Author: Siddha Hover

Gobble Gobble, A New Test for Toxins?

by Siddha Hover, posted in News, Research Notes

By GMU Biodefense graduate student, Blain Johnson

Do you find yourself reminiscing about the holidays, back when the bitter cold was mitigated by winter cheer? Cast your mind back to November. Every Thanksgiving millions of families sit down and eat a pleasant turkey dinner, after all, what would the holiday be without the signature dish in the center of the table? But what if you were told that turkeys are good for something other than eating?

A recent University of California Berkeley study has found that it is possible to create a sort of ‘plastic card’ that can be sample air to detect the presence of dangerous toxins or chemicals. The finding was inspired by the turkey, a bird whose skin color changes based on the level of stress around it. Inspired by this unique ability, researchers constructed a molecule, similar in shape to collagen, which contains a specific bacteriophage capable of self assembling into colorful, readable patterns if it detect a given toxin or chemical.

The Berkeley bioengineers tailored their virus to bind to specific sites on particles of TNT explosive. The result was that their new sensor could detect trace amounts of airborne TNT particles. Their development is the newest biosensor that, ironically, contains a living virus. Their bacteriophage can be genetically engineered to change color in the presence of any number of toxins, chemicals, and other viruses. While the discovery is an enormous breakthrough, the lead scientist, Dr. Seung-Wuk Lee, says she hopes to develop more sensitivity for the test in the coming months capable of producing even smaller measurements, such as  sugar levels in diabetic patients.

This new innovation goes beyond medicine; the ability to detect harmful toxins and chemicals is a major breakthrough in our ability to prepare for emergency situations and warn citizens of a possible disease outbreak or terrorist attack before it reaches a critical juncture. Imagine testing a room by waving a plastic card in the air and being able to definitively say the area is safe. This is an important discovery for the Emergency Management field and will hopefully lead to safer and more prepared communities.

So the next time you decide to eat a turkey sandwich, tell your nearest neighbor that you are eating a bird which inspired a  biosensor capable of detecting TNT at 300 parts per billion and see what they say.

Image of the Week: Cousins of Cholera

by Siddha Hover, posted in Images

The image below is of Vibrio vulnificus, which as all of you undoubtedly know, is in the same family as Vibro cholerae.

From the CDC: ” [Vibrio vulnificus] normally lives in warm seawater and is part of a group of vibrios that are called ‘halophilic’ because they require salt. V. vulnificus can cause disease in those who eat contaminated seafood or have an open wound that is exposed to contaminated seawater. Among healthy people, ingestion of V. vulnificus can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. In immunocompromised persons, particularly those with chronic liver disease, V. vulnificus can infect the bloodstream, causing a severe and life-threatening illness characterized by fever and chills, decreased blood pressure (septic shock), and blistering skin lesions. V. vulnificus bloodstream infections are fatal about 50% of the time.”

CDC/ Colorized by James Gathany
CDC/ Colorized by James Gathany

PEDv in Canada

by Siddha Hover, posted in News

From the AP: “The piglet-killing Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) has spread to a second Canadian farm, government officials said on Monday. A laboratory test confirmed the virus in a barn near Chatham-Kent, Ontario, and another possible case is under investigation in the same area, said Greg Douglas, the Canadian province’s chief veterinary officer.

“We still are under the impression that there are strategies to help mitigate, slow the spread of this virus in Ontario,’ he said. ‘However, the confirmed case, the second case, and the third under suspicion, does change the situation, the reality.’

The two Chatham-Kent farms involve finishing barns handling older pigs that generally get sick and recover from the virus. Last week, the Ontario government said the virus, which has killed at least 1 million pigs in the United States, was found on a hog farm in southern Ontario’s Middlesex County, marking the first confirmed case of the virus on a Canadian farm.”

Read more here.

