Archive for Week of January 11, 2010

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

January 11 | January 12 | January 13 | January 14 | January 15

January 15, 2010
 

2009 H1N1 Influenza
Thousands of High-Risk Kids Missing 2nd H1N1 Flu Doses (USA Today) Hundreds of thousands of children are overdue for a second dose of H1N1 vaccine that's needed to fully protect them from swine flu, a USA TODAY review of data from 10 states shows.

Biological Agents and Epidemic Diseases
The Global Forum on Biorisks: Toward Effective Management and Governance of Biological Risks (CSIS) For more than 15 years, policymakers and security analysts have been concerned that governments, terrorists, or even a crazed individual would misuse the rapid advances in the life sciences to cause widespread death and disruption.

An Outbreak of Infection with Bacillus anthracis in Injecting Drug Users in Scotland (Eurosurveillance) An investigation is currently underway to explore and control an outbreak of Bacillus anthracis among drug users (mainly injecting) in Scotland. Contaminated heroin or a contaminated cutting agent mixed with the heroin is considered to be the most likely source and vehicle of infection.

Preliminary Case Report of Fatal Anthrax in an Injecting Drug User in North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, December 2009 (Eurosurveillance) A fatal case of anthrax occurred in an injecting drug user in Germany, in December 2009. A potential link to similar cases in Scotland in the same time period is currently under investigation.

S.Korea Confirms Second Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak (The Independent) South Korea confirmed a second outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on Thursday and said hundreds of cattle and pigs would be culled to stop the highly contagious disease spreading.

Government Affairs
Denmark To Offer Bioattack Insurance (BioPrepWatch.com) A measure adopted by Denmark has been authorized by the European Commission under EU state aid rules to provide a state guarantee on non-life insurance against damages resulting from biological, chemical, nuclear or radioactive terrorist attacks exceeding a certain threshold.

Hospital Preparedness and Response
Coming Out of Crisis: Patient Experiences in Primary Care in New Orleans, Four Years Post-Katrina—Findings from The Commonwealth Fund 2009 Survey of Clinic Patients in New Orleans (The Commonwealth Fund) One of the many things Hurricane Katrina devastated when it hit New Orleans in 2005 was the city's health care system.

Public Health Preparedness and Response
HHS Deploying U.S. Medical Personnel to Haiti (HHS News Release) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has activated the National Disaster Medical System and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. More than 250 personnel are in the process of deploying to Haiti and over 12,000 personnel could possibly assist in the coming days.

Other 21st Century Threats
Stimulus Grant to Support Research on Climate and Infectious Disease (EurekAlert!) The potential effects of climate change on the spread of infectious diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever, are the focus of a nearly $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation intended to further the studies of a Penn State-led group of researchers.

NNSA Recovers High-Activity Radioactive Sources from Warehouse 25 Miles from New York City (NNSA) The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) today announced that it has successfully completed the recovery of two high-activity Cesium-137 devices from a warehouse located approximately 25 miles from Manhattan in Rahway, New Jersey. NNSA recovered these disused and unwanted irradiators as part of its Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI).

January 14, 2010
  

2009 H1N1 Influenza
WHO Official: H1N1 Threat Not Exaggerated (Washington Post) A top World Health Organization official Thursday dismissed charges that the agency exaggerated the threat posed by the H1N1 virus and that it had been unduly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry to issue dire warnings about the swine flu pandemic.

Did UK Get It Right on Swine Flu? (BBC) Governments and health chiefs took unprecedented steps to keep the first pandemic for 40 years at bay - but with the swine flu virus now looking to be on its way out, the question on everyone's lips is did we over-react?

Swine Flu Briefings Scrapped as Case Numbers Plunge (BBC) Weekly government briefings about swine flu have been abandoned, a signal that the crisis is considered to be easing.

Poland Stands Alone in Refusing Swine Flu Vaccines (AP/WTOP) The decision seemed fraught with risk: a government refusing to import swine flu vaccines amid worldwide warnings of a spreading epidemic.

