Tag: MERS

This Week in DC: (a few) Events

by Siddha Hover, posted in Events, Week In DC

The highlight of this week’s meager offerings is Wednesday’s MERS talk, which is available via webcast for those of you in distant locales.

Tuesday, August 20

Al Qaeda and its Affiliates: On Life Support or an Imminent Threat?
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
12:00PM – 1:30PM

Twelve years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and more than two years after Osama bin Laden was killed, how great of a threat is al Qaeda to the U.S. homeland and America’s interests abroad? Has the instability in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and throughout Africa allowed al Qaeda to grow in size and power? How should the latest threats against America’s diplomatic facilities, paired with the recent prison breaks in Pakistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere impact U.S. counterterrorism strategy? Please join FDD for a conversation with Eli Lake, Thomas Joscelyn, and Cliff May.

Wednesday, August 21

Leveraging Defense Community Resources for the Next Generation of Threats
NextGov’s Cybersecurity Series
7:30AM – 9:30AM

With new cybersecurity legislation and slashed defense budgets, federal and corporate plans for protecting Defense infrastructure are subject to serious alterations. How will these upcoming changes affect your day-to-day operations? Hear from leading DoD voices and policy experts and learn: what cyber vulnerabilities are taking priority on the Department of Defense’s agenda; how the Department of Defense best leverages public-private partnerships to fend off the most critical threats, and which sectors of the Defense Industrial Base are most heavily affected by budget cuts.

Insights from the Front Lines of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Outbreak
UPMC Center for Health Security
10:00AM – 12:00PM

Dr. Ziad Memish, Deputy Minister of Health for Public Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,will discuss Saudi Arabia’s effort to control and respond to the MERS-CoV outbreak.

(image courtesy of Dell/Flickr)

The Pandora Report 8.16.13

by Siddha Hover, posted in Pandora Report

Highlights this week: MERS in India, Ebola!, new swine flu, a universal flu vaccine?, and not mad cow. Happy Friday!

Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Reaches India

With a population of over 1.2 bilion people, India has understandably been on high alert for Middle Eastern Respiratory Virus. Last week a 40-year-old man who had just returned from Saudi Arabia became the country’s first case. The patient spent three day in his home in Vashi, a small town less than two hours south of Mumbai, before being admitted into the local hospital. No word yet on whether he has a family or close relatives living with him, but no new cases have been detected.

Times of India – “In the first suspected case of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the city, a Vashi resident has been quarantined at Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokli. The 40-year-old man was admitted to the hospital’s ward 30, meant for infectious diseases, on Wednesday afternoon with complaints of fever and a progressing pneumonia (inflammation of lungs). The patient had returned to India on August 12 after spending 35 days in Saudi Arabia.”

Scientists Reveal How Deadly Ebola Virus Assembles

Just when you thought you knew Ebola, its proteins go and change shape on you. Scientists have discovered that the molecule responsible for the virus’ release of virions (VP40) is capable of changing shape to perform new functions.  This is a big deal, as up until now, proteins were generally believed to only be possible of forming one shape – one shape, one function. Researchers will be able to use this surprising piece of information to build antivirals tailored specifically to the VP40’s different shapes, enabling them to selectively target different points in the virus’ assembly. Which would be nice, because Ebola is scary.

Science Daily – “The results, five years in the making, revealed the Ebola VP40 protein exists as a dimer, not as a monomer as previously thought, and it rearranges its structure to assemble filaments to build the virus shell or “matrix” to release countless new viruses from infected cells. The study showed the protein also rearranges itself into rings in order to bind RNA and control the internal components of the virus copied inside infected cells. This “shape-shifting” or “transformer” behavior explains how the Ebola virus can control a multi-step viral lifecycle using only a very limited number of genes.”

New swine flu virus found by University of Hong Kong researchers

Scientists at the University of Hong Kong have unearthed a new influenza virus, nimbly dubbed porcine parainfluenza virus 1(PPIV-1), in 386 pig carcasses collected from slaughterhouses around Hong Kong. Despite the virus’ close similarity to existing human flu viruses, as long as meat is thoroughly cooked there is no immediate health threat to us. The stability of the virus’ genome suggested its primary host is pigs, in which it is also found to cause respiratory symptoms. However, study researchers have called for greater surveillance of imported animals – Hong Kong imports 3,000 pigs from mainland China daily – as well as a more thorough investigation into the virus’ source.

