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Insecticides in pet shampoo may trigger autism
New study shows that children growing up in a household in which pet shampoos containing a class of insecticide called pyrethrins were used, were twice as likely to develop autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
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Market for molecular diagnostic technologies to grow
The last few years have seen major strides forward in molecular diagnostic technologies; new report asses size of markets and opportunities in it
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USAF Counter-Biological Warfare Concept
The U.S. Air Force upgrades its counter-biological warfare concept of operations; new doctrine will become fully operationally April 2009
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Bush administration asks court to block comprehensive testing for mad cow disease
A small meatpacking company wants to conduct testing for mad cow disease on all the animals it processes; the Department of Agriculture requires testing of less than 1 percent of slaughtered animals; the Bush administration, goaded by large meatpacking companies, urged a federal appeals court to stop the small company from doing more comprehensive tests
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Past patients to provide fast flu vaccine to new patients
Currently it takes at least six months to produce a flu vaccine after a new strain appears; researchers find that a faster way would be to treat people with antibodies produced by earlier patients
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Doctors develop a list of those allowed to die in a catastrophe
Physicians, government agencies draft a grimly specific list of recommendations for which patients would be treated - and which would not — during a pandemic
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Canada confirms tuberculosis in Manitoba cow
For the first time since 2004, a Canadian cow is diagnosed with TB; Canadian health authorities says no part of the infected cow entered the human or animal food chain
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Death toll in China disease outbreak hits 34
China issues national alert after rapid spread of hand, foot, and mouth disease brings toll to 34 and nearly 25,000 infected; most of the deaths have involved enterovirus 71, or EV71
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U.S. hospitals could not handle terror attack
Inquiry into the disaster preparedness of hospitals in several major U.S. cities conclude that they are — and will be — incapable to handle even a modest terrorist attack in those cities; one reason for for the lack of hospitals’ capacity: the Bush administration’s cuts in Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals overwhelm emergency rooms with patients suffering from routine problems, leaving no capacity to absorb and treat disaster victims
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China accuses U.S. of hampering probe into tainted heparin
Chinese scientists say they were refused information about victims of the recent heparin contamination and other specific details related to the case; the FDA says that federal law prevents it from sharing individual patient information with China unless information that would identify the patient is removed
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Secrets of bubonic plague bacteria's virulence revealed
Bubonic plague has killed more than 200 million people during the course of history and is thus the most devastating acute infectious disease known to man; scientists are closer to understanding bacteria’s virulence
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Drug-resistant tuberculosis on the increase in the U.K.
The incidence of tuberculosis in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland has been on the increase with more than 8,000 cases reported in 2006; the cause: changing population structure and ongoing migration
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New ultrasensitive assay detects most poisonous substance known
One gram of botulinum toxin could kill more than one million people — little wonder, then, that CDC identifies botulinum neurotoxin as one of six “maximum threat” bioterrorism agents; researchers have now developed a new ultrasensitive assay to detect botulinum neurotoxin
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Debate over private biolabs in Seattle
Biolabs bring high-paying jobs to a community and contracts from government and the pharmaceutical industry; there is always a danger, though: an accident may occur and a deadly pathogen may be released into the environment to wreak havoc and death; in Seattle they debate the wisdom of locating biolabs in residential communities s
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FDA: Heparin contamination may have been deliberate
Blood-thinner heparin costs manufacturers $900 a pound; a similar chemical, oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, costs $9 a pound; Chinese drug manufacturer uses the latter chemical to produce fake heparin — causing the death of nearly 100 and sickness of thousands around the world; FDA initially said this was a case of “economic fraud,” but now says something more sinister may be afoot
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The long view
Coronavirus Disease 2019: The Harms of Exaggerated Information and Non‐Evidence‐Based Measures
Those arguing in favor of lockdowns say that postponing the epidemic wave (“flattening the curve”) gains time to develop vaccines and reduces strain on the health system, which otherwise might be overwhelmed. John P. A. Ioannidis writes in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation, however, that vaccines take many months (or even years) to develop and test properly. “Maintaining lockdowns for many months may have even worse consequences than an epidemic wave that runs an acute course,” he writes. “Focusing on protecting susceptible individuals may be preferable to maintaining countrywide lockdowns long-term.” He also notes that different coronaviruses actually infect millions of people every year, and they are common especially in the elderly and in hospitalized patients with respiratory illness in the winter. The only unique aspect of this year’s coronavirus outbreak is the unprecedented attention it has received in the media.
U.S. Intelligence Warned in November that Coronavirus Spreading in China Could Be “Cataclysmic Event”: Report
President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that his administration could not have prepared for the pandemic because no government agency could have known that such an out-of-the-blue outbreak would happen. Justin Coleman writes that the president’s claims are false. The U.S. intelligence community began to warn about a global epidemic in November, saying that the outbreak in China could develop into a “cataclysmic event,” and policymakers, decisionmakers, and the National Security Council at the White House were repeatedly briefed on the issue. The coronavirus first appeared in the President’s Daily Brief (PDB) of intelligence matters — placed on the president’s desk every morning — in early January.
Coronavirus Social Distancing Presents Special Challenges to Spies
While the COVID-19 public health crisis grabs the headlines and kills tens of thousands, state-actors and transnational terrorist groups continue to purloin data, spread disinformation and plan terrorist attacks. Jason M. Blazakis writes that the U.S. national security community’s ability to detect threats may be less than optimal because Human intelligence (HUMINT) collection — a key tool to combat terrorism — is impaired during COVID-19.
Don’t Believe the COVID-19 Models: That’s Not What They’re for.
Since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, governments, analysts, and health organizations have released different statistical models addressing the disease – and its numerical manifestations: the number of people likely to be infected; hospitalized; treated in the ICUs; or die. Different models offer different numbers and different trajectories. Which one of them is right? Zeynep Tufecki writes that “The answer is both difficult and simple. Here’s the difficult part: There is no right answer. But here’s the simple part: Right answers are not what epidemiological models are for.” The most important function of epidemiological models is as a simulation, a way to see our potential futures ahead of time, and how that interacts with the choices we make today. Thus, epidemiological models do not give us certainty – they give us something much more important: “agency to identify and calibrate our actions with the goal of shaping our future.”
Pandemics and the U.S. Military: Lessons from 1918
The novel coronavirus will hit the U.S. military and its allies hard — how hard will depend on a number of variables, some having to do with the virus itself (how and to what extent it mutates, whether it comes back in subsequent waves, etc.) and others having to do with what measures militaries take to protect themselves. Michael Shurkin writes that, fortunately, we have a historical example that could offer some clues on how the virus might affect the military, and the policy choices that at some point today’s military leaders may face. He is referring to the 1918 influenza epidemic — commonly referred to as the Spanish flu.
How to Keep the New Coronavirus from Being Used as a Terrorist Weapon
The possibility that extremist groups may attempt to deliberately spread SARS-CoV-2—the virus causing the current pandemic—should not be ignored. In fact, one of the primary limiting factors to such an attack—recruiting humans willing to infect themselves—does not apply in this case; potential perpetrators would come from the ranks of those already infected with the virus. We are faced, therefore, with a genuinely challenging task: preemption.