Month: October 2012

How Superstorm Sandy’s Floods Can Make You Sick

by Siddha Hover, posted in News

National Geographic – “Public health officials caution that stagnant water from floods can pose significant health risks, many of which can worsen with time. David Doyle, a spokesperson for New York’s Office of Emergency Management, cautioned that flood debris can hide broken bottles and even animals. He also urged people to avoid moving water, noting that just 6 inches (15 centimeters) of it can sweep someone off their feet.”

“Urban runoff in large cities is generally considered safer than rural runoff, which can include animal fecal bacteria produced from agriculture. Yet urban sewage treatment plants that are overwhelmed during major flood events can spill untreated sewage into waterways. It can then end up on streets and clog storm drains. Other urban contaminants include motor oil, gasoline, and trash.”

More here.

Viral Research Faces Clampdown

by Siddha Hover, posted in News

Stay tuned for the Mason review:

“Federal health agencies in the United States have acted to tighten security surrounding research on two deadly pathogens. The move is intended to enhance public safety, but some fear that it may hamper research in the United States and abroad.

Earlier this month, US health agencies added the SARS virus to its list of select agents — pathogens and toxins that it deems to have the “potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety”. In addition, the agencies last week opened a public consultation about whether they should designate strains of H5N1 avian influenza virus that are transmissible between mammals as ‘Tier 1’ select agents — a newly created class subject to the strictest levels of biosecurity. The consultation comes after the Intragovernmental Select Agents and Toxins Technical Advisory Committee advised the agencies that the virus could “potentially overwhelm the health care system”.

More here.

Friday News Roundup!

by Siddha Hover, posted in News

Highlights this week include crowd-sourcing biological warfare (um…), West Nile (is anyone else freaked out that the mozzies still haven’t died off?) Biowatch’s now-very-public flaws, bonds and bioterrorism, wishing Mr. Salk Happy Birthday, and, for good measure, marburg. Keep an eye on Hurricane Sandy, have a plan handy (see what I did there?) – Happy Friday!

Hacking the President’s DNA: When Synthetic Biology Meets National Security

One of the many perks of studying biodefense are those moments when you have to take a break from a given article, textbook, or powerpoint slide because it’s starting to legitimately scare you.  So, in time for Halloween (and the election – don’t forget to vote!), voila:

Forbes – “While no use of an advanced, genetically targeted bio-weapon has been reported, the authors of this piece—including an expert in genetics and microbiology (Andrew Hessel) and one in global security and law enforcement (Marc Goodman)—are convinced we are drawing close to this possibility. Most of the enabling technologies are in place, already serving the needs of academic R&D groups and commercial biotech organizations. And these technologies are becoming exponentially more powerful, particularly those that allow for the easy manipulation of DNA.”

West Nile Cases Pass 4,700 Mark Nationwide: CDC

You would imagine with the behemoth storm they’re predicting this weekend (“snow to the left! rain to the right!”) (which is in no way a belittlement of preparedness – at the very least have an emergency kit ready) and the cold front coming in, the mosquitoes all be gone. No such luck.

HealthDay/the CDC – “The number of West Nile virus cases this year has surpassed 4,700, U.S. health officials reported Thursday, and the number of deaths has reached 219, up from 183 last week. The 4,725 cases mark the highest number reported through the fourth week of October since 2003. The best way to avoid the virus is to wear insect repellent and support local programs to eradicate mosquitoes. Typically, 80 percent of people infected with the virus develop no or few symptoms, while 20 percent develop mild symptoms such as headache, joint pain, fever, skin rash and swollen lymph glands, according to the CDC.”

BioWatch technology couldn’t detect lethal germs, tests found

No editorial needed here – the title pretty much says it all. Good grief.

Los Angeles Times – “For two years, the nationwide BioWatch system, intended to protect Americans against a biological attack, operated with defective components that left it unable to detect lethal germs, according to scientists with direct knowledge of the matter. The federal official who oversaw installation of the components was quietly shifted to a position with no responsibility for BioWatch, and the entire episode was kept out of public view. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees BioWatch, opened an internal investigation, whose status remains confidential.”

U.S. agency rejects using bonds to develop drugs for bioterrorism threats

In other news, the US government remains unsure how best to fund bioterrorism research and prevention (it’s all the PhDs – no one ever knows what to do with a PhD). Prodigal child, anyone?

Washington Post – “A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services office has rejected an industry proposal to use government bonds to fund the development of drugs countering bioterrorism threats. Small biotechnology companies, including Annapolis-based PharmAthene, asked the federal government last year to switch to bond financing from contracts, which are seen in the industry as costly and a sometimes unreliable revenue source when used for drug development… Using bonds to pay for drug development would allow scientific research to continue uninterrupted without being subject to the costs and delays associated with competing for federal contracts, Eric Richman, Pharm­­Athene’s president and chief executive, said in interviews last year.”