South China Morning Post – “But a top researcher behind the study, microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung, warned it might mutate and jump from pigs to humans. ‘The new virus is closely related to some human influenza viruses,’ Yuen said. ‘We should watch for possible cross-species transmission from pigs to humans, just as in the case of [human] swine influenza H1N1 and the Nipah virus.'”

Universal Flu Vaccine: Pandemic Viruses May Give Clues

The best safeguard for beating the newest pandemic flu seems to be having lived through a couple already. According to new research, individuals who had been exposed to both the 1957 H2N2 and the 1977 H1NI pandemic influenza viruses had higher levels of broadly neutralizing antibodies.  These antibodies are better able to target the flu viruses’ “stalk” portion (rather than their “head”) which remains relatively conserved across strains. Before you start counting the number of times you’ve been laid up with the flu (or smartly got a flu shot), antibodies produced against seasonal flu won’t confer the same protection. For some reason, our body tends to produce antibodies against the “head” portion of regular winter flu viruses. However, researchers hope that by creating a seasonal flu shot which tricks your immune system into thinking it’s facing a pandemic virus,  a universal flu vaccine may be possible.

Live science – “Levels of broadly neutralizing antibodies increased modestly over time in the study participants, and were highest among those who’d been exposed to more than one pandemic. Levels of broadly neutralizing antibodies were 3.8-fold higher in those who had been exposed to both H2N2 and H1N1, compared with those exposed to only H1N1, the study found. The finding suggests a strategy for making a universal flu vaccine: create a vaccine that contains flu viruses with very different heads, but highly similar stalks, Miller told LiveScience.”

New virus could help rule out mad cow

We don’t spend a lot of time talking about pathogens which affect  exclusively agricultural and food security here at the Pandora Report, which isn’t to say they’re not critically important. Scientists have discovered and successfully characterized an astrovirus which produces symptoms similar to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), more commonly known as mad cow disease. Although the new virus is not zoonotic, researchers can use its sequenced genome to develop a quick an easy diagnostic test capable of ruling out BSE.  Currently, testing for BSE and other neurological diseases in cattle is very cost and labor intensive.

Futurity – “’Neurologic disease in cattle can be difficult to diagnose because there are a number of different causes, and pre-mortem sampling and analyses can be cumbersome and/or expensive,’ says corresponding author Patricia Pesavento, a veterinary pathologist in the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine…’Understanding the role of this virus is crucial for veterinarians as well as for the dairy and beef cattle industries,’ she says. ‘Additionally, finding new viruses helps us identify other, more remote viruses because it builds our knowledge of both the depth and breadth of viral family trees.'”

(image courtesy of Axel Drainville/Flickr)

The Pandora Report 8.9.13

by Siddha Hover, posted in Pandora Report

Highlights include camels as MERS’ vectors, anti-bacterial chemicals hiding Salmonella, a new malaria vaccine, BioWatch in DC, H5N1 in Nepal, African Swine Fever in Belarus, and in case you missed it: mutating H7N9. Happy Friday!

Camels may be source of Middle East’s Sars-like virus

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the level of epidemiological sleuthing which went in to uncovering this? Researchers attempting to determine the vector of Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) ended up sampling 50 Omani racing camels, and 105 Canary Islander tourist camels. All camels sampled from Oman, and 15 of those from the Canary Island, possessed antibodies to MERS, indicating prior infection. While the presence of antibodies is compelling, the virus itself was not found in any of the dromedary (vocab word of the day, meaning an Arabian camel with one hump) camels sampled. Also, Oman has reported no human cases of MERS. However, with camels as a possible vector, follow up investigations into whether those people infected had any contact with camels, their meat, or their milk can be conducted.  MERS has infected 94 people to date, killing almost half.