Germany Reduces Swine Flu Shot Order from Glaxo (AP/BusinessWeek Magazine) The German government is reducing the size of a swine flu vaccine order by about 30 percent, GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Tuesday.

Serbia to Stop Importing Swine Flu Vaccines Because of Lack of Demand (CP/Google News) Serbia's health officials say they will stop the purchase of swine flu vaccines from a Swiss pharmaceutical company because of the lack of demand.

Sinovac Obtains Fifth H1N1 Vaccine Order from Chinese Central Government (PR Newswire) Sinovac Biotech Ltd. ( SVA), a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today that it has received its fifth purchase order for its H1N1 vaccine, PANFLU.1(TM), from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for the national purchase plan.

Government Affairs
Science & Technology (S&T) Snapshots: Mapping an Emergency (DHS) Natural disasters rarely color inside the lines. Like a toddler with his first box of crayons, they leave a mess all over the map—spilling across federal, state, and local lines.

Global Health and Biosecurity
Israel to Simulate Biological Warfare Attack (Haaretz) A two-day exercise simulating a response to a biological warfare attack will begin Wednesday in the Dan region.

January 13, 2010
      

2009 H1N1 Influenza
Initial Response of Health Care Institutions to Emergence of H1N1 Influenza: Experiences, Obstacles, and Perceived Future Needs (Clinical Infectious Diseases) The emergence of H1N1 influenza is cause for great concern. Although one of the most important components of the response to the H1N1 crisis is the work of health care epidemiology professionals, the beliefs and experiences of this community are unknown, and the optimal approach to managing H1N1 in the future has not been delineated.

VaxInnate Licenses Recombinant H1N1 Pandemic Swine Flu Vaccine to Biological E.; Vaccine Could Become Available for Use in India This Year (Business Wire) VaxInnate Corporation today announced that it has granted Indian biopharmaceutical company Biological E. Limited a license to its recombinant H1N1 pandemic swine flu vaccine and is collaborating to facilitate the manufacture, clinical development and commercialization of the vaccine in India.

WHO Prepares to Don a Hair Shirt (Effect Measure Blog) The finger pointing and the told-you-so-ers are out in force these days and WHO seems to be one of their targets.

Biological Agents and Epidemic Diseases
Tuberculosis Patient Flies Despite Being on Banned List (CNN Health) A person infected with an active case of tuberculosis flew aboard a commercial passenger jet last week, despite the person's presence on a "do-not-board" list maintained by federal health authorities, officials said Tuesday.

Dengue Fever Could Be Next Public-Health Threat (Newsweek Blog) Last Spring the threat of swine flu sparked a panic: the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, universities and drug companies kicked into overdrive to develop new vaccines, and governments raced to stop the virus's spread. Meanwhile, another global public-health threat proliferated virtually ignored: dengue fever, a potentially lethal mosquito-borne disease traditionally found mostly in Central America and Southeast Asia.

Government Affairs
What's the FDA Up To? Now You Can See (AP/MSNBC) The Food and Drug Administration is launching a new Web site explaining its operations to consumers as part of a broader effort to rebrand itself as a more accessible agency.

Other 21st Century Threats
Google May Quit China over Cyber-Attacks (MSNBC) Google Inc. will stop censoring its search results in China and may pull out of the country completely after discovering that computer hackers had tricked human-rights activists into exposing their e-mail accounts to outsiders.

Business and Biosecurity
Guidance for Industry Planning for the Effects of High Absenteeism to Ensure Availability of Medically Necessary Drug Products (FDA) This guidance is intended to encourage manufacturers of medically necessary drug products (MNPs) and any components of those products to develop contingency production plans to use during emergencies that result in high absenteeism at production facilities.

 January 12, 2010
 

2009 H1N1 Influenza
Too Much Flu Vaccine? Shot Push This Week to Tell (AP/ABC News) First there was too little swine flu vaccine. Now could there be way too much?

WHO to Review Its Handling of H1N1 Flu Pandemic (Reuters/Yahoo! News) The World Health Organization is to examine its handling of the H1N1 pandemic, the group said on Tuesday, after accusations by some politicians that it exaggerated the dangers of the virus under pressure from drug companies.

