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Threats
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 »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers from the Area Port of Philadelphia recently seized 709 pounds of cocaine, the largest local cocaine load in 10 years, which they found concealed inside cabinets shipped from Puerto Rico.
The cocaine load, which has an estimated street value of... Read More »
El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to the Highway 111 checkpoint recently discovered 6.44 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $22,540 strapped to a 14-year-old girl’s chest.
The girl, an American citizen, arrived at the checkpoint as a passenger in a vehicle... Read More »
Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers at eight ports of entry extending from Brownsville to Del Rio, Texas, seized $12.1 million in narcotics, arrested 80 fugitives and blocked more than 3,500 inadmissible entries due to immigration law violations over the holiday season.
From Dec. 15 to... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently released an update to its directive regarding border searches of electronic devices, which was designed to enhance the transparency, accountability, and oversight of the searches.
CBP currently searches the electronic devices of fewer than... Read More »
Researchers at the University of Queensland recently “supercharged” an old antibiotic by modifying its membrane-binding properties to successfully attack deadly antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, or superbugs.
Mark Blaskovich and Matt Cooper of the University of Queensland’s... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened a record number of passengers during the 2017 holiday travel period, Dec. 15, 2017, through Jan. 2, 2018.
TSA officers screened 42 million passengers and more than 30.6 million checked bags screened nationwide. Dec. 22 was the busiest day... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched a new program last week that aims to predict and prevent cross-species transmission of viral diseases to bolster military readiness.
The program, called Preventing Emerging Pathogenic Threats (PREEMPT), will explore how pathogens... Read More »
Four U.S. citizens were arrested and charged with providing material support to ISIS in December, marking an uptick in the number of cases of homegrown terrorism, according to an assessment released by the House Homeland Security Committee on Friday.
The Terror Threat Snapshot indicates that... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport recently seized more than 65 pounds of liquid methamphetamine with an estimated value of $297,000.
The shipment was sent from China to Memphis, Tennessee, and was destined for Fort Worth,... Read More »
Scientists at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have developed predictive, end-to-end modeling capabilities that can differentiate between conventional high explosives weapons tests and non-nuclear explosives tests that are part of a nuclear weapons program.
Developed by the... Read More »
The Arkansas National Guard recently held a cyber training exercise at the Little Rock Air Force Base, which involved uncovering potential cybersecurity susceptibilities in critical infrastructure within a simulated city.
Along with members of the state’s Army National Guard and Air National... Read More »
Five businesses tied to Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group (SBIG), which plays a key role in Iran’s ballistic missile program, were sanctioned last week by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The five businesses — Shahid Kharrazi Industries, Shahid Sanikhani... Read More »
North Korea denies claims made in the Trump administration’s recently released National Security Strategy that it “has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons” nor that it has researched “chemical and biological weapons which could be delivered by... Read More »
The parasite Leishmania may be getting aided by viruses in its infection of invertebrates, as well as causing significantly worse disease than those without, according to a new evolutionary study.
The paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, comes from the head of... Read More »
An enzyme that makes pandemic cholera resistant to last-line antibiotics acts on a different mechanism than similar proteins in bacteria, researchers at the University of Georgia reported last month.
Cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs), which naturally produced by both bacteria and human... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers from the Champlain Port of Entry and U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Champlain Station recently intercepted a human smuggling operation.
The incident resulted in the arrest of one subject for criminal alien smuggling and two subjects for... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently prequalified the first typhoid conjugate vaccine on Wednesday that’s been shown to boost immune response typhoid in infants as young as six months old.
Prequalification of the typhoid conjugate vaccine, called Typbar-TCV, allows procurement... Read More »
More than 4,735 pounds of cocaine was intercepted in the Caribbean Sea over a three-day period in December as part of Operation Full Court Press, which is being led by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO).
Operation Full Court Press is an interagency effort to... Read More »
Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to the Ajo Station and Pima County Sheriff Department deputies recently arrested two Mexican nationals and one U.S. citizen after a thwarted marijuana smuggling attempt near Ajo, Arizona.
Agents following up on a suspicious activity report along State... Read More »
A Tuscon, Arizona man was recently charged in U.S. District Court with the transportation of illegal aliens resulting in serious bodily injury, high-speed flight from a Border Patrol checkpoint, assault on a federal officer and use of a firearm
Court documents allege that Roberto Ramirez, 21,... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers used biometric verification to prevent a Ghanaian man posing as a U.S. citizen from entering the country at Washington Dulles International Airport on New Year’s Day.
The man, who had been denied U.S. travel visas in 2013 and 2016 because of fraud,... Read More »
The Consortium for Verification Technology highlighted how students from partner universities contribute to nuclear nonproliferation research conducted at national laboratories during a recent annual meeting held at the University of Michigan.
Through the Consortium for Verification, the... Read More »
In recognition of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Department of Defense(DoD) highlighted a program on Tuesday that trains military veterans to help law enforcers identify and curb online child exploitation.
Veterans who are wounded, ill or transitioning are trained... Read More »
The ability of the Ebola virus to copy itself and spread through hosts can be “switched off” by manipulating a host factor enzyme, according to a recent study by European researchers.
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen and Phillips Universität Marburg in Germany discovered that... Read More »
New best practices recently released by the wireless industry group CTIA outline steps for local governments to help maintain and restore wireless services during natural disasters and emergencies.
The guidelines call for better coordination and communication between wireless service providers... Read More »
Experiencing an escalating threat level of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) attacks across its region, the European Commission’s related preparedness plan is extremely important, a London-based expert recently told Homeland Preparedness News.
“I consider this to be... Read More »
All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories accepted a Radio Access Network (RAN) buildout plan for the FirstNet wireless broadband network for first responders by the time a 90-decision period came to a close on Dec. 28.
Congress approved a bill establishing FirstNet in... Read More »
Twenty-two districts in Uganda were recently identified by researchers as cholera “hotspots” that should be targeted by cholera control programs in the country and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health identified the areas as high-risk... Read More »
An alleged MS-13 gang member who was recently removed from the country by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) will face eight murder charges in El Salvador.
Leandro Cruz, 24, was previously convicted of assault and battery in Massachusetts. After... Read More »