The Guardian – “The scientists said the virus could be slightly different – maybe more transmissible in Oman – or the camels might have been kept in circumstances that made it less likely to spread in the Canaries. But it is also possible that the virus was brought in by one of the three oldest Canary Island camels, who arrived from Morocco more than 18 years ago. ‘We cannot rule out that the population might have once had an outbreak but that by the time of sampling, antibody titres had waned and no new introductions of the virus had occurred,’ they write. ‘The camels have contact with wild rodents, pigeons, and other doves, and possibly also bats. Seven insectivorous bat species, including three pipistrellus [species], are native to the Canary Islands, while Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) have been introduced.'”

USDA reviews whether bacteria-killing chemicals are masking Salmonella

According to recent research, the use of stronger anti-bacterial chemicals at poultry-processing plants may be cloaking the presence of Salmonella and other foodbourne pathogens which remain on the processed meat. Apparently the more stringent chemicals are too strong for current Salmonella tests, potentially resulting in false negatives. The USDA has stepped in to further investigate the research’s claims. For those of you who (like me) didn’t know, apparently the bird is treated with four different chemicals on average.

Washington Post – “To check that most bacteria have been killed, occasional test birds are pulled off the line and tossed into plastic bags filled with a solution that collects any remaining pathogens. That solution is sent to a lab for testing, which takes place about 24 hours later. Meanwhile, the bird is placed back on the line and is ultimately packaged, shipped and sold. Scientists say in order for tests to be accurate, it is critical that the pathogen-killing chemicals are quickly neutralized by the solution — something that routinely occurred with the older, weaker antibacterial chemicals. If the chemicals continue to kill bacteria, the testing indicates that the birds are safer to eat than they actually are.”

Investigational malaria vaccine found safe and protective

A new, live-attenuated malaria vaccine has successfully completed Phase I clinical trials. The vaccine, known as PfSPZ Vaccine, has been shown in a recent NIH to be safe, immunogenic, and  effectively confer immunity. However, a significant drawback of the new vaccine is its intravenous administration – most vaccines are administered subcutaneously, intradermally, or, ideally, orally.  Nonetheless, researchers are optimistic, and a set of follow-up studies are scheduled. According the the WHO, in 2010 (most recent sampling year), malaria caused an estimated 219 million cases globally, with 660,000 deaths, predominantly amongst African children.

Medical Xpress – “The Phase I trial, which took place at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, received informed consent from and enrolled 57 healthy adult volunteers ages 18 to 45 years who never had malaria. Of these, 40 participants received the vaccine and 17 did not. To evaluate the vaccine’s safety, vaccinees were split into groups receiving two to six intravenous doses of PfSPZ Vaccine at increasing dosages. After vaccination, participants were monitored closely for seven days. No severe adverse effects associated with the vaccine occurred, and no malaria infections related to vaccination were observed…Based on blood measurements, researchers found that participants who received a higher total dosage of PfSPZ Vaccine generated more antibodies against malaria and more T cells—a type of immune system cell—specific to the vaccine.”

DHS wants LRS Federal to continue collecting BioWatch air samples for another six months

BioWatch isn’t dead yet, at least if you live in the DC metro region. The Department of Homeland Security has decided to award LRS Federal a six-month contract extension for maintenance of BioWatch in the DC metro area. The $759,000 awarded in the renewal will go towards maintenance of the program, including salaries of those who collect the daily samples and upkeep. No new developments on Gen 3 writ-large.

Government Security News Magazine – “LRS Federal currently manages the teams that perform daily sample collections and routine equipment maintenance on portable air sampling units located throughout the National Capital Region’s ‘BioWatch Jurisdiction,’ in Washington, DC; Baltimore, MD; Richmond, VA; and elsewhere. The notice says that LRS is the only firm that can continue supporting the program’s immediate requirements. ‘Otherwise, the Government will be without support to detect and mitigate the threat of biological air-borne pathogens,’ it added.”

International Recap:

Nepal: H5N1 is still raging in Nepal, with the government considering an extension of the current ban on poultry-product sales. In the weeks following this most recent outbreak, the  Nepali government had come under fire for apparently pandering to poultry groups, resulting in an increase in the virus’ spread. However, it has since began a widespread campaign of restriction of poultry sales and culling. Fears of the virus spreading south to neighboring India remain.  Read more here.

