driven public advocacy campaign, ensuring when an... Read More »
With flu season looming, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) announced plans this week to work with Chembio Diagnostics, Inc. to develop two rapid point-of-care antigen tests capable of detecting and differentiating between COVID-19 and influenza.
Both tests -- the... Read More »
As the world deals with the ongoing chaos and death inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, INTERPOL is warning of a new threat to global hopes: organized crime networks are targeting COVID-19 vaccines, both physically and online.
In a global Orange Notice alert to the organization’s 194 member... Read More »
In preparation for rising cases of COVID-19, the United States Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) have purchased an additional 650,000 doses of Eli Lilly and Company’s investigational monoclonal antibody therapeutic, bamlanivimab.
This puts the total number of... Read More »
Roche Diagnostics’ new Elecsys SARS-CoV-2 antibody test gained emergency use authorization (EUA) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week, granting a new blood test to test those who may have been exposed to COVID-19.
The test detects antibodies directed against the... Read More »
Valneva SE, a biotech company headquartered in France, on Wednesday announced plans to accelerate the pediatric development of its Lyme disease vaccine candidate, VLA15, which is being co-developed with Pfizer Inc.
“We are pleased that Pfizer and Valneva have decided to accelerate this... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has made the necessary preparations for the immediate mass shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine once they are ready to go.
The Department of Transportation has been working with Operation Warp Speed officials over the past few weeks to coordinate with... Read More »
Public trust must be maintained in preparing for and responding to another large-scale biological event like the ongoing novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a former Trump administration emergency management expert told the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense on Monday.
Tom Bossert,... Read More »
With the temporary approval of the Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the United Kingdom has become the first country to initiate an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a COVID-19 vaccine created by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech.
Earlier studies showed the vaccine to be 94.1... Read More »
New guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme disease have been developed through a collaboration between the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Academy of Neurology, and the American College of Rheumatology.
The guidelines offer recommendations for... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) made several recommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic to increase transparency and accountability among federal agencies.
The GAO report outlined that the United States has had more than 10 million cumulative cases of COVID-19 and... Read More »
Bayer officials said a newly introduced spray solution combats resistant mosquitoes and controls worldwide vector-borne diseases.
Fludora Co-Max addresses Aedes mosquito-borne arboviruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya by combining two active ingredients with unrelated modes of action -... Read More »
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel said the agency has launched an initiative designed to address fraudulent COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.
The agency's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) initiated Operation Stolen Promise 2.0, which is designed to serve as the next... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tapped the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) to investigate a second COVID-19 on December 17: mRNA-1273, a Moderna, Inc. candidate that fared well in clinical testing.
Moderna recently announced the vaccine had... Read More »
With 94.1 percent efficacy figures pulled from a phase three COVE study of its mRNA-1273 vaccine for COVID-19, Moderna, Inc. has officially filed for emergency use authorization (EUA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The study consisted of more than 30,000 participants and, at... Read More »
A group of Democratic U.S. senators recently urged Congressional leaders to provide funding to ensure the swift distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
With the news of at least one COVID-19 vaccine could be available to be distributed before the end of the year, many state and local governments... Read More »
Following a University of Alabama preclinical study of the Altimmune Inc. investigational COVID-19 vaccine candidate AdCOVID, the company has submitted an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin Phase 1 clinical testing this month.
"We've made exceptional progress... Read More »
A new trial focused on dexamethasone, remdesivir, and baricitinib use on COVID-19 is underway at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), with plans to enroll as many as 1,500 hospitalized adult patients.
The fourth iteration of the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial... Read More »
Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest global public health concerns and is projected to be so for the next three decades. In the United States alone, 2.8 million people contract an antibiotic-resistant infection, killing more than 35,000 people each year.
Approximately 15 percent of... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) are encouraging the Department of Defense (DOD) to conduct rapid antigen COVID-19 tests of military service members, their families, civilians, and contractors.
The effort stems from aiding in detecting asymptomatic virus carriers while... Read More »
From April through June 2020, New York City hospitals were overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, and now, a working group of 15 hospital intensive care unit directors and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security have reported on the successes and failures of that time.
“Crisis Standards of... Read More »
A preclinical study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggests that tetracycline-based antibiotics like methacycline, or drugs designed to combat Alzheimer’s and inflammation, may slow infection and reduce neurological problems associated with the Zika virus.
This conclusion was... Read More »
Ohio Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are urging federal officials to support Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s request to restore and extend full federal funding for the Ohio National Guard’s COVID-19 response mission.
Since the pandemic hit, approximately 2,000 members of the Ohio... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to allocate initial doses of Regeneron’s COVID-19 antibody therapeutic, casirivimab and imdevimab.
The treatments received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Nov. 21 for treatment of... Read More »
Two federal contracts amounting to $25 million were awarded to Siemens Healthineers by the United States Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) this month to develop and support domestic production of COVID-19 tests.
The tests use either a nose or possibly saliva sample... Read More »
With the need for nasal swabs for COVID-19 tests growing, the United States Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) have awarded $11.6 million to Puritan Medical Products Company, LLC to expand the domestic production capacity of Cue Sample Wands.
This contract will... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) criticized the Trump administration for what he calls its lack of action against foreign adversaries, including Russia, China, and North Korea, that have launched cyber-attacks against American hospitals and research institutions in an attempt to steal information... Read More »