This Week in DC: Events

by Siddha Hover, posted in Events, Week In DC

Highlights of the week’s free international security, terrorism, and politics events.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Conflict in Syria: Geneva II and the Road Ahead
The Washington Institute
12:30PM

As the international community prepares to meet on the Syria crisis in Montreax and Geneva on January 22 and 24, many questions remain regarding what can be agreed on at the negotiating table — and to an even greater extent, what can be implemented on the ground. To discuss the outcome of the scheduled talks and the road ahead, The Washington Institute is pleased to host a Policy Forum featuring the varied perspectives of three Washington Institute experts on Syria: Andrew J. Tabler, Jeffrey White, and Aaron Y. Zelin. Tabler will focus on the regime and the opposition, White on the military situation, and Zelin on Salafi dynamics. Ambassador James F. Jeffrey will introduce the speakers and offer commentary. Andrew J. Tabler is senior fellow in the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute and author of In the Lion’s Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington’s Battle with Syria. Jeffrey White is a defense fellow at the The Washington Institute and widely sought out as a commentator on military issues involving Syria, Israel, Hezbollah, the Gaza conflict, and Iran. Aaron Y. Zelin is the Richard Borow fellow at The Washington Institute, where his research focuses on how jihadist groups are adjusting to the new political environment in the era of Arab uprisings and Salafi politics in countries transitioning to democracy.

Religion, Foreign Policy, and National Security: Why religion and Religious Freedom Matter
Institute of World Politics
4:30 PM

Knox Thames serves as the Director of Policy and Research at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The Commission is an independent, U.S. government advisory body established to monitor religious freedom conditions worldwide and make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress. Mr. Thames is also an Adjunct Professor at the U.S. Army War College and is a member of the State Department’s Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group. Before USCIRF, he was the lead State Department officer on religious freedom issues in multilateral fora, such as the UN and OSCE, serving in the Office of International Religious Freedom. Mr. Thames was also Counsel for six years at the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission), focusing on religious freedom and religious tolerance, issues involving refugees and internally displaced persons, and democracy and human rights in Central Asia. From 2004-2012, the State Department appointed Mr. Thames to the OSCE Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and in 2010 he was invited to join the Council on Foreign Relations as a term member.

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

Joint Subcommittee Hearing: Implementation of the Iran Nuclear Deal
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
2:00PM

Witnesses: The Honorable Mark D. Wallace, Chief Executive Officer, United Against Nuclear Iran, (Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations); Mr. Gregory S. Jones, Senior Researcher, Nonproliferation Policy Education Center; Mr. Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University, (Former Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency); Mr. David Albright, Founder and President, Institute for Science and International Security.

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

Energy and Insecurity: Iran, Middle East, Russia, and Eurasia
Georgetown University
6:00PM

Chaired by CERES Director Dr. Angela Stent. Panel Discussion with: The Honorable David Goldwyn, Dr. Jan Kalicki, Dr. Raad Alkadiri, and Dr. Brenda Shaffer. The event will celebrate the recent publication of Energy and Security: Strategies for a World in Transition (co-editors Jan Kalicki and David Goldwyn) by Wilson Center Press and Johns Hopkins University Press.

Thursday, January 30th, 2014
Defense Budget in 2014: A Conversation with Russell Rumbaugh
American Security Project
12:30PM

Since sequestration and passage of the new budget the Defense Department has been adjusting to a reduced funding environment – and 2014 won’t be much different. The speaker will discuss the outlook for Pentagon spending in 2014. Russell Rumbaugh is a senior associate at Stimson and director of its Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense program. He is a widely recognized expert on the institutions, processes, and budgets of US national security This discussion will be on the record. Join us for a conversation on the current state and future prospects for defense budget.

The Pandora Report 1.23.14

by Siddha Hover, posted in News, Pandora Report

Highlights include dengue in Texas, H7N9 spiking ahead of the Chinese New Year, renaming the 1918 influenza, and a man selling abrin on the black market. Happy Friday (stay warm)!