Belarus: It’s not often we get to write about Belarus, Europe’s last dictatorship (no Putin jokes, please). The Eastern European country is currently experiencing an outbreak of African Swine Fever, which only affects pigs. Belarus has admitted difficulty in containing the outbreak. We’ve been unable to track down official numbers (it’s Belarus), but concerns over the disease spreading to Western Europe are mounting. Read more here.

In case you missed it:

– Researchers Mutating H7N9, increasing virulence and able to transmit person-to-person

(image courtesy of Jason Wain/Flickr)

The Pandora Report 7.26.13

by Siddha Hover, posted in News, Pandora Report

Highlights include Saudi Arabia’s hajj travel restrictions, zoonotic adenoviruses, PEDv, studying the 1918 pandemic, and plague in people you know. Happy Friday!

Virus fears, Mecca work downsizes hajj pilgrimage

Saudi Arabian officials, responding to fears over hajj contributing to MERS potential spread, have significantly cut the number of pilgrims allowed to perform the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Numbers of pilgrims from within Saudi Arabia have been cut by half, and those travelling to Mecca from other countries by one fifth. Officials were quick to stress that the decision was based on “exceptional” circumstances, and may be revised as MERS’ spread is tracked. The decision is an interesting one, given that the WHO’s specially convened MERS committee just last week decided against travel restrictions.

Economic Times – “Fears of an outbreak of the deadly MERS virus in Saudi Arabia and construction in the holy city of Mecca have forced cuts in the numbers of pilgrims permitted to perform this year’s hajj. Millions of Muslims during the annual pilgrimage head to Mecca and Medina, Islam’s two holiest sites, providing a possible means for MERS to spread around the globe as pilgrims who may become infected return to their home countries.”

Adenoviruses May Pose Risk for Monkey-to-Human Leap

Most of the world’s deadliest viruses are zoonotic (ebola, anyone?) When a new virus is determined to spread from animals to humans, it’s therefore not surprising, but it’s often troubling, as humans often have little to no immunity to such bugs. The ongoing outbreaks of H7N9 and MERS are both recent examples. Now, researchers at the University of San Francisco have determined that a novel adenovirus – identified just four years ago – may be able to cause disease in humans. In a study involving adenovirus C, the researchers were able to trace the virus’ spread from an enclosed Californian baboon colony to the human staff members caring for them.

UCSF – “‘This study raises more concerns about the potential of unknown viruses to spread from animals to humans,’ said Chiu, who is an assistant professor of medicine at UCSF. ‘We still don’t understand the full extent of viruses that exist in the world and their potential to cause outbreaks in human populations.’ Last year, Chiu and colleagues also identified another new adenovirus, named simian adenovirus C, which sickened four of nine captive baboons and killed two of them at a primate facility in 1997. Several staff members at the facility also complained of upper respiratory symptoms at the time of the outbreak. Re-examining the samples many years later, Chiu and his colleagues found antibodies targeted to simian adenovirus C in the human samples.”

Deadly Pig Virus Slips through U.S. Borders

The porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) continues to rage in the United States, having now spread to 14 states, including outliers like North Carolina. With the virus’s fatality rates occasionally approaching 100% in piglets, its spread has USDA and the US pork industry both (understandably) very nervous. The virus’ source in the United States remain unknown, and efforts to sequence it have been hampered by a couple things. First, it is notoriously difficult to culture – unsurprisingly, pig viruses tend to grow best in pigs. Second, the restrictions the US had in place to prevent the virus entering the US in the first place are making acquisition of the right lab materials to culture it difficult. With the virus’ apparent preference for cooler temperatures, and Autumn approaching, scientists are racing to determine the source before the outbreak spreads further.

Scientific American –  “‘How this virus got here, that’s the million-dollar question,’ says James Collins, director of the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Minnesota in St Paul. The pathogen, a type of coronavirus called porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), was first identified in the United Kingdom in 1971, and it caused mass epidemics in Europe in the 1970s and 1980s…The virus can spread quickly by a fecal–oral route and infect entire herds. And although adult pigs typically recover, PEDV can kill 80–100% of the piglets it infects. The virus poses no health threat to humans. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) had tried to keep PEDV and other diseases out of the country by restricting imports of pigs and pork products from certain nations, such as China. But on 10 May, the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Iowa State University in Ames confirmed that PEDV had infected pigs in Iowa, the leading producer of US pork.”

