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Threats
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) recently called on senators to take a series of steps in reauthorizing the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) to ensure that states, local communities, and medical providers can protect against threats to public health.
IDSA’s... Read More »
A stratified biodefense hospital system would provide the United States with a protective shield in the event the country experiences a man-made or natural biological catastrophe, panelists told members of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense.
The suggestion is one the panelists strongly... Read More »
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), released Tuesday a statement in support of the petition by multiple uranium producers for an investigation into the effects of uranium imports on U.S. national security.
On Monday, American uranium... Read More »
A man with ties to Miami’s “cocaine cowboys” drug-smuggling era was arrested by federal and local officers in South Florida on Jan. 12 after spending four years on the run as a “high-risk fugitive.”
The U.S. Marshall Service for the Southern District of Florida Special Operations Group... Read More »
A 51-year-old Polish national, who has been imprisoned on terrorism charges in France since 2003, faces four counts in U.S. federal courts, including conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, under a superseding indictment that was unsealed on Wednesday.
Christian Ganczarski is also charged with... Read More »
Agents of the U.S. Customers and Border Protection (CBP) service raided a cargo vessel at the Miami Seaport this week, confiscating $6.25 million worth of cocaine.
The 550 pounds of illegal narcotic were hidden in bags hidden behind metal tubing aboard the vessel. In all, those bags contained... Read More »
Researchers recently tested a millimeter wave imager designed to discreetly scan for potential threat items at the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority’s (MBTA) emergency training center in Boston.
In partnership with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers will soon have access to new resources to detect fentanyl and other synthetic opioids that are being trafficked into the United States under a bill that was signed into law last week.
Under the International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response... Read More »
Seventy-five percent of those convicted of international terrorism or related charges in U.S. federal courts from 2001 to 2016 were born in foreign countries, according to a report released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday.
The report was... Read More »
Public health, when threatened not by Obamacare but by exposure to infectious diseases, natural disasters or chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) agents, is an area where members of Congress have been able to build bipartisanship.
Continuing such cross-party work will be... Read More »
InferLink Corp. will develop advanced search functionality for a cybersecurity research portal known as the Information Marketplace for Policy and Analysis of Cyber-risk and Trust (IMPACT) under a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contract awarded on Tuesday.
The $750,000 contract will be... Read More »
Though the discovery comes with some worrisome caveats, researchers have begun the journey to reversing the memory loss effects of West Nile virus through the use of a drug.
In a study focused on mice, scientists identified the potential cause of the neurological issues: unresolved inflammation... Read More »
A panel of international policy experts told lawmakers Wednesday the best way to help rein in the nuclear ambitions of North Korea is through the intervention of the Chinese government, though none of the panelists expressed much optimism in Chinese assistance any time soon.
“I think getting... Read More »
In order to respond accordingly in the midst of large-scale biological events such as a terrorist attack or natural disaster, public and private organizations need to coordinate, but on Wednesday public health experts at a Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense meeting cited obstacles that highlight... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced legislation Tuesday designed to prevent foreign actors from interfering in U.S. elections.
The Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines (DETER) Act would implement measures such as sanctions and blocking... Read More »
Through genome analysis and chemogenetics, researchers at the University of California (UC) San Diego School of Medicine, along with national and international associates, have confirmed genetic modifications that have led to malaria’s drug resistance and revealed new drug targets contained... Read More »
Participants in the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV) recently gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the fifth plenary meeting of the initiative, marking the completion of Phase 1 of the IPNDV.
Representatives more than 25 countries both with and without... Read More »
Seventy-five years after the first controlled nuclear chain reaction, Ernest Moniz, co-chair and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), recently warned that the United States faces “a different nuclear age” with miscalculation, diplomatic tensions, terrorism, technological advancements and... Read More »
Regents of the University of Michigan (U-M) and the Duke University Hospital now share a distinction among infectious disease and antimicrobial experts with their recent designation of Antimicrobial Stewardship Centers of Excellence by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).
The... Read More »
Duke University researchers recently conducted a study that showed how the Dengue virus reproduces in an infected individual without triggering the body’s normal defense mechanisms.
According to the study, the virus slowly takes over the endoplasmic reticulum, an accordion-shaped structure in... Read More »
The House of Representatives recently advanced 12 legislative proposals derived from recommendations from the Homeland Security Committee’s Task Force on Denying Terrorists Entry to the United States final report.
The legislation included various initiating designed to prevent terrorists from... Read More »
In two law enforcement actions, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers recently seized more than $1.04 million in marijuana and crystal methamphetamine.
The first seizure occurred Jan. 9 at the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge between Mexico and Laredo, Texas. A non-intrusive... Read More »
A five-year partnership agreement has been reached between the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), representing a $28 million investment in the fight against viral outbreaks.
DARPA’s Pandemic Protection Platform will be... Read More »
The Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, applauded the complete destruction of Libya’s stockpile of Category 2 chemical materials at a ceremony held recently in Munster, Germany.
The remainder of the country’s... Read More »
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is focused on bolstering its efforts to stop cybercriminals and hackers, said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“Today, we live much of our lives online, and we're in a situation where just about everything that is important to us lives on the Internet.... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently announced that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has failed to verify some licenses for radiological shipments through U.S. airports.
Warning that such material as contained within these shipments could be used by terrorists to make... Read More »
National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists recently conducted a small clinical trial at the NIH Clinical Center of an experimental treatment for Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus infection in which the treatment was well tolerated by healthy volunteers.
SAB Biotherapeutics... Read More »
A bill introduced in the House of Representatives Wednesday would authorize construction of a border wall, invest in new technology and expand ports of entry, and add 5,000 Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents.
The Securing America's Future Act would also require the use of a biometric... Read More »
Smiths Detection announced Wednesday that it will supply a full range of security scanners, a total of 91 X-ray inspection systems, for the new passenger Terminal B and Cargo Complex LLC at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport.
The airport is building the new facilities to help handle... Read More »
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) recently gleaned new understanding into how an antibody neutralizes the Marburg virus, a pathogen with no known treatment that holds the same pandemic potential as the Ebola virus.
Previous research indicated that an antibody known as MR191... Read More »
U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) recently intercepted two vessels carrying 40 undocumented aliens from the Dominican Republic and Haiti attempting to illegally enter Puerto Rico near the island’s west coast.
“Sustained collaborations... Read More »
The government’s Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) recently awarded a contract to Battelle to develop software to evaluate threats posed by the creation of dangerous organisms through synthetic biology and genetic engineering.
Thanks to recent advances in biotechnology,... Read More »
A working group consisting of government officials, private-sector representatives, academics, and veterinarians would be formed to develop standards for breeding and training dogs to detect explosives under a bill that the House of Representatives approved on Tuesday.
The Domestic Explosives... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security would be directed to draft best practices for using biographic traveler information and information about reservations and itineraries for counterterrorism screening under a bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The Screening and Vetting... Read More »
During a visit to the plague-shaken nation of Madagascar, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), called for a $4 million investment to effectively combat the biological threat.
The most recent outbreak of pneumonic and bubonic plague in-country left... Read More »