Rare Disease Linked to Dengue Virus Caused Texas Woman’s Death
A Texan woman thought to have been infected and died with West Nile Virus has been discovered to have actually succumbed to   dengue. The woman’s case was recently published by the CDC, which warned of the need for effective surveillance. Dengue thankfully remains relatively rare in the US – the woman represented just the third case in nearly a decade.

LiveScience – “The woman died after her dengue infection brought on another condition called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), in which white blood cells build up in the skin, spleen and liver, and destroy other blood cells. HLH is most frequently associated with Epstein Barr virus infection, but also has been linked to dengue, according to the researchers, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

H7N9: Bird flu cases surge ahead of Chinese New Year
As the Chinese New Year approaches, the number of H7N9 cases has steadily increased, with  73 cases in the last three weeks alone. This is making people very nervous  – Chinese New Year often means millions of people travelling in very close quarters, over long periods of times. However, health officials are careful to point out that influenza case numbers, across strains, increase in the colder months. As long as the virus remains poorly transmitted person-to-person, things are fine.

BBC – “Proffesor John McCauley, the director of a WHO collaborating centre on influenza in London, said: ‘I’ve been worried all the time about H7N9; it’s highly virulent and the case fatality is about one in three, so it poses a threat.’ The range of the virus had also spread, he added, with cases in Guangdong province, further south and east than previously. He said the winter might not be the whole explanation, particularly in southern provinces closer to the equator. ‘It may be seasonal, or an alternative is more poultry exposure in the build-up to Chinese New Year, and more poultry going through the markets. They might need to reconsider closure of the markets’.”

1918 Flu Pandemic That Killed 50 Million Originated in China, Historians Say
The 1918 Spanish influenza, like so many strains of the virus, has apparently suffered for decades under an egregious misnomer. According to a new hypothesis, proposed by historian Mark Humphries, the grandfather of modern H1N1 strains may have originated in China. Humphries published his research in the journal War in History, in it arguing that the importation of almost 100,000 Chinese laborers to support the British and French lines may have introduced the virus to Europe. For those of you wondering, the pandemic strain was dubbed the Spanish flu apparently because Spain was one of the only countries to report on its heavy case numbers during the otherwise heavily censored WWI.

National Geographic – “In the new report, Humphries finds archival evidence that a respiratory illness that struck northern China in November 1917 was identified a year later by Chinese health officials as identical to the Spanish flu. He also found medical records indicating that more than 3,000 of the 25,000 Chinese Labor Corps workers who were transported across Canada en route to Europe starting in 1917 ended up in medical quarantine, many with flu-like symptoms…Writing in the January issue of the journal War in History, Humphries acknowledges that his hypothesis awaits confirmation by viral samples from flu victims. Such evidence would tie the disease’s origin to one location.”

Feds: Fla. man sold deadly toxin to NJ agent
A 19 year old in Florida has been apprehended after selling to toxin abrin to an undercover FBI agent. The deal was agreed upon online, with the FBI agent posing as a buyer on an intermediary cyber black market. The suspect was arrested after directing the FBI agent to two candles filled with the toxin, left in a fast food bag at a rest stop in Florida. A McDonalds bag, for those of you wondering about the culinary preferences of illicit toxin sellers. On a less flippant note, abrin is tremendously potent – while it presents similarly to ricin, it is 75 times more toxic.

The Grand Island Independent – “Prosecutors said Korff negotiated over the Internet with the undercover agent in New Jersey.’He allegedly peddled the poison on a virtual black market of illegal and dangerous good, hidden in the shadow of a secretive computer network favored by cybercriminals,’ said New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman. Korff received $1,500 over the Internet from the agent and left the toxin hidden in two candles at a rest stop near Fort Myers, Fla., authorities said. Korff was arrested after the candles were found to contain abrin.”

(image:Calvin Teo)

Image of the Week: H7N9 in the Lab

by Siddha Hover, posted in Images

Our images of the week is a gallery of H7N9 work at the CDC, tailored for those of you who are nerdy like us and therefore wonder how an emergent agent is dealt with in the lab. Cases of H7N9 in China are currently comparable to peak numbers following the agent’s emergence last Spring. Click on any image below to launch the gallery (all images credited to the CDC, including the one above).