Marburg Reaches Kampala

The marburg outbreak continues in Uganda, reaching its capital of Kampala. However, according to the WHO and the Ugandan health minister, the epidemic “is under control” and the city remains safe for travel. So far, marburg has been confirmed in  four of the six suspected cases. More here.

October 24th: World Polio day

Let’s all take a moment to silently thank Jonas Salk (born October 24), the talented virologist who developed the polio vaccine in 1955. Before Salk’s vaccine, polio crippled thousands annually – in the 1952 epidemic, nearly 60,000 cases were reported in the US alone. Using Salk’s vaccine polio was completely eradicated from the US by 1979, and from the entire Western Hemisphere by 1994. Why hasn’t polio been eradicated globally? Why indeed.

UN News – ” ‘We have all the necessary tools to eradicate this disease, so now there is the question of political and societal will to make sure that the emergency plans are fully implemented and that they are fully financed,’ said the spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Oliver Rosenbauer…’We have seen time and time again that this is a virus which spreads to polio free areas and causes devastating outbreaks. If we don’t finish the job now we could see within the next decade 200,000 new cases every single year all over the world. Given that we are under two hundred cases now we consider this a true humanitarian catastrophe that has to be averted at all costs.’ ”

For an interactive timeline of the emergence and eradication of polio, see here.

 

BARDA Industry Day: Contracting for Countermeasures

by Siddha Hover, posted in Events

Dates: October 29st – 31st

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the Office of Acquisitions Management, Contracts and Grants (AMCG), components of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), will host a forum for Public Health and Emergency Preparedness Stakeholders to learn about U.S. Government medical countermeasure requirements, interact with BARDA and AMCG staff, and network with private sector colleagues working in this space.

BARDA supports the advanced research, development, manufacturing, acquisition, and stockpiling of medical countermeasures (drugs, biological therapeutics, vaccines, diagnostics, and non-pharmaceutical countermeasures) against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) WMD threats, pandemic influenza, and emerging infectious diseases.

Conference participants will learn about:

BARDA’s strategy, goals, and areas of interest

Roles and responsibilities of BARDA, AMCG, and Contractors in contract administration and performance

Enabling core capabilities that BARDA provides to support product development

New initiatives designed to address the challenges associated with developing medical countermeasures

Opportunities to develop medical countermeasures for both government and commercial markets

Day one will introduce BARDA programs and core services and include special sessions on the development of new antimicrobials and on the development of medical countermeasures for pediatric and other special populations.

Day two will include an Interactive Workshop on the U.S. Government Contracting Process that will provide participants insight into how the U.S. Government determines and establishes its requirements, develops solicitations, evaluates proposals, issues awards, and administers contracts.

Conference participants may also request one-on-one meetings with BARDA Program Staff and/or AMCG Contracting Officers (meetings will take place on day three). Requests for such meetings should be submitted at the time of registration for the conference.

Conference registration is now available at here.

Death toll from West Nile virus tops 200

by Siddha Hover, posted in News

By Marice Richter

DALLAS | Wed Oct 24, 2012 1:44pm EDT

(Reuters) – The U.S. outbreak of West Nile virus has killed 219 people this year, after another 36 deaths from the mosquito-borne disease were reported last week, government figures showed Wednesday.

In what is the second-worst year on record for the disease, the total number of cases of West Nile virus across the United States grew to 4,725, with 194 new cases reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although the pace of new cases has slowed since the outbreak’s peak in the late summer, new cases continue to be reported, particularly in states where warm temperatures persist. This year’s outbreak has trailed only 2003 in total cases.

Just over half of the cases reported to the CDC this year have been of the severe neuroinvasive form of the disease, which can cause meningitis and encephalitis.

Read more here.

Event: A Conversation with the NRC’s Allison Macfarlane

by Siddha Hover, posted in Events

“A Conversation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Allison Macfarlane”
Thursday, October 25, 10:00 – 11:00 AM

The Center for American Progess is hosting the GMU Professor and Chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Dr. Allison MacFarlane, to speak on the challenges faced by the nuclear industry in America.

“Nuclear power is our nation’s largest low-carbon power source, providing nearly 20 percent of our electricity. Over the last two decades, U.S. nuclear plant operators have an excellent record of operational safety and have greatly increased the operational performance of reactors.

Despite years of success, however, the nuclear industry still faces challenges. How can the United States address the issues raised by the meltdown at the Fukushima plant in Japan? What is the path forward on waste storage and disposal? What impact could small modular reactors have on the nuclear energy landscape?

