Emerging Infectious Diseases
The global spread of a deadly disease outbreak during a biological attack would impact far more than U.S. government financial resources, former federal lawmakers say, and could crash the coffers of local and state budgets just as severely.
“We know unequivocally that terrorists have the... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. said on Tuesday it began the first phase of a clinical study for its anti-Zika virus immune globulin, known as ZIKV-IG, which was fast-tracked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017.
Concern over Zika virus disease, transmitted by mosquitoes, has risen... Read More »
Developing drugs for rapid response to treat emerging infectious diseases requires overcoming numerous hurdles.
For a start, there are few large-scale pharmaceutical campaigns. The reality is quite the opposite, as it can be a challenge for the government to convince pharmaceutical companies to... Read More »
Georgia State University researchers maintain a new peptides-based vaccine protects mice against influenza A virus.
Investigators said the double-layered nanoparticle vaccine was developed using peptides, compounds consisting of two or more amino acids linked in a chain because they are much... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and David Schweikert (R-AZ), co-chairs of the Congressional Valley Fever Task Force, joined three other task force members this week to introduce legislation seeking to advance research and treatment of the fungal disease.
There are currently more cases of Valley... Read More »
While the inherent danger of antimicrobial resistance is growing, increasing the threat of a global public health crisis, a new national institute to address the threat has been created through a partnership between universities in Nebraska and Iowa.
The new Institute for Antimicrobial... Read More »
The spread of tickborne infections has risen significantly in the past decade, with the upward trend likely to continue, according to a recent report by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Lyme disease represents the majority of tickborne infections in the United... Read More »
In a massive study that examined data from 76 countries collected from 1959 to 2009, analysts from the University of Illinois have found that outbreaks of chikungunya and dengue fever -- both linked to mosquitoes -- are most affected by population density and proximity to a country already... Read More »
For nine nations adjoining the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) has assessed that the threat of a dangerous Ebola spread is high at the regional level.
An outbreak of the disease has stricken the Congo since May, and though the WHO has resisted calling for... Read More »
It would cost the U.S. government only half a day’s worth of federal spending — anywhere between $5 billion and $6 billion — to create the infrastructure needed to counteract the threat of chemical or biological attacks, according to findings described in “Invisible Scourge: The Danger of... Read More »
A public-private partnership between federal agencies and Spero Therapeutics, Inc. announced on Monday will strive to develop an oral antibiotic to treat infections resulting from biothreat pathogens like anthrax, plague, and antibiotic-resistant infections.
The U.S. Department of Health and... Read More »
A comprehensive update to the nation’s soon-to-expire pandemic and all-hazards law has been unveiled in the U.S. House where Energy and Commerce Committee members have painstakingly produced a bipartisan reauthorization to bolster America’s defense against chemical, biological, radiological or... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently approved a new drug for the treatment of smallpox, a pill stockpiled in case the virus is used as a bioweapon.
TPOXX, a small-molecule antiviral treatment, is the first therapy approved for this biosecurity use and was developed by SIGA... Read More »
While most of the efforts surrounding mosquito-transmitted disease focus on the aftermath, a new sensor under development by SMK Diagnostics would allow for earlier intervention.
SMK -- a startup begun by Purdue University professors -- builds on previous biosensor technology used to monitor... Read More »
Georgia State University professor Christopher Basler recently received a two-year, $419,100 federal grant to study a virus similar to the Ebola virus that causes disease in animals but not in humans.
Basler, director of the university's Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and a Georgia Research... Read More »
Tuberculosis (TB) vaccines have been shown to reduce sustained infection rates among healthy, uninfected adolescents and in high-transmission settings, according to the results of a clinical trial published by nonprofit TB vaccine developer Aeras earlier this month.
Aeras published the results... Read More »
Infravec2, the European Union-funded source for vector research products and services for scientists, launched new online resources in June regarding mosquito colonies that were previously unavailable and new arbovirus-infected mosquito combinations, among others.