3 new H7N9 cases in China

by Siddha Hover, posted in News

The weekend saw another three cases of H7N9 in China, bringing the total since the October re-start to 65. An 86 year-old-man was released following a month of quarantine, having consistently tested negative for the virus.

“Commenting on the three new confirmed cases imported from Guandong a day earlier, Chou said Sunday that there is no evidence to exclude human-to-human transmission. Two of the confirmed cases involved a father, who was selling tofu at a local market, and his five-year-old daughter, according to Chou. Pending investigation, it is uncertain whether the girl contracted the virus from her father or from live poultry at the market, Chou said.”

Read more here.

This Week in DC: Events

by Siddha Hover, posted in Events, Week In DC

Happy Martin Luther King Day, everyone! Congratulations to those of you who have today off – we hope you’re out volunteering! Here’s the week’s best (free) events in DC.

Tuesday, January 21st, 2014

What Will 2014 Bring for North Korea’s Nuclear Program?
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
9:00AM – 12:00PM

2013 witnessed new levels of threatening behavior from North Korea: a satellite launch that could portend an improved long-range ballistic missile capability; a third nuclear test; and declarations that the Korean peninsula would witness “an all-out war, a nuclear war.” Recent perturbations among the North Korean leadership also raise the possibility of greater instability and unpredictability. What will 2014 bring in terms of North Korean nuclear behavior? The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Asan Institute for Policy Studies invite you to a discussion on what to expect from North Korea on nuclear matters in 2014. Five experts will discuss the status of North Korea’s nuclear activities, what negotiating tactics North Korea might attempt, and whether there are lessons to be drawn in managing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions from the Iranian and South Asian experiences.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Day – Film Screening: More Than A Dream
GMU School for Conflict Analysis & Resolution
2:00PM -4:00PM

Join S-CAR in a film screening followed by a discussion of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Technology, Policy, and National Security Series: Cybersecurity, the Much-Admired Problem
Elliot School of International Relations
3:00PM – 4:30PM

Cyberspace, the ubiquitous fusion of information and communication technologies, has transformed the way that Americans work and play, and has also markedly changed the U.S. national security landscape. Threats in and to cyberspace are causing anxiety at all levels in this country, encouraged by news of identity theft, intellectual property piracy, the Mandiant report on Chinas cyber activities against US institutions, and repeated warnings of an impending cyber Pearl Harbor. A key issue is the fact that the cybersecurity problem is not well understood; it is much admired but not resolved. This talk will review the historical technical and policy drivers that created this hydra-headed beast, and their implications for cybersecurity. It will also provide a high-level overview of current cyber threats and attack objectives. The metaphor of public health will be used to posit approaches for significant containment of cybersecurity risk through scientific understanding, public cyber hygiene, and their integration with national and international legal and policy frameworks.

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014

Making Sense of Nuclear Negotiations with Iran: A Good Deal or a Bad Deal?
RAND Corporation
10:00AM – 11:00AM

Negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 (US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) have resulted in a first step agreement of a possible comprehensive deal on the Iranian nuclear program. However, aspects of the deal have proved controversial, not only with U.S. allies such as Israel and Saudi Arabia, but with some members of the U.S. Congress as well. Please join us as we hear from a panel of experts examining the negotiations, the potential for a deal that could effectively halt Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapons capability, and implications for U.S. national security.

Managing China’s Rise
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
3:00PM – 5:00PM

The United States must confront the uncomfortable reality that China’s economic and military might may eventually rival or even surpass its own. This prospect is particularly ironic because China has risen as a result of benefiting disproportionately from American investments in sustaining a liberal international economic order. Washington needs a new strategy to meet this challenge—the containment policies that helped defeat the Soviet Union are unlikely to work today given China’s deep integration into the global economy. This event will launch Balancing Without Containment: An American Strategy for Managing China, a new report by Carnegie’s Ashley J. Tellis that explains how the United States can bolster its position at home and abroad to ensure its continued prosperity and global leadership. Eric Edelman, Arvind Subramanian, and Nicholas Eberstadt will join Tellis for the discussion. Carnegie’s Michael D. Swaine will moderate.

