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A recent computational analysis revealed that even a mild outbreak of Zika virus in the United States could cost more than $183 million in medical expenses and productivity losses, according to a study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Results of the study were published... Read More »
A bill authored by U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) to address staffing shortages among U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and Border Patrol agents by getting rid of duplicative mandated polygraph tests was recently approved by the House Committee on Homeland Security.
McSally’s... Read More »
Drugs that activate a cell’s pathways to inhibit the replication of pathogens were revealed in a recent study to be a promising approach to treating dangerous infections caused by Zika virus, dengue fever, and chikungunya.
The study was conducted by researchers at Oregon Health and Science... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers assigned to the port of entries in San Diego and Imperial Valley counties in California recently intercepted more than 700 pounds of narcotics and apprehended 13 fugitives with outstanding felony warrants over the past weekend.
In total,... Read More »
The U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on Tuesday unanimously approved the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Small Business Cybersecurity Act of 2017, which aims to provide small businesses with guidance to help them manage various cybersecurity risks.... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) efforts into curbing subterranean, aerial, and maritime drug smuggling, stating that while the number of incidents have declined over the past five years, the department could... Read More »
The Critical Path to TB Drug Regimens (CPTR), a division of the Critical Path Institute (C-Path), was recently awarded a $1.1 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to enhance its Relational Sequencing TB Data Platform (ReSeqTB), which seeks to improve global tuberculosis (TB)... Read More »
Former top executives at various Department of Defense research facilities called on Congress Wednesday to ease hiring restrictions and contracting rules to facilitate the Pentagon’s work on cutting-edge weapons and other technology.
The ongoing federal budget freeze and strict regulations... Read More »
The nation’s supply of U.S.-licensed YF-VAX yellow fever vaccine is expected to be depleted by mid-2017 due to delays in the manufacturing process at Sanofi Pasteur, according to a recent report published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
YF-VAX is the only yellow... Read More »
A delegation of Namibian representatives recently visited the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to discuss various initiatives related to the full implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
The delegation included members of the... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stationed at the Dennis DeConcini crossing at the Port of Nogales in Arizona recently stopped attempted fentanyl smuggling by a single individual.
The incident began as officers stopped a 28-year old Mexican national driving a Chevrolet SUV for a... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) introduced last week bipartisan legislation that builds on the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010, which addresses staffing shortages of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and Border Patrol agents along both international U.S. borders.
The legislation... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Will Hurd (R-TX), Robin Kelly (D-IL), and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) recently introduced the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act, which aims to reduce wasteful spending in information technology (IT) while strengthening information security by expediting the federal government’s... Read More »
The United States National Guard (USNG) recently conducted Exercise Cyber Shield 2017 at Camp Williams in Utah, which trained more than 800 Army personnel in various aspects of cyber protection, network defense, forensic analysis, cyber tactics, and defense procedures against hackers and... Read More »
According to a recent report by researchers from the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam, daily platelet counts in children experiencing the early stages of dengue virus infection can help predict those at risk of dengue shock syndrome (DSS).
The study followed 2,301 children... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate recently entered into a partnership with Asymmetric Technologies worth $199,814.31 to enhance small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) within Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
CBP said its use of sUAS... Read More »
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) introduced this week the Community Counterterrorism Preparedness Act, which aims to direct grant funding towards first responders so they may receive counterterrorism training in the event of a coordinated terrorist attack.... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents assigned to the Tucson Sector recently interdicted a human smuggling attempt at the State Route 86 immigration checkpoint near Three Points, Arizona.
The incident began as agents stopped a Chevrolet Impala sedan with two visible occupants for a... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) recently called on U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner Kevin McAleenan to expedite the modernization of the Douglas Port of Entry (POE) in Arizona, which was last renovated more than 20 years ago.
McSally also called for the construction... Read More »
Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, commander of the U.S. European Command, recently hosted a discussion with dozens of senior NATO Leaders and European chiefs of defense on how to counter the threat of violent extremism.
“This fight against terror and violent extremists will not be easy, nor... Read More »
Fourteen members of the U.S. House of Representatives reintroduced this week the First Responders Passport Act, which allows the Secretary of State to waive passport fees for American first responders when making trips abroad to assist in natural disaster response efforts.
The bipartisan group... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed this week the Aviation Employee Screening and Security Enhancement Act, authored by U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY), which aims to strengthen security at the nation’s airports by providing enhanced screening procedures for airport and aviation... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced this week the Counterterrorism Screening and Assistance Act, which aims to strengthen national security by coordinating with foreign partners to identify international airport vulnerabilities that could allow a potential terrorist to... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Tuesday introduced the Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order (EL CHAPO) Act, which reserves forfeited assets from drug lords to pay for various security measures along the U.S.-Mexico border, including President Trump’s proposed border wall.... Read More »
A new global coalition is laying the groundwork to achieve an ambitious goal of speeding up the development of vaccines to combat the spread of deadly emerging infectious diseases that pose great risk to public health.
Launched in January, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations... Read More »
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) division recently completed a four-day immigration operation, the result of which led to the arrest of 95 undocumented migrants with criminal histories throughout the southeast Texas area.
The agency... Read More »
A companion bill to U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe’s (R-TX) Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017 was recently introduced in the Senate by U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
Grassley currently serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,... Read More »
Rockwell Collins was recently selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to apply its mathematics-based development processes to protect DARPA defense platforms against potential cyberattacks.
Rockwell Collins’ methods were developed in conjunction with DARPA’s High... Read More »
Roman Valeryevich Seleznev, a 32-year old Russian cybercriminal, was sentenced to 27 years in prison last week for defrauding various small businesses and financial institutions, causing more than $169 million in damages.
Seleznev, known by the pseudonym Track2, was convicted in August of 38... Read More »
According to a report recently published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most-reported bacteria causing foodborne illnesses in America last year were Campylobacter and Salmonella.
Data was gathered through the CDC’s Foodborne Disease Active Surveillance... Read More »
In continuing its ongoing efforts into malaria research, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) recently announced $9 million in first-year funding for seven malaria research centers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The seven-year awards are a continuance of... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently unveiled a new Trusted Traveler comparison tool, which helps prospective DHS Trusted Traveler applicants find programs that best matches their citizenship and travel preferences.
DHS Trusted Traveler programs allow low-risk travelers to... Read More »
With the nation’s signature preparedness law due for reauthorization in 2018, leaders now are readying public health stakeholders across local, state and federal levels for battle on Capitol Hill.
Not only should those in the public health sector be battle-ready to support renewal of the... Read More »
The MITRE Corporation recently named William LaPlante as its senior vice president and general manager of the company’s Center for National Security (CNS), which includes two federally-funded research and development centers focusing on security engineering and cybersecurity.
LaPlante will now... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in collaboration with the University of Wuppertal in Germany, recently held two courses that focused on loss prevention and safety promotion in the chemical industry, giving students important information on modern technical safety... Read More »