New Light Shed On Cause of Pandemic Influenza

After using mathematical models to analyze the 20th century’s worst pandemics, the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.  Researchers have developed three key factors which exacerbated the pandemic’s impact – school openings and closing, temperature fluctuations, and human behavioral changes.

Science Daily – “Dr He and the researchers further applied this model to the reported influenza mortality during the 1918 pandemic in 334 British administrative units and estimate the epidemiological parameters. They have used information criteria to evaluate how well these three factors explain the observed patterns of mortality. The results indicate that all three factors are important, but behavioural responses had the largest effect.”

My Friends Got the Plague, and This New Test Could Have Helped Them

It’s easy to believe that the bacteria and viruses we write about exist only in distance countries or highly secure labs. As the above blog piece illustrates, sometimes all it takes is a vacation to New Mexico. The piece also discusses the importance of science’s ugly stepchild – basic research.

Motherboard (VICE) – “Despite very low incidence and the availability of treatment with modern antibiotics, the plague is still a very deadly illness whose prognosis becomes worse by the minute when it strikes. This technique is useful because it provides a quick way of, at the very least, ruling out the illness, which is so often overlooked. Importantly, the researchers note that their technique would not have been possible without previous basic research, which many consider a lesser priority than corporate-sponsored applied research.”

(image courtesy of Al-Hijr)

The Pandora Report 7.19.13

by Siddha Hover, posted in News, Pandora Report

Highlights this week include MERS in the UAE, H5N1 and dual-use research, giant Pandoravirus, implications of giant Pandoravirus, and pandemics and national security. Happy Friday!

United Arab Emirates identifies 4 new cases of SARS-like respiratory virus

The Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, first appearing in Saudi Araia has spread to the neighboring United Arab Emirates, with four new cases identified in Abu Dhabi. It is thought that one patient contracted the virus earlier subsequently infected these four new cases.

Washington Post –  “The new cases also could offer investigators fresh leads on the transmission of the virus, which has claimed more than 40 lives since September. Most of the deaths have been in Saudi Arabia…The virus is related to SARS, which killed some 800 people in a global outbreak in 2003. It belongs to a family of viruses that most often cause the common cold.”

H5N1: A Case Study for Dual-Use Research

The Council on Foreign Relations has a new working paper out, by Dr. Gigi Kwik Gronvall, examining the furious debate around gain-of-function, potentially dual-use H5N1 research.

CFR – “Biological research is inherently dual-use, in that a great deal of the scientific knowledge, materials, and techniques required for legitimate research could also be used for harm. The potential for a bioterrorist to misuse legitimate research is particularly acute for scientific studies of contagious pathogens. In order to find out how pathogens function—how they are able to get around the human body’s immunological defenses, replicate in great numbers, and go on to infect other people in a continuous chain of infection—scientists necessarily learn what conditions make pathogens more deadly or difficult to treat. This research is widely shared. But the fear that this openness could be exploited has sparked concerns about specific scientific publications, prompting media storms and even congressional disapproval, as in the 2002 case when poliovirus was synthesized from scratch in a laboratory.”

World’s Biggest Virus May Have Ancient Roots

Breaking news everyone, the world’s largest virus has the world’s coolest name – the Pandoravirus. However, unless you live primarily underwater, it shouldn’t pose a big threat to you. The virus is, however, raising big questions about the origins of viruses – the Pandoravirus‘ are thought to originate in a prehistoric cell type now extinct. For an interesting examination of what larger viruses may mean for virology, check out the New York Times piece “Changing View on Viruses: Not So Small After All“.

NPR – ” ‘We believe that those new Pandoraviruses have emerged from a new ancestral cellular type that no longer exists,’ [discoverer, Jean-Michel Claverie] says. That life could have even come from another planet, like Mars. ‘At this point we cannot actually disprove or disregard this type of extreme scenario,’ he says. But how did this odd cellular form turn into a virus? Abergel says it may have evolved as a survival strategy as modern cells took over. ‘On Earth it was winners and it was losers, and the losers could have escaped death by going through parasitism and then infect the winner,’ she says.”

