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Threats
U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) recently reintroduced a bill aimed at improving cooperation amongst federal, state, and local agencies in detecting, preventing and responding to terrorist-type threats.
The Fusion Center Enhancement Act would strengthen partnerships between the U.S. Department of... Read More »
Elusys Therapeutics, Inc. recently received $16.35 million for completing the second delivery of ANTHIM injection for the treatment of anthrax exposure.
The funds are part of a $45 million procurement contract to provide the treatment for the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). Elusys... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. recently received approval by a regulatory agency under the German Federal Ministry of Health for its large-scale manufacturing facility in Michigan, paving the way for the company to market its anthrax vaccine BioThrax in Germany and other countries.
Emergent said its... Read More »
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, and North Carolina State University recently teamed up to develop a uniform that destroys chemical agents on contact using a type of... Read More »
Greater coordination between the Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security is needed to help prevent a biological attack on the U.S. agriculture industry that threatens the nation’s food supply, a panel of experts on agrodefense said last... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced last week a bill to establish a Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity that would focus exclusively on cybersecurity and cyberspace issues.
Currently, more than 20 committees claim jurisdiction over cybersecurity issues between... Read More »
After the implementation of New Hampshire House Bill 1298 earlier this month, U.S. Border Patrol officers stationed in Coos County now have state police authority after a training period.
The bill now gives Border Patrol agents the authority to provide immediate assistance to a person who has... Read More »
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday led the North Atlantic Council in formally opening the NATO-Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) Regional Centre.
Stoltenberg highlighted the centre’s potential in strengthening the partnership between... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) recently released two new tutorials on biological weapons nonproliferation and nuclear testing.
Each tutorial contains interactive images and information graphics, ending with a short quiz. Topics... Read More »
Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) recently introduced two bills in an attempt to protect local businesses and communities against potential terrorist attacks.
The first bill, the CBRN Intelligence and Information Sharing Act, would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish chemical,... Read More »
Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) was renamed chair of the House Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee last week for the 115th Congress.
“The importance of cybersecurity to every aspect of society is becoming increasingly apparent,” Ratcliffe said.... Read More »
According to a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) should evaluate the procedures used by the agency’s National Targeting Center (NTC) to determine its overall effectiveness at keeping high-risk travelers off of United... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents last week seized more than $2 million worth of illicit narcotics over separate incidents.
The first incident occurred on Jan. 18 as officers stationed at the Port of Hidalgo, Texas, encountered a white 2012 Ford Mustang driven by a 27-year-old U.S.... Read More »
In response to continued illegal border crossings through Otay Mountain near San Diego, the U.S. Border Patrol in October launched an enforcement strategy, called Task Force Otay, which focused criminal organizations that exploit various human smuggling routes along the mountain.
Since the task... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) Predator B returned to San Angelo Regional Airport for a 14-week deployment on Jan 17.
The first UAS deployment at a civilian airport occurred in Jan. and Feb. 2016 for a four-week... Read More »
Battelle, a nonprofit research and development institute, said the key to preparing for the rapidly growing threat of biological or chemical weapons is by developing countermeasures with technology that is tested against live agents.
Battelle’s recommendation was directed toward defense... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) was recently chosen as chair for the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities for the 115th Congress.
Ernst's responsibilities as chair include overseeing hearings and policy decisions pertaining to intelligence, counterterrorism, and... Read More »
In response to the rapid increase in attacks on the nation’s cyber infrastructure, the Senate Armed Services Committee recently formed a new subcommittee on cybersecurity for the 115h Congress.
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) was named as the subcommittee’s chair, while U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson... Read More »
Research teams at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center recently developed a new detection test for Zika virus that is faster and more accurate than contemporary tests.
“The new diagnostic test was designed to more... Read More »
A team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) recently studied a new mouse model that shows how early responses of the immune system can affect the development of the Ebola virus disease (EVD).
Researchers said the model could help identify protective... Read More »
Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the Border Security Technology Accountability Act this week, which seeks to improve the management of new border technology acquisitions.
The bill originally advanced through the House of Representatives in July 2015, and... Read More »
Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), along with colleague Catharine I. Paules, recently published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association calling for continued research into the Zika virus even as individual diagnoses... Read More »
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) recently announced that the Denver Police Department will receive a $240,000 Countering Violent Extremism Grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the exclusive use of training and engagement.
The grant is part of an effort by DHS for activities that... Read More »
Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma returned to its homeport on Friday after completing a 49-day operation in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, where it conducted a series of drug interdiction efforts.
The crew’s operations centered on strategically intercepting and boarding suspected... Read More »
Rep. Dennis A. Ross (R-FL) recently reintroduced the Finish the Fence Act, which would amend the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to complete a 700-mile border fence between the United States and Mexico by Dec. 31, 2017.... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in conjunction with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported a record number of seizures of shipments containing goods that violated intellectual property rights throughout FY2016.
The agencies reported a nine percent increase in total... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), along with the World Customs Organization (WCO), recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that enhances cooperation to tighten national and international controls on the trade of toxic chemicals.
The MOU was signed by... Read More »
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently implemented sanctions in response to findings that the Syrian government under President Bashar al-Assad used industrial chlorine as a weapon against its own people.
OFAC’s conclusions were based on a... Read More »
At a recent gathering of students, academics, and government officials at Georgetown University, a group of world health experts spoke on the need for the incoming Trump Administration to plan for an inevitable pandemic.
The event was organized by the Center for Global Health Science and... Read More »
A group of committee chairman with jurisdiction over the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently submitted a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on a plan to regularly reauthorize, reform and improve the department in the 115th Congress.
DHS was established in 2002 in the wake of the... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report on U.S. Border Patrol’s Consequence Delivery System (CDS), a process that identifies what practices are most effective and efficient to deter illegal border activity, and how useful the system is for assessing department... Read More »
During a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on the nomination of Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) to be the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) asked Pompeo a series of questions on cybersecurity and the danger it poses to national... Read More »
Physicians at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine published a case study this week on the first locally-transmitted case of Zika virus.
The study, titled Cutaneous Eruption in a U.S. Woman with a Locally Acquired Zika Virus Infection, focused on the skin rash associated with the... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers stationed at the Port of Nogales in Arizona arrested a 21-year-old man from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico on Jan. 9 for attempting to smuggle a large weapons cache into Mexico through the port.
During routine outbound operations, officers selected the... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Angus King (I-ME) and Jim Risch (R-ID) this week reintroduced the Securing Energy Infrastructure Act, which seeks to examine solutions to defend the U.S. energy grid by replacing vulnerable computer-connected operating systems with analog and human-operated systems.
The bill received... Read More »