Drug Companies Face European Inquiry over Swine Flu Vaccine Stockpiles (Guardian) Council of Europe to discuss whether pharmaceutical firms spread alarm over pandemic to boost orders of medicines.

Laboratory Surge Response to Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Outbreak, New York City Metropolitan Area, USA (Emerging Infectious Diseases) The North Shore–Long Island Jewish Health System Laboratories serve 15 hospitals and affiliated regional physician practices in the New York City metropolitan area, with virus testing performed at a central reference laboratory.

Biological Agents and Epidemic Diseases
Seventh Scots Anthrax Drug Death (BBC) A seventh person with anthrax has died as infection among heroin users continues to spread around the country, health officials have confirmed.

National and Homeland Security
Obama’s War Over Terror (New York Times) The evening before he was sworn into office, Barack Obama stepped out of Blair House, the government residence where he was staying across from the White House, and climbed into an armored limousine for the ride to a bipartisan dinner.

Pandemic and Avian Influenza
Shell Game: Government Hatches Secret Program to Lay Eggs (Wall Street Journal) Nestled in and around this scenic agricultural belt are secret facilities that don't take kindly to visitors.

Other 21st Century Threats
Maryland Aims to Develop Cybersecurity Industry (AP/Yahoo! News) Gov. Martin O'Malley said Monday he wants Maryland to be the "Silicon Valley of cybersecurity," outlining plans to put the state out front in developing an industry focused on securing computer systems from tampering.

January 11, 2010
 

2009 H1N1 Influenza
Announcement: National Influenza Vaccination Week --- January 10--16, 2010 (MMWR) Each year during National Influenza Vaccination Week, the importance of influenza vaccination and the need for persons to receive vaccination throughout the entire October--May influenza season are highlighted. Influenza vaccination is the best way to prevent influenza and its severe complications.

U.S. Scales Back H1N1 Vaccine, Cuts CSL Order in Half (Reuters/Yahoo! News) The United States has scaled back its supply of H1N1 flu vaccine, cutting its order with Australian firm CSL Ltd in half, the company said on Monday.

Move to Recover Cost of Flu Vaccine (Financial Times) The government is attempting to claw back tens of millions of pounds from flu vaccine manufacturers as it seeks to scale down an immunisation plan to protect the country from a severe pandemic.

Extensive Mammalian Ancestry of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Virus (EID) We demonstrate that the novel pandemic influenza (H1N1) viruses have human virus–like receptor specificity and can no longer replicate in aquatic waterfowl, their historic natural reservoir.

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Outbreak on a Pig Farm, Argentina (EID) In June–July 2009, an outbreak of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 infection occurred on a pig farm in Argentina.

Biological Agents and Epidemic Diseases
Guinea: Vaccine Drive Set as Yellow Fever Strikes (IRIN) Guinean health officials plan this month to vaccinate more than 250,000 people in the northeast against yellow fever after one confirmed and several suspected cases emerged in the region.

Government Affairs
Budget Strips More Than $600 Million From Bioshield Program (Global Security Newswire) A spending plan approved last month by U.S. President Barack Obama transfers more than half a billion dollars from the coffers of a leading effort intended to promote development of countermeasures against weapons of mass destruction.

Countermeasures
Ebola, Marburg Vaccines Undergoing Tests in South Africa (Homeland Security Newswire) Because Ebola and Marburg have been confined to Africa and outbreaks limited, drug companies have not had a financial incentive to come up with a vaccine; only the threat of bioterrorism has prompted the U.S. government to spend millions on vaccine research.

Sanofi’s Vaccine for Mosquito Virus Protects Adults, Study Says (Bloomberg) Sanofi-Aventis SA’s experimental vaccine against dengue protected healthy volunteers against all four strains of the virus in a study, bringing the drugmaker closer to providing the first vaccine against a disease that threatens 40 percent of the world’s population.

Science and Biosecurity
New EU States Ranked (Nature Biotechnology) The biotech industry in most of the EU's new member states lags behind that of their Western European neighbors, despite many declaring biotech a national priority.