National Security and Pandemics

An interesting argument for the correlation between national security and pandemics. Whether international health events should be classified as issues of national security is a very interesting and nuanced question, and this piece presents one side (“yes, they should”) well.

UN Chronicle – “”Pandemics are for the most part disease outbreaks that become widespread as a result of the spread of human-to-human infection. Beyond the debilitating, sometimes fatal, consequences for those directly affected, pandemics have a range of negative social, economic and political consequences. These tend to be greater where the pandemic is a novel pathogen, has a high mortality and/or hospitalization rate and is easily spread. According to Lee Jong-wook, former Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), pandemics do not respect international borders.2 Therefore, they have the potential to weaken many societies, political systems and economies simultaneously.”

(image courtesy of Jeff Black)

WHO: MERS Not a Public Health Emergency (yet)

by Siddha Hover, posted in News

Following their second meeting,  the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Emergency Committee on MERS has decided the outbreak in Saudi Arabia does not yet constitute a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern”. As such, the committee is refraining from issuing any travel restrictions at this time.

The committee met via teleconference yesterday, with members from all eight states with cases of MERS participating. While the MERS outbreak is not a PHEIC yet, the Committee nonetheless stressed that the outbreak is “serious and of great concern”. The Committee members will continue to monitor the virus’ spread, and will reconvene formally again in September.

MERS, or the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, is a recently emerged virus which causes flu like symptoms and in 60% of cases, death. The virus’ vector and reservoir remain unknown.

For the full WHO press release, see here.

(Image depicts an SEM of MERS, courtesy of the CDC & Cynthia Goldsmith/Maureen Metcalfe/Azaibi Tamin)

WHO to Convene Emergency MERS Committee

by Siddha Hover, posted in News

For those of you (like us) caught up in the fourth festivities, the World Health Organization (WHO) laid out plans late last week to convene an emergency committee  to address the growing threat of  Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The committee will pull together experts from across the public health fields for a telephone meeting tomorrow. The primary purpose of the committee at this point is as an information exchange. Key details of the virus’ mechanism of action, including the primary host, remain unknown. Once established, the committee would have the power to provide recommended travel restrictions and take other preparatory actions to prevent the virus’ spread.

Although the person-to-person spread of the virus remains limited, it is critical than a strategy for containment is established before Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage which will bring millions to Saudi Arabia this October. Discussing  the WHO’s concerns over the upcoming influx of international travelers, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Security and Environment Dr. Keiji Fukuda stated,  “we’re always worried in a globalized world that infection can travel quickly from one country to another,” but that given the sporadic pattern of infection, restricting travel is not yet recommended.

For the full transcript of the Friday press conference, see here.

(image courtesy of WHO)

The Pandora Report 7.5.2013

by Siddha Hover, posted in News, Pandora Report

Hope everyone’s fourth was happy and safe! Highlights this week include MERS,  lifting BW sanctions against China, H7N9 in the lungs, and personnel security questions at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Study finds MERS virus has not yet reached pandemic potential

A recent study by France’s Institut Pasteur has found that the likelihood of the recent outbreak of Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) developing into a pandemic is “low”. The researchers compared MERS to SARS extensively, and determined that a number of factors, including which cell receptors each virus affect, rendered MERS less likely to spread.  Arnaud Fontanet, lead scientist on the study, also pointed out that it took SARS just months to adapt to humans as hosts, whereas MERS still struggles after almost a year in humans. The virus’ high fatality rate and limited person-to-person transmission nonetheless makes it a threat to hospitals caring for  infected patients.

Reuters – “Ian Jones, a professor of virology at Britain’s University of Reading, said the findings confirmed what appeared to be happening on the ground – ‘that the current MERS coronavirus transmits poorly, below the threshold required to become widely spread. Benjamin Neuman of Reading University’s microbiology research group, said it appeared from the research that the MERS virus is ‘slowly dying out’. But he cautioned that other studies into the biology of the virus suggest it is changing. ‘That change makes it difficult to predict the future of MERS,’ he said.”

Lifting of Chemical and Biological Weapons (CBW) Proliferation Sanctions Against Chinese Entities

The State Department has lifted its chemical and biological weapons proliferation sanctions against China first imposed in July of 2002. That’s it really, no press release, just a blurb in the Federal Register.