The answers to all of these questions will determine the role of nuclear power in America’s energy future. Please join us for a conversation about how the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is working on critical issues facing the industry.”

For more information and to RSVP, see here.

Fall Newsletter!

by Siddha Hover, posted in Program News

The George Mason Biodefense Department Fall Newsletter is out and should be waiting for you in your inbox. If it is not, you are not receiving any Mason emails, and Peg and Amanda are both very cross with you. While we don’t condone the bouncing back of emails, we do want you to see the Newsletter, so check it out here (and clean your inbox out!)

 

Friday News Roundup!

by Siddha Hover, posted in Pandora Report

Highlights include Pakistan discussing  a biological weapons “contingency plan” (no words), NEJM unmasking the new coronavirus, MRSA in your friendly neighborhood bunnies, more fungal meningitis, and bacteria-contaminated antibacterial soap.

Pakistan: Time to Develop Biological Weapons?

Pakistan Today – Ambassador (r) Qazi Humayun said that despite the fact that development and use of chemical-biological weapons (CBW) has been prohibited by international conventions, Pakistan needs to develop a contingency plan, especially considering the vulnerable civilian population, so that it is not taken by surprise in case of a CBW attack.

He said this while chairing a session at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) on “Chemical-Biological Weapons and Pakistan”, which featured a presentation by Dr. Tughral Yamin from National Defense University. Humayun said that there were weaknesses in the international conventions on chemical and biological weapons as they could not stop a country if it started making such weapons without declaring them.

New England Journal of Medicine Tackles the Novel Coronavirus

The virus, poetically dubbed “HCoV-EMC”, is a novel betacoronavirus species whose closest cousin is found in bats. Before we collectively exhale, the NEJM wants to remind everyone that “animal coronaviruses can cause severe disease in humans”. Happy Friday.

NEJM – “A previously unknown coronavirus was isolated from the sputum of a 60-year-old  man who presented with acute pneumonia and subsequent renal failure with a fatal outcome in Saudi Arabia.The clinical picture was remarkably similar to that of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003…”

For a less science-heavy summary, see the Wired article here.

Drug-Resistant Superbugs Found in Wild Animals

Moral of the story? Don’t touch Thumper.

Wired Science – One of the most notorious and hard-to-treat bacteria in humans has been found in wildlife, according to a new study in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases. The researchers isolated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in two rabbits and a shorebird. Wild animals may act as an environmental reservoir for the disease from which humans could get infected. S. aureus can cause skin infections or, if it gets into the bloodstream, life-threatening illness. Most infections are easy to manage with penicillin and related antibiotics, but MRSA, the resistant variety, is on the rise; also known as a “superbug,” it kills an estimated 18,000 Americans a year.

Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Continues, death toll rises to 21

CDC Update – The CDC and FDA have confirmed the presence of a fungus known as Exserohilum rostratum in unopened medication vials of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate…from one of the three implicated lots … The laboratory confirmation further links steroid injections from these lots…to the multistate outbreak of fungal meningitis and joint infections.

Afternoon Irony: Recall of Bacteria-Contaminated Anti-bacterial Soap

If you are the proud owner of any Avmor Ltd Antibacterial Foaming Hand Soap with Triclosan, you should seriously consider switching to Dove.

Um, there’s some Pseudomonas on your soap…

CTV News – “Laval-based Avmor Ltd. is recalling 19 more lots of its Antimicrobial Foaming Hand Soap with Triclosan, and it is also recalling alcohol-free hand sanitizer. So far nobody has been reported ill, but the bacteria can be dangerous to those with weak immune systems, especially those with cystic fibrosis, cancer, diabetes, burns, lung disease or HIV/AIDS.”

In Case You Missed it:

– Where Will The Next Pandemic Come From? And How Can We Stop It? Popular Science
– E. coli cases tied to outbreak now at 61 WSOCTV
– When competition is intense, viruses spill over into new hosts, Discover Magazine
– Livermore Lab developing uniforms that repel biological and chemical agents, SF Business Times
– West Nile Cases Pass 4,500 Mark Nationwide: CDC, Health Day

An Evolving Threat vs a Stodgy Bureaucracy

by Siddha Hover, posted in Policy Review

By Julia Duckett, GMU Biodefense PhD Program

A review of the National Research Council report, “Determining Core Capabilities in Chemical and Biological Defense Science and Technology”

The National Research Council recently released the results of a study commissioned by the US Department of Defense to review DOD’s Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP) and to “identify the core capabilities in science and technology that must be supported by the program.”[1]  The results in “Determining Core Capabilities in Chemical and Biological Defense Science and Technology” indicate a disorganized collection of DOD offices ineffective at accomplishing the CBDP’s mission to enable US Armed Forces to “fight and win decisively in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear environments.”  The study, attending only to the chemical and biological aspects of the CBDP, seeks to do three things:  define the mission and role of CBDP, identify the technology the program must support and determine whether the technology should be pursued in a DOD lab or elsewhere, and address the efficiency of the CBDP’s organizational structure.  The study found that as the CBDP currently operates, it is unable to effectively equip US Armed Forces for chemical and biological operating environments; the NRC suggested major fundamental changes to improve the program’s effectiveness.