Composed of 24 partner... Read More »
An oral smallpox treatment developed by SIGA Technologies, Inc. has proven effective through human safety and animal efficacy studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine this month.
Known as tecovirimat, or TPOXX, the efficacy of the oral formulation was tested in lethal monkeypox... Read More »
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) researchers are providing care to Ebola patients, monitoring survivors from the 2014 outbreak and testing the experimental drug remdesivir for emergency treatment.
UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Medicine has been studying Ebola... Read More »
Researchers maintain more women could be losing their pregnancies to the Zika virus without knowing they are infected.
Findings of a probe by California National Primate Research Center at UC Davis investigators published in Nature Medicine determined 26 percent of non-human primates infected... Read More »
The Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has chosen the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) to help end influenza and sepsis.
M2D2 is one of eight business incubators in the nation selected to aid startups in... Read More »
Researchers are exploring the nuances of digital health systems and nanotechnology as a means of transforming a smartphone into a Zika detecting device.
Work of Brigham and Women's Hospital investigators published in ACS Nano details efforts to rapidly and accurately diagnose Zika using mobile... Read More »
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on June 27 passed the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2018 (PAHPRA), sending it to the full committee along with four other public health bills under consideration.
“The mark up of these five important bills... Read More »
The hectic nature of public health emergencies may hardly leave officials time to reflect on what lessons are being learned on the ground, and in real time.
The Outbreak Observatory aims to change that.
Comprised of experts in public health and biosecurity, the Observatory’s team captures... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has tasked AktiVax, Inc. with developing an auto-injector that allows drugs designed to counter chemical nerve agents to be administered without specialized training.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)... Read More »
Researchers recently found that preventing the chain of cholera transmission within households in high-burden areas may significantly impact efforts to reduce the number of cases worldwide.
Work by Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators published in Nature Genetics outlined nearly 80... Read More »
Health officials in Jefferson County, Colorado, said a rabbit died from tularemia, a rare infectious disease found in animals that can affect humans.
Tularemia is typically spread through the bite of infected ticks and deer flies or through handling infected sick or dead animals, usually... Read More »
Italian researchers maintain different vector control strategies are needed as a means of addressing mosquito-borne pathogens.
Investigators noted new research based on the Italian experience with outbreaks of Chikungunya, a disease borne by the tiger mosquito, in 2007 and 2017, revealed varied... Read More »
A species of invasive mosquitoes in California is capable of transmitting the Zika virus, and their populations should be highly controlled, researchers from the University of California-Davis have discovered.
Researchers from the University of California-Davis infected three different species... Read More »
The first West Nile virus-infected mosquito sample of the year was recently identified by the Dauphin County Conservation District in Washington Township, Pa., but no human cases have been reported.
The vector-borne West Nile virus can infect humans with an infection known as West Nile... Read More »
Imperial College London researchers have determined that the use of a pair of experimental anti-malarial vaccines may reduce the number of malaria infections.
Details of the probe in eLife outlined the testing of two types of vaccines in mice: those preventing mosquitoes from transferring the... Read More »
Researchers from the University of Waterloo recently touted the benefits of a pesticide-free approach to limiting mosquito populations that also addresses the spread of West Nile virus.
The work, published in Plos One, outlined the process of introducing hungry minnows into bodies of water where... Read More »
Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) announced last week their support of legislation prioritizing urgent public health and research priorities.
“We look forward to learning more about allocations to the Prevention and Public Health Fund and hope to see robust support for... Read More »
Purdue University researchers maintain a newly identified compound has proven to be as potent as FDA approved infection-fighting drugs and is less susceptible to bacterial resistance.
Investigators said preliminary testing, outlined via the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, determined F6... Read More »
The United States may be prepared for emerging biological terror and disease outbreaks, but members of Congress questioned during a recent hearing whether coordination among federal agencies, local health departments, and private companies are optimal to tackle such threats.
The purpose of... Read More »
