Public health

BIOTERRORISMNew Vaccine Against a Highly Fatal Tropical Disease – and Potential Bioterror Weapon – Demonstrates Efficacy in Animal Studies
Researchers tested a vaccine against the bacterium that causes melioidosis and found it was highly protective against the disease. The bacterium is so dangerous that it is categorized as a Tier 1 Select Agent of bioterrorism, and it can cause rapidly fatal pneumonia when inhaled in low doses. If aerosolized and unleashed in a terror attack, it could lead to widespread death.
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FOOD SECURITYU.S. Needs New Drought Assessment Framework as Droughts Become More Severe and Unpredictable
By Solomon Self
Droughts in the United States are becoming more intense and unpredictable, and the nation needs to develop a new drought assessment framework to better understand and address them. A new framework should be developed which distinguishes between short-term operational needs, such as drought monitoring and emergency response, and long-term planning for water management, infrastructure, and climate adaptation.
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MASS SHOOTINGCan Mass Shootings Be Prevented? Researchers Believe It’s Possible
By Jennifer Mascia, The Trace
New research examining more than 150,000 pages of police records, court transcripts, and after-action reports found that mass shootings are quite predictable, if you know what to look for.
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BW & CWToxic Terrorism
By Ajey Lele
On 26 June 2026, during the Muharram procession in Mumbai, a man was arrested for allegedly distributing poisonous capsules to participants. This suspected terror plot was an attempt to ensure mass casualties amongst using a toxic substance. It is a timely reminder that national security today extends far beyond conventional terrorism.
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FOOD SECURITYConflict Increases Food Prices in Far-Flung Locations: Study
Fighting along key transport routes pushes up food prices in areas far from the conflict itself, according to a new study. “The research tells us that the spillover effects of conflict are perhaps worse than previously thought,” says on of the study’s authors.
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CLIMATE-CHANGE CHALLENGESAcross Europe, Heat Adaptation Plans Are Being Put to a Brutal Test
By Naveena Sadasivam
As global warming relentlessly continues to push temperatures upward, cities across Europe rehearsing what it might be like to live in the future when temperatures are projected to hit 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Those strategies are now being put to one of their biggest tests.
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WAR ON VACCINESThe Military Traded Its Flu Vaccine Mandate for “Medical Freedom” – an Outbreak Quickly Followed
By Katrine L. Wallace
The logic that drove George Washington in 1777 and the Army surgeon general in 1945 to require vaccination hasn’t really changed. A sick soldier can’t deploy, can’t train and can spread illness through an entire unit. The secretary of defense thought that ideological sloganeering was more important than science, medical knowledge, and the basic requirements of military readiness and operational readiness.
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WAR ON VACCINESNew ACIP Charter Could Allow RFK Jr. to Further Restrict Vaccine Access, Critics Say
By Liz Szabo
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is continuing his battle to remake federal vaccine policy, this time by rewriting the charter of a federal committee that wields enormous influence over childhood immunizations to shift its focus beyond vaccines.
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FOOD SECURITYTexas Officials Say Rodents and Other Small Wildlife Could Be to Blame for New World Screwworm Infestations
By Berenice Garcia
As the New World screwworm continues to infiltrate livestock and other animals in Texas, many have been asking how the parasitic fly landed here to begin with. Until now, cattle were believed to be the main screwworm carriers. Investigations continue.
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PUBLIC HEALTHHow Cuts to CDC Are Dismantling Its Capacity to Protect Americans’ Health
By Candice Johnson
CDC’s mission is to protect and improve the health of Americans, which it fulfills by preventing, detecting and controlling disease. CDC also staffs a pool of public health experts who are rapidly deployed to respond to public health emergencies – including disease outbreaks – worldwide. The cuts to CDC put these functions in jeopardy.
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FOOD SECURITYBugs, Beef, and Blame: New World Screwworm is Back
By Margeaux Malone
American cattle can’t catch a break. For the first time this year, highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in Texas dairy cows. And now, the biggest story this week is the confirmed re-introduction of New World Screwworm (NWS) into the United States.
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WORLD-CUP & PUBLIC HEALTHWorld Cup Creates Perfect Conditions for Infectious Diseases to Spread – Here Are the Biggest Threats Health Experts Are Watching For
By Andrés Henao
The World Cup is not just a sporting event but a weekslong experiment in global mixing that creates a perfect environment for infectious diseases to spread. Events of this scale rarely cause major outbreaks, but they do create opportunities for outbreaks and for health systems to be tested.
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DUAL-USE RESEARCHFirst Large-Scale Empirical Analysis of Dual-Use Research and Security Oversight
Dual-use research refers to scientific research that has both legitimate civilian applications and potential security-sensitive applications. A new analysis of approximately 600,000 research papers reveals structural limits to single-country security oversight of dual-use research and identifies trade-offs that policymakers face when strengthening such oversight.
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FOOD SECURITYWhat to Know About Screwworm in Texas
By Stephen Simpson and Berenice Garcia
The first case of New World screwworm in 60 years has been confirmed in Zavala County, near the Mexican border. The flesh-eating fly poses a threat to the state’s $15 billion cattle industry.
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PUBLIC HEALTHMeasles, Whooping Cough Spike Amid Low Vaccination Rates
By Tim Henderson
Vaccine hesitancy fed by misinformation is causing new surges of measles and whooping cough, while COVID-19 hotspots persist in some states and a new threat looms from an Ebola outbreak in central Africa. Twelve states and DC already have seen more measles cases than in all of 2025.
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