Welcome to our first Pandora Report of 2018! While things may have been relatively quiet over the holidays, we still have some health security gems for you to start the new year right.
An Infection Preventionist’s Take on the 2017 Biological Weapons Convention
GMU Biodefense Phd student and infection preventionist Saskia Popescu recently attended the BWC Meeting of States Parties and is discussing the importance of civil society and why even the most unlikely participants are important for the future of the BWC. “It seems an unlikely story that an infection prevention (IP) epidemiologist would attend a Meeting of the States Parties (MSP) at the United Nations (UN), but here’s why civil society has an important role in the work that IPs do.” Highlighting the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) and the role of NGOs, she uses communicable disease reporting as an example of how so many of us play an unsuspecting role. “In fact, I feel that there are 2 things that should underline the importance of NGOs and civil society being involved in international treaties such as the BWC: 1.) Inherently, our work plays into the CBMs. Who does communicable disease reporting at a county level? Yours truly, and that feeds into the state health departments and then up through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which goes into the CBM. 2.) With the rapid pace of advancements in the life sciences—such as gain-of-function research or genome editing like CRISPR—it is critical that treaties like the BWC be modernized to maintain relevancy. This requires experts from civil society who can work across international borders.”
Enhancing BioWatch Capabilities Through Technology and Collaboration
The latest proceedings of a workshop report from the National Academies are now available online. “The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) BioWatch program aims to provide an early indication of an aerosolized biological weapon attack. The first generation of BioWatch air samplers were deployed in 2003. The current version of this technology, referred to as Generation 2 (Gen-2), uses daily manual collection and testing of air filters from each monitor, a process that can take 12 to 36 hours to detect the presence of biological pathogens. Until April 2014, DHS pursued a next-generation autonomous detection technology that aimed to shorten the time from sample collection to detection to less than 6 hours, reduce the cost of analysis, and increase the number of detectable biological pathogens. Because of concerns about the cost and effectiveness of the proposed Generation 3 system (Gen-3), DHS cancelled its acquisition plans for the next-generation surveillance system.” Within the report, you can find an overview of BioWatch priorities, collaborative planning, recommendations from the GAO and DHS responses, and future opportunities at the state and local level. Some of the GAO’s findings included failure by DHS to develop performance requirements that would allow for conclusions about Gen-2’s ability to detect attacks, and that the modeling and simulation studies that DHS commissioned had not directly and comprehensively assessed Gen-2’s capabilities.
GMU Biodefense MS Open House
Mark your calendars for the February 21st Master’s Open House at GMU’s Arlington campus! The session will provide an overview of our master’s degree programs, an introduction to our world-class faculty and research, and highlights of the many ways we position our students for success in the classroom and beyond. Our admissions and student services staff will be on hand to answer your questions. This is a great chance to speak with biodefense faculty, learn about some of the awesome classes our students get to take, and find out why we study health security threats from anthrax to Zika.
Winter 2018 Mid-Atlantic Microbiome Meetup Biodefense and Pathogen Detection
Don’t miss out on this January 10th event at the University of Maryland College Park. The University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) is hosting this regional conference next week, the Winter 2018 Mid-Atlantic Microbiome Meetup, with a focus on biodefense and pathogen detection. The workshop is a great way to learn about the latest in synthetic biology, biodefense, and pathogen detection. Several federal agencies are sending experts, and the conference will include a keynote talk from Tara O’Toole, executive vice president of In-Q-Tel.
Three Global Health Issues To Watch in 2018
What are the biggest stories health reporters are looking to follow this year? STAT polled their reporters and predicted that the three big stories in public health would be the final push to end polio, how the WHO will do with a new Director General amidst shaken confidence, and vulnerability to pandemics as we march into the centennial of the 1918 Pandemic. “This year marks the centenary of the Spanish Flu, the influenza pandemic of 1918, which killed somewhere between 50 million and 100 million people as the H1N1 flu virus swept the globe. Many of the people who died were in the prime of life. There are unsettling reports of people who were well at breakfast and dead by dinner. This uniquely fatal outbreak haunts influenza scientists and emergency response planners to this day. The latter know health systems don’t have the capacity to cope with the huge upsurges in illness that would accompany a major disease outbreak. A regular old bad flu season can severely tax hospitals. Those who worry about these issues will use the anniversary to focus attention on the risk of ‘the next Big One’.” What do you think the big pubic health topics will be this year? Tweet us @PandoraReport and we’ll report back on what the biodefense community is saying!
Three Children Hospitalized With Dengue Following Vaccination
Three Filipino children have been hospitalized with suspected dengue infections following their immunization with Dengvaxia, the latest Sanofi Pasteur dengue vaccine. “The hospitalizations come 1 month after Sanofi recommended Dengvaxia not be used in anyone who is dengue-naive. In recipients without previous dengue infections, the vaccine can lead to more severe illness.”
Stories You May Have Missed:
- “Raw Water” Trend Sparks Public Health Concern – This is both hysterical and deadly – a new Silicon Valley obsession with untreated and unfiltered “raw” water. “When food-safety expert Bill Marler saw The New York Times’ trend piece on Silicon Valley’s recent obsession with raw water, he thought he was reading a headline from The Onion. According to The Times, demand for unfiltered water is skyrocketing as tech-industry insiders develop a taste for water that hasn’t been treated, to prevent the spread of bacteria or other contaminants.”
Thank you for reading the Pandora Report. If you would like to share any biodefense news, events, or stories, please contact our Editor Saskia Popescu (biodefense@gmu.edu) or via Twitter: @PandoraReport
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