Federal Register – “Pursuant to Section 81(e) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2798(d)) and Section 11C(e) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended (50 U.S.C. app. 2410c(d)), the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security determined and certified to Congress that lifting sanctions on the following Chinese entities, their sub-units and successors is important to the national security interests of the United States: 1. China Machinery and Equipment Import Export Corporation; 2. China National Machinery and Equipment Import Export Corporation; 3. CMEC Machinery and Electric Equipment Import and Export Company Ltd.; 4. CMEC Machinery and Electrical Import Export Company, Ltd.; 5. China Machinery and Electric Equipment Import and Export Company’

H7N9 flu infiltrates victims’ lungs

Everyone remember H7N9? A new study confirms that H7N9 replicates primarily within the lower respiratory tract, where it often triggers a cytokine storm, damaging tissue and causing inflammation and fluid in the lungs. The virus’ poor adaptation to the trachea is thought to explain in part its lack of effective transmission through coughing and sneezing.

Bangkok Post – “The H7N9 bird flu virus is a peril for humans because it replicates deep in the lungs where it can trigger a dangerous response from the immune system, a study said Wednesday. In addition, no one is likely to have pre-existing immunity to H7N9 and so-called seasonal vaccines cannot protect against it, the study said, confirming suspicions among many virologists. And while lab tests show that leading anti-flu drugs are effective, there are concerns the virus may acquire gene mutations to blunt these weapons, it added.”

Army engineer put on leave for alleged white supremacist ties

News for a couple reasons. First, he has a security clearance. Second, he has a security clearance at Aberdeen Proving Ground’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, a BSL-3 lab which works on everything from synthetic biology to synthesis of chemical agents to  toxicology of chem/bio agents. It’s worth noting that the final suspect in the nation’s most deadly biological terrorist attack was a security-cleared USAMRIID scientist. However, while allegations have been made by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the investigation in this case is ongoing, the engineer in question has not yet commented.  The case raises the question, how free is free speech when you work in a security-cleared or very sensitive US government job?

Baltimore Sun – “The Southern Poverty Law Center, a national non-profit organization that tracks hate groups, wrote on May 23 that mechanical engineer John Stortstrom was one of ‘150 white nationalists’ who attended an April conference for the American Renaissance Journal, a magazine focused on studying a biological basis for race. Stortstrom, who is the vice president of the Route 40 Republican Club in Harford County, is also a member of the former Youth for Western Civilization student group, the SPLC wrote.’There’s no question that Stortstrom is very much a part of the racist white nationalist scene, as well as an up-and-coming young GOP operative,’ the SPLC wrote. ‘But it is Stortstrom’s top-security clearance job at the U.S. Army research facility on the Aberdeen Proving Grounds [sic] in Maryland that is really raising eyebrows.’ The allegations against Stortstrom appear to have come to light after he arranged for the Route 40 Republican Club to host Matthew Heimbach, the controversial founder of a White Student Union at Towson University.”

LA Times Piece on Battling MERS

by Siddha Hover, posted in News

The LA Times piece on the Middle Eastern Respiratory Virus gives a good behind-the-scenes look at how the CDC prepares for potential pandemics.

Excerpt: “In a war room of sorts in a neatly appointed government building, U.S. officers dressed in crisp uniforms arranged themselves around a U-shaped table and kept their eyes trained on a giant screen. PowerPoint slides ticked through the latest movements of an enemy that recently emerged in Saudi Arabia — a mysterious virus that has killed more than half of the people known to have been infected.Here at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, experts from the U.S. Public Health Service and their civilian counterparts have been meeting twice a week since the beginning of June to keep tabs on the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus. MERS-CoV, as the pathogen is known, attacks the lungs and causes fevers, severe coughs and rapid renal failure.”

Read the full piece here.

The Pandora Report

by Siddha Hover, posted in News, Pandora Report

Highlights include: patenting viruses pt. II, BioWatch Gen 3 or the lack thereof, West Nile, Dengue detection, and US live hog imports restricted as PEDV rages. Happy Friday!

