Archive for Week of December 21, 2009

Note: All links accessed and active on day of Biosecurity News in Brief publication.

December 21 | December 22 | December 23

December 23, 2009
 

2009 H1N1 Influenza
Nasal Swine Flu Vaccine Recalled Over Potency (AP/Yahoo! News) Drugmaker MedImmune is recalling nearly 5 million doses of swine flu vaccine because the nasal spray appears to lose strength over time, federal health officials announced Tuesday.

Comparing Deaths from Pandemic and Seasonal Influenza (WHO) Efforts to assess the severity of the H1N1 influenza pandemic sometimes compare numbers of confirmed deaths with those estimated for seasonal influenza, either nationally or worldwide.

Poll Finds Three Quarters of Parents Who Tried to Get H1N1 Vaccine for Their Children Have Gotten It (Harvard News Release) A new poll by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) shows the shortage of H1N1 vaccine for children is easing.

All Three Novartis A(H1N1) 2009 Influenza Vaccines Prequalified by World Health Organization (WHO) for Use in Developing World (Novartis) Novartis announced today that the World Health Organization (WHO) has granted prequalification for all three of its influenza A(H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccines for supply to United Nations (UN) agencies: the cell culture-based and MF59® adjuvanted vaccine Celtura®, the egg-based and MF59 adjuvanted vaccine Focetria® as well as the egg-based A(H1N1) vaccine manufactured using the seasonal Fluvirin® platform.

Biological Agents and Epidemic Diseases
Research: Mystery Solved – Scientists Now Know How Smallpox Kills (Big Medicine) A team of researchers working in a high containment laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA, have solved a fundamental mystery about smallpox that has puzzled scientists long after the natural disease was eradicated by vaccination: they know how it kills us.

Other 21st Century Threats
Obama Administration Plans to Boost Focus on Nuclear Terrorism (Global Security Newswire) The United States is expected make efforts to stop terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons a core tenet of its revised nuclear policy, the New York Times reported Saturday.

Police Expect Mumbai-style Terror Attack on City of London (Times Online) Scotland Yard has warned businesses in London to expect a Mumbai-style attack on the capital.

The Biosecurity News in Brief will not be published on Thursday, 12/24 or Friday, 12/25. Happy Holidays from the editors and staff of the BNIB.

December 22, 2009
      

2009 H1N1 Influenza
Immunogenicity of a Monovalent 2009 Influenza A(H1N1) Vaccine in Infants and Children (JAMA) Context in the ongoing influenza pandemic, a safe and effective vaccine against 2009 influenza A(H1N1) is needed for infants and children. Objective to assess the immunogenicity and safety of a 2009 influenza A(H1N1) vaccine in children.

2009 Influenza A(H1N1) Monovalent Vaccines for Children (JAMA) The 2009 influenza A(H1N1) virus was first identified 8 months ago, but the virus has already had a substantial effect on human health.
 

Is a Mass Immunization Program for Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Good Value for Money? Early Evidence from the Canadian Experience. (PLOS Currents) This work contributes informed estimates to the current debate about the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 mass immunization program’s economic merits. We performed a cost-utility analysis of the (H1N1) 2009 mass immunization program in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province.

Flu Pandemic May Change U.S. Flu Approach Forever (Reuters) The swine flu pandemic may have changed the U.S. approach to handling influenza forever, and for the better, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
 

Obamas Get Their Swine Flu Shots (AP/New York Times) President Obama and his wife, Michelle, have received their swine flu vaccinations.

Government Affairs
Obama Picks Schmidt as Cyber-Security Chief – Report (Reuters) U.S. President Barack Obama has picked former Bush administration adviser Howard Schmidt to serve as national cybersecurity coordinator, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

Biological Agents and Epidemic Diseases
Imported Case of Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever --- Colorado, 2008 (MMWR) Marburg hemorrhagic fever (MHF) is a rare, viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF); the causative agent is an RNA virus in the family Filoviridae, and growing evidence demonstrates that fruit bats are the natural reservoir of Marburg virus (MARV) (1,2).

Science and Biosecurity
FDA, USDA Collaborate on Bioterrorism Risk Evaluation Tool for Agriculture (Veterinary News) The Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture collaborated on new set of tools designed to help food-animal producers mitigate risk of bioterrorism on their food production process.

December 21, 2009
 

2009 H1N1 Influenza
Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 - Update 79 (WHO) The Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN) continues monitoring the global circulation of influenza viruses, including pandemic, seasonal and other influenza viruses infecting, or with the potential to infect humans.

States with Widespread Pandemic Flu Drop to 11 (CIDRAP News) The second wave of the H1N1 influenza pandemic continued to fade last week, as the number of states with widespread cases dropped to 11 and reported deaths in children also declined, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

Swiss Plan to Donate, Sell on Swine Flu Vaccines (Reuters) Switzerland plans to donate or sell some 4.5 million excess doses of the swine flu vaccine due to the low uptake of shots, the government said.

Biological Agents and Epidemic Diseases
'No New Cases' in Anthrax Scare (BBC News) Health officials have said that no new cases of anthrax have emerged 48 hours after two heroin users in Glasgow tested positive for the infection.

Researchers Identify Tuberculosis Strain that Thrives on Antibiotic (JHSPH Public Health News Center) Scientists have identified a strain of antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis that thrives in the presence of rifampin, a front-line drug in the treatment of tuberculosis.

Institute to Identify New Vaccine Targets for Tuberculosis, Malaria, Dengue Virus and Smallpox (Medical News TODAY) Researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology will take aim at several of the world's most dangerous infectious diseases - tuberculosis, malaria and dengue virus -- in a five-year, $18.8 million federally-funded set of projects seeking to make new inroads toward vaccines against the disorders.

Government Affairs
Assistant Secretary Jones Appointed as Special Representative on Avian and Pandemic Influenza and Pandemic Influenza Coordinator (U.S. Department of State News Release) Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs as the U.S. Special Representative on Avian and Pandemic Influenza.

Biosurveillance: Developing a Collaboration Strategy is Essential to Fostering Interagency Data and Resource Sharing (GAO) To carry out its early detection and situational awareness mission, NBIC has made efforts to acquire data from the integration center’s community of federal partners, obtain analytical expertise from other agencies, establish governance bodies to develop and oversee the community of federal partners, and provide information technologies to support data collection, analysis, and communication.

National Security
TSA Tests Capability of Nuclear-Detection Devices at DIA (Denver Post) Teams of federal security officers that routinely patrol transportation venues to combat possible terrorist threats have added the capability of detecting nuclear materials that might be part of a so-called dirty bomb, Homeland Security officials say.

Health Information Technology
HHS Announces $60M Program to Fund Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (HHS News Release) David Blumenthal, M.D., Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, today announced plans to make available $60 million to support the development of Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP).

Other 21st Century Threats
BARDA Awards Contracts for Tests and Devices to Help the Nation Respond to a Radiological Emergency (HHS News Release) The HHS Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is awarding nine contracts for the advanced research and development of more effective tests and devices to determine the level of radiation a person has absorbed after a nuclear or radiological incident. The contracts total $35 million for the initial phase and up to $400 million over five years.