Biosecurity News - Issue 26
Contents
Conferences, Seminars and Journal Issues
The “NHMRC is calling for public health and medical research proposals that aim to rapidly inform and advance Australian strategies to prevent, prepare for and respond to a potential H1N1 Influenza pandemic and inform the development of public policy.” Deadline for proposals is 5pm 22 June 2009. More information:
http://nhmrc.gov.au/grants/types/granttype/strategic/influenza09.htm
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The UNESCO's Sector for Social and Human Sciences calls for nominations for the Avicenna Prize 2009. The prize includes $10,000 and a scientific visit to the Republic of Iran. “Candidates shall have contributed to high-quality research in the field of ethics of science and technology. Prizes may be conferred upon individuals, institutions, other entities or non-governmental organizations.” The deadline for submission of proposals is 15 July 2009. More information:
http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=12800&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
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The University of Sussex is advertising for a part-time Research Fellow to participate in their Harvard Sussex Program on Chemcial and Biological Weapons. Applications close 12 June 2009. More information:
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/staffing/personnl/vacs/vac577.shtml
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The 62nd World Health Assembly took place from 18-22 May in Geneva. Discussions centered around the current H1N1 pandemic as well as primary health care and the implementation of the 2005 International Health Regulations. Full information can be found at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/2009/wha62/en/index.html
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Previous Announcement
- The Lancet Infectious Diseases and The Lancet are organising a conference and special issue on influenza in the Asia-Pacific region. Conference: 21-23 August, 2009 in Qingdao, China. More information
- Global Biosecurity 2010: safeguarding agriculture and the environment in Brisbane, Australia. Abstracts: 31 July 2009. Conference: 28 February – 3 March 2010. More information
- US Department of State’s Biosecurity Engagement Program provides funding for travel to biosecurity-related conferences. More information
Special Coverage - H1N1
The novel H1N1 Influenza A outbreak affecting multiple countries receives special attention below. Some stories have been sourced to either the ABC (Australian Broadcast Corporation) or BBC online news sites because of their persistence over long periods of time and the continuity of their coverage. Readers seeking references to traditional print-based media should endeavour to search the online archives of their preferred news outlet using the key terms and dates gathered here.
Official Sources
The latest information update from the WHO:
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_06_05/en/index.html
Latest CDC update:
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm
and
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/
WHO interactive timeline:
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/interactive_map/en/index.html
Full list of guidance information from WHO:
http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/swineflu/en/index.html
National Response Sites:
Australia: http://www.healthemergency.gov.au/
Canada: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/alert-alerte/swine_200904-eng.php
European Union: http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/Health_topics/novel_influenza_virus/2009_Outbreak/
New Zealand: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/mexican-swine-influenza-update-270409
Singapore: http://www.crisis.gov.sg/FLU/InfluenzaA/
United Kingdom: http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&Page&HPAwebAutoListName/Page/1240732817665?p=1240732817665
United States: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
Epidemiology, Disease Progression and Impact
Science magazine’s timeline of events
3 June 2009
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/06/swine-flu-outbr.html
High numbers of cases in Australian state of Victoria (possible community-wide transmission)
29 May 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/29/2584998.htm
‘Geographic Dependence, Surveillance, and Origins of the 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Virus’
27 May 2009
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMp0904572
‘Swine flu attention turns to the tropics’
27 May 2009
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090527/full/459490a.html
‘Number of confirmed swine flu cases could be “tip of iceberg”’
26 May 2009
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/338/may26_3/b2153
US government orders almost $1 billion in H1N1 vaccines
22 May 2009
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/05/20090522b.html
and more facts:
https://www.medicalcountermeasures.gov/BARDA/MCM/panflu/factsheet.aspx
https://www.medicalcountermeasures.gov/BARDA/MCM/panflu/nextsteps.aspx
Genetic analysis of H1N1 Influenza A circulating in humans (Science)
22 May 2009
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/324/5931/1127
And the full paper:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/rapidpdf/1176225.pdf
‘Late seasonal flu accompanying swine flu?’