Out of a long list of formal findings in the report, a few emerge as fundamental challenges the program must overcome.  First, the mission of the program is too broad and the strategy for accomplishing its goals is unclear.  The program encompasses a variety of DOD offices, each responsible for different aspects of research, development, and acquisition, and each office has a unique perspective on the purpose of the program.  Second, most of the core technology the NRC identified as necessary to support the program’s mission is available in non-DOD labs including labs associated both with other government agencies and the private sector.  However, the connection between the researchers in those labs and the users of the technology sponsored by CBDP is weak.  As a result, funding is not focused, products are not directly applicable to the users’ needs, testing and evaluation of new products is faulty, and there is little opportunity to generate new and innovative solutions.  Third, funding and management are unstable, which prevents the development of an integrated suite of tools for military personnel to use in a chemical or biological environment.  Particularly a problem for medical products, the frequent turnover in leadership and short-term projection of funds stymies the ability to bring a solution from the R&D phase through to the acquisition phase.

Of note, the report does not distinguish between naturally occurring and man-made biological environments.  This reflects the Obama Administration’s National Strategy for Countering Biological Threats regardless of their source.  The report notes civilian as well as military benefits to advances in the technology for medical protection and response to outbreaks.  This should encourage collaboration between the CBDP and pharmaceutical companies – an important relationship identified by the study.  Emphasis was placed on integrating non-DOD entities into CBDP processes to facilitate a close relationship between researchers and users.  This relationship is challenged, however, by the desire to protect sensitive information on both sides.  Though this may be a surmountable challenge, there is also a need to consider the United States’ international treaty commitments, particularly regarding the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).  Other countries could potentially question the legitimacy of mobilizing a broad and collective effort to streamline research into bioweapons-related pathogens under BWC restrictions.

Ultimately, the NRC report found that in order to effectively accomplish the mission of enabling the US military to operate in chemical and biological environments, the CBDP must make major changes to the organization of the program and the level of integration among relevant parties.  The report states; “tweaking the management or refocusing a few projects will not be sufficient,” rather, a new way of thinking about the problem and how to organize the response is needed.  Following the release of the report, Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense, Gerald Parker, in an interview with Foreign Policy, acknowledged his office is taking this report seriously.  However, he says, this is nothing new, the findings are a “natural evolution” as the threat itself evolves.[2]  That may be precisely the point the report attempts to make; after all these years of working to prepare our armed forces to operate in a contaminated environment, we still lack the flexibility and mobility to respond to an evolving threat.  In 2007 the Government Accountability Office released a report stating military units responsible for responding to a chemical or biological event, in the US or abroad, are ill prepared to perform their mission.[3]  It is evident a complete change of approach to chemical and biological preparedness is necessary – the question that remains is how to impose flexibility and adaptability on stodgy bureaucracy in order to reflect the flexible and adaptable threat.

[1]  National Research Council, “Determining Core Capabilities in Chemical and Biological Defense and Technology,” National Academies Press, 2012.

[2] Baron, Kevin, “Pentagon behind on predicting chemical, biological threats,”  September 24, 2012; http://e-ring.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/09/24/pentagon_behind_on_predicting_chemical_biological_threats.

[3] “Management Actions Are Needed to Close the Gap between Army Chemical Unit Preparedness and Stated National Priorities,” GAO-07-143, January 2007.

New Biodefense Facebook Page!

by Siddha Hover, posted in Program News

The GMU Biodefense Facebook page is officially up, and available at http://www.facebook.com/gmu.biodefense! For those of you that don’t check your mason email as often as you should, the Facebook page will be the place to go for useful information like job and internship opportunities, workshops, study resources, and biodefense news, as well as department updates and events. It will also be the place to go for less useful things (it’s Facebook, c’mon) like reviews of tangentially-related “science” movies (Prometheus is on DVD everyone) and the occasional zombie apocalypse infographic.

All you have to do is visit the page, click the “like” button, and its posts will automatically pop-up in your newsfeed! Anyone can suggest edits as well, so if you feel anything is lacking, please let us know. And if you’re tired of trying to explain to friends, family members, and coworkers what exactly it is you’re studying, we highly recommend sharing the page in a status update! So, head over to the page and like us now!