Why a Saudi Virus Is Spreading Alarm

A less discussed aspect of studying novel microorganisms is the corporate red tape often involved. We talked about this a couple weeks ago, but the most recent case of this is the patenting (or at least, creating of a Material Transfer Agreement) of the MERS virus by Ron Fouchier’s Dutch laboratory. Under the MTA, all labs who request samples of the virus are contractually bound not to develop vaccines or products without first asking for permission from the Dutch lab. As you can imagine, this creates extra hurdles for Saudi scientists trying to stem the virus’ spread across Saudi Arabia. Lest one believe this is simply “the way things are done” in virology, China released samples of its H7N9 virus to open source sites within a month of the first case being identified.

Council on Foreign Relations – “But impeding an effective response is a dispute over rights to develop a treatment for the virus. The case brings to the fore a growing debate over International Health Regulations, interpretations of patent rights, and the free exchange of scientific samples and information. Meanwhile, the epidemic has already caused forty-nine cases in seven countries, killing twenty-seven of them…’The virus was sent out of the country and it was patented, contracts were signed with vaccine companies and anti-viral drug companies, and that’s why they have a MTA [Material Transfer Agreement] to be signed by anybody who can utilize that virus, and that should not happen,’ [Saudi Arabia’s deputy health minister] Memish said.”

Autonomous Detection Sought For BioWatch Surveillance Systems

BioWatch Gen 3 is currently on the back burner, as officials explore alternative options (analysis of alternatives, or AoA). Everyone agrees that some form of detection is necessary, everyone agrees that 24 hours is too long of a lag time, and everyone definitely agrees that local and state health officials need to be involved, but not everyone agrees that the current funding proposals for BioWatch are feasible. Does anyone else feel like this is a disaster waiting to happen?

Homeland Security Newswire – “Options for upgrading the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) BioWatch biosurveillance program monitoring systems for biological agents to autonomous detectors is continuing to be explored — and the department plans eventually to do so in collaboration with state and local officials. But DHS currently has no formal program to produce the next generation of BioWatch monitoring technology, said BioWatch Program Manager Michael Walter in remarks at the National Academies of Science (NAS) Tuesday.”

West Nile Virus Logs Deadliest Year After Hotter Summer

Last year was a bad year for West Nile, with 286 deaths and 5,674 cases. The CDC is closely monitoring the number of cases as we enter the peak season (July through September), as reasons for last year’s large case number remains unclear. However, a warmer, wetter summer is thought to be a big part of it.

Bloomberg –  “While there are only six reported cases of the virus this year through June, according to the CDC’s website, more than 90 percent of infections from last year occurred between July and September.’West Nile virus is going to be a factor in the U.S. every year now,’ Marc Fischer, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC’s arboviral diseases branch, said in a telephone interview. ‘People need to take precautions and protect themselves.'”

The ‘Gold’ Standard: A Rapid, Cheap Method of Detecting Dengue Virus

Scientists are using gold nanoparticles to develop cheap, quick diagnostics for detecting dengue. While we understand this is very important in terms of helping reduce the spread of a globally present (50-100 million cases annually) and deadly virus, we also are a little pleased by the “gold” standard pun.

Science Daily – “The development of an easy to use, low cost method of detecting dengue virus in mosquitoes based on gold nanoparticles is reported in BioMed Central’s open access journal Virology Journal. The assay is able to detect lower levels of the virus than current tests, and is easy to transport and use in remote regions…Researchers from the University of Notre Dame, USA, used a DNAzyme linked to gold nanoparticles which recognises a short sequence of the viral RNA genome common to all four types of Dengue. Once bound, adding magnesium and heating to 37C causes the DNAZyme to cut the RNA leaving the gold nanoparticles free to clump together. This aggregation can be easily seen as a red to clear/colourless colour change.”

USDA working for removal of Mexican restrictions on live hog imports

The USDA is scrambling to get restrictions on US live pigs lifted by Mexico, following an outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). The outbreak of PEDV has spread to 13 states in couple weeks since the virus’ first emergence.

Reuters – “A spokeswoman for the department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said on Thursday the agency has sent Mexico information requested in connection with the outbreak of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus, a swine virus deadly to young pigs never before seen in North America. She did not state what information had been requested.”