17 May 2009
http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2009/05/late_seasonal_flu_accompanying.php
WHO concludes laboratory-origin of H1N1 unlikely
16 May 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/15/2572085.htm
Preliminary analysis of H1N1 reproductive rate – contradicts initial Ferguson results
14 May 2009
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19205
and the original account published in Science on May 11:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1176062
‘Assessing the severity of an influenza pandemic’
11 May 2009
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/assess/disease_swineflu_assess_20090511/en/index.html
Response
‘US ramps up swine flu protection’ (vaccine production technologies)
4 June 2009
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090603/full/news.2009.543.html
‘New dollars and critique lobbed at swine flu response’
4 June 2009
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/06/new-dollars-and.html
And the original report from Trust for America’s Health:
http://healthyamericans.org/report/64/pandemic-flu-frontlines
Australian Senator accuses government of ‘scare campaign’
3 June 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/03/2588697.htm
‘Cruise ship turned away (from New Caledonia) amid flu fears’
2 June 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/02/2586888.htm
Australian cruise ship allowed to dock in Sydney, after extensive coverage and quarantining of 2000 passengers
30 May 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/30/2585301.htm
and
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/31/2585521.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/29/2584380.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/28/2583699.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/26/2580617.htm
‘Hotel evicts swine flu sufferers’
29 May 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/29/2584200.htm
Unions, Govts in talks on ‘Quarantine Pay’
29 May 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/30/2585236.htm
‘Spread of swine flu puts Japan in crisis mode’
22 May 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/world/asia/22japan.html
Summary of final IGM on pandemic preparedness and WHA
22 May 2009
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/05/22/world-health-assembly-finds-way-forward-on-pandemic-flu/
‘Influenza A (H1N1) Virus, 2009 — Online Monitoring’
21 May 2009
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/360/21/2156
‘Parents worried about swine flu, flock to ER’
21 May 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/nyregion/22er.html
‘Swine Flu Spreads in Japan, Despite Quarantine Inspections’
20 May 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/19/AR2009051900364.html
‘Swine flu outbreak reveals military plans, gaps’
20 May 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jN8GvBVLVABijW7-1V8NIW5nSx_wD989QTF82
‘Flu Researchers Train Sights On Novel Tricks of Novel H1N1’
15 May 2009
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/324/5929/870
Interview with influenza virus seed-vaccine producer (US WHO Collaborating Centre)
14 May 2009
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090514/full/news.2009.482.html
Commentary and Editorials
The Lancet discusses the cultural and etymological significance of ‘pandemic’
6 June 2009
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673609610539/fulltext
‘Air travel at your own risk’
4 June 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/04/2589242.htm
The Lancet Infectious Diseases discusses scientific uncertainty and media hype in the current outbreak
1 June 2009
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473309909701343/fulltext
‘Managing and Reducing Uncertainty in an Emerging Influenza Pandemic’
27 May 2009
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMp0904380
WHO under pressure to rewrite pandemic requirement
22 May 2009
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090525/pandemic_090525/20090525
Related comments:
http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2009/05/swine_flu_who_and_its_pandemic.php
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/05/pandemic-defini.html
‘Epidemic science in real-time’
22 May 2009
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/324/5930/987
‘Past pandemics provide mixed clues to H1N1’s next moves’
22 May 2009
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/324/5930/996
‘The problem with flu vaccines’
21 May 2009
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/338/may21_3/b2065
Two editorials on communication strategies and policy responses to H1N1 influenza from Nature
20 May 2009
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7245/full/459324a.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7245/full/459322a.html
‘When will that swine flu vaccine be ready?’
20 May 2009
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/05/when-will-that.html
‘Concerns over WHO pandemic justified’ (WHO Director Generals comments to 62nd WHA)
18 May 2009
http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2009/62nd_assembly_address_20090518/en/index.html
‘Governments must be pulled up for failings over flu’
15 May 2009
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/338/may15_2/b2019
‘The Price of a Pandemic’ (Nature Microbiology on the financial crisis and Influenza H1N1)
15 May 2009
http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/journal/v7/n6/full/nrmicro2162.html
‘Swine Flu Names Evolving Faster Than Swine Flu Itself’
15 May 2009
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/324/5929/871
News Articles
Pandemic and Avian Influenza
The following reports and studies relate to avian influenza and pandemic influenza in general, for information specific to currently circulating H1N1 Influenza, see above
‘Computational tools evolve to reveal patterns in flu data’
5 June 2009
http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v15/n6/full/nm0609-587.html
Egypt confirms another human H5N1 case
2 June 2009
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_06_02/en/index.html
‘Hedging against Antiviral Resistance during the Next Influenza Pandemic Using Small Stockpiles of an Alternative Chemotherapy’
22 May 2009
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000085
‘Human noses too cold for bird flu’
14 May 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8050523.stm
and the original report:
http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1000424
HIV
Projecting the Future Budgetary Cost of AIDS Treatment’ (Software Package and Data Set for DIY calcs.)
5 June 2009
http://blogs.cgdev.org/globalhealth/2009/06/projecting-the-future-budgetary-cost-of-aids-treatment-manual-software-package-and-data-set.php
‘Will to live: AIDS therapies and the politics of survival’
30 May 2009
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a911831983
‘The invisible cure: Africa, the West and the fight against AIDS’
30 May 2009
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a911735931
‘Obama plans to make the US emergency AIDS plan a sustainable programme’
19 May 2009
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/338/may19_1/b2022
‘The dangers of denying HIV’
13 May 2009
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7244/full/459168a.html
Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases
‘The Global Burden of Tuberculosis — Combating Drug Resistance in Difficult Times’
4 June 2009
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/360/23/2393
‘Epidemiology of antituberculosis drug resistance 2002—07’
30 May 2009
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673609603317/abstract
‘Kissing can be dangerous: the public health campaigns to prevent Tuberculosis in Western Australia: 1900-1960’
30 May 2009
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a911116634
New viral hemorrhagic fever, Lujo Virus, linked to South African deaths in early 2009
29 May 2009
http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1000455
‘Zimbabwe cholera cases set to top 100,000’
27 May 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/27/2581630.htm
Biological Weapons
US department of defense report on safety and security at its biological labs
26 May 2009
http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/2009-05-Bio_Safety.pdf
NSABB report on ‘Strategies for managing dual-use research of concern’
20 May 2009
http://oba.od.nih.gov/biosecurity/PDF/Report%20from%203rd%20Rt_Final_18%20May%202009.pdf
‘Do U.S. biodefense efforts need systems analysis?’
18 May 2009
http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/columnists/malcolm-dando/do-us-biodefense-efforts-need-systems-analysis
Microbiologist arrested for smuggling materials into US
14 May 2009
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/05/microbiologist.html
and
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090520/full/459311a.html
Biosecurity Policy and Ethics
Comment on the possibility of DIY stem cells
3 June 2009
http://www.synthesis.cc/2009/06/another-step-toward-diystemcells.html
Synthetic Biology: creation of a gene network which counts
29 May 2009
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/324/5931/1199
Science editorial on the review of US biosecurity regulations