Thursday, January 23rd, 2014

Science and Technology to Prevent and Respond to CBRN Disasters: U.S. and South Korean Perspectives
American Association for the Advancement of Science
9:00AM – 10:30AM

The workshop will focus on prevention and remediation of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear disasters that could occur either through accidental (caused by, for example, facility problems, personnel issues, a natural disaster, or some combination of events) or intentional means. Discussions will involve various scientific disciplines including the behavioral and environmental sciences.

Rethinking Islamist Politics: A Panel Discussion
Elliot School of International Affairs
12:00PM

Join POMEPS on January 23, 2014 to analyze the state of Islamist politics in the Middle East. The panel will examine the current directions of the Muslim Brotherhood and electoral politics, Salafism, and jihadist movements, as well as trends in the broader Islamic context.

How Osama Bin Laden Escaped Afghanistan: Lessons for Future Counter-Terrorism Missions
Brookings Institute
2:00PM

During the early hours of May 2, 2011, the elite U.S. Navy special operations unit known as SEAL Team Six famously hunted and killed Osama bin Laden at his personal three-story compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Less known, however, is that nearly a decade earlier, and just three months after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center, the United States had found and cornered Osama bin Laden in the eastern mountains of Tora Bora, Afghanistan, only to then watch him and his al Qaeda and Taliban affiliates escape into Pakistan. In his new book, 102 Days of War – How Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda & the Taliban Survived 2001 (Potomac Books, 2014), U.S. Foreign Service Officer Yaniv Barzilai provides a detailed account of the failures in tactics, policy and leadership that enabled such an escape in December 2001. On January 23, the Brookings Intelligence Project will host author Yaniv Barzilai to examine how such an escape was allowed; the strategic, policy and managerial mistakes made; and what lessons can be learned for future counter-terrorism operations. Brookings Senior Fellow Bruce Riedel, director of the Intelligence Project, will provide introductory remarks and moderate the discussion. Following their remarks, Riedel and Barzilai will take questions from the audience.

March Biodefense Policy Seminar feat. Dr. Dana Perkins!

by Siddha Hover, posted in Biodefense Policy Seminar, Events

Title:  “Biological weapons non-proliferation, biosecurity and counter-terrorism: an international perspective”
Speaker: Dr. Dana Perkins
Date: Monday, March 17th, 2014
Time: 7:20PM
Location: Mason Hall, Room D003, GMU Fairfax Campus, VA

DanaOur March Biodefense Policy Seminar features Dana Perkins, Senior Science Advisor, DHHS — member of the 1540 Committee Group of Experts. Dr. Perkins earned a Master’s Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Bucharest, Romania. She also earned a PhD in Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics in 2002 from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, where she specialized in Microbiology/Neurovirology. In 2012-2013, Dana Perkins served in a US Government-seconded position as a member of the Group of Experts supporting a subsidiary body of the United Nations Security Council, the 1540 Committee. The 1540 Committee was established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004) to monitor the implementation of this resolution worldwide. In her prior position with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), she led the Biological Weapons Nonproliferation and Counterterrorism Branch in the Office of Policy and Planning, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). At HHS/ASPR, some of her responsibilities and duties included providing subject matter expertise, inter-agency coordination, and senior level policy advice on the scientific (biodefense and biosecurity) and public health aspects of national and international emergency preparedness and response; directing and coordinating national and international progress on issues related to biodefense and biosecurity; developing and reviewing policies on biosecurity, biological weapons nonproliferation, and health security; and performing expert analysis and preparing implementation plans to support the US Government biodefense and biosecurity policy.

The Pandora Report 1.17.14

by Siddha Hover, posted in Pandora Report

Just a quick note that the Biodefense Policy Seminars are back on! Our February speaker is Charles Duelfer, former Special Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence for Iraq WMD and former Deputy Executive Chairman of the UN Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM). Free and open to the public – click here for more information!

Highlights include Salmonella,  H5N1 in Canada, H7N9 picking up in China, and Chikungunya in St. Martin. Happy Friday!

Why Salmonella bacteria is a near perfect killer
Much like an action film protagonist, Salmonella biofilms are notoriously difficult to kill. According to new research from the Journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, once Salmonella bacteria are able to form biofilms on a given surface, three different common disinfectants all are rendered ineffective. Salmonella’s ongoing hardiness explains in part the difficulty in effectively containing outbreaks.

ANI – “Mary Corcoran, a researcher on the study, said that they found that it was not possible to kill the Salmonella cells using any of the three disinfectants if the biofilm was allowed to grow for seven days before the disinfectant was applied, asserting that even soaking the biofilms in disinfectant for an hour and a half failed to kill them.”

H5N1 strain from Alberta nurse resembles Chinese strain
The strain of H5N1 which killed a nurse in Canada closely resembles a Chinese strain of the virus. The nurse, in her early 20s, had recently returned from a three-week visit to Beijing. However, as she had no reported contact with poultry, and Beijing has not reported any recent outbreaks of H5N1, the source of infection and method of transmission remain unclear.

CBC – “Virologist Kevin Fonseca of Alberta Health Services and his colleagues said the patient experienced symptoms of malaise, chest pain, and fever during the return flight on Dec. 27 and went to the local emergency department on Dec. 28…After a chest X-ray and CT scan suggested a diagnosis of pneumonia, the woman was prescribed an antibiotic and discharged home. The patient came back to the same emergency department on Jan. 1 with worsening inflammation of the membrane surrounding the lung, chest pain, shortness of breath, a mild headache that felt worse when she moved her head, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms, Fonseca’s team said in their posting on ProMed, an internet-based disease alert system. On Jan. 2, the patient reported visual changes and a continuing headache. As oxygen needs increased, doctors admitted her to the ICU for intubation and ventilation. In the early morning of Jan. 3, she had sudden tachycardia or fast heart rate and severe hypertension, followed by hypotension. Doctors took steps to keep her heart beating. At this point, the patient’s pupils were dilated and there was no response to pain. Further tests and a neurologic exam indicated brain death.”

New cases put H7N9 pace near last year’s peak
The number of H7N9 cases in China are picking up again, with nearly 35 cases reported in the last week. This is just three under peak numbers during the height of the infection at the virus’ initial emergence. Health officials monitoring the situation remain split on the implications of the increased numbers – however, the prevailing opinion seems to be that as long as the virus remains poorly transmitted between people, we don’t panic.

CIDRAP – “The steady stream of new cases could mean that Chinese health officials are better at detecting cases, but he added that it doesn’t look like they missed many cases last year in the early months of the outbreak. ‘There must be a similar widespread circulation in poultry,’ said Osterholm, who is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, publisher of CIDRAP News, Recent H7N9 developments raise questions about what’s being done to minimize the risks to humans and should be setting off bells, whistles, and sirens warning about the threat, he said. ‘Each one [case] is another throw at the genetic roulette table’.”

Chikungunya virus spreads in Caribbean just weeks after breaking out in tiny St. Martin
In the two weeks since Chikungunya made it to the Caribbean, it has quickly spread to over 200 people. The virus can cause febrility, joint pain, and intense myalgia. Trouble in paradise (it had to be said)?

FOX – “The virus then spread to neighboring Dutch St. Maarten, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says new cases have also been confirmed in the French Caribbean islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Barthelemy. The British Virgin Islands reported three cases Monday. CDC epidemiologist Erin Staples said Tuesday that ‘further spread to other Caribbean islands and to the surrounding mainland areas is possible in the coming months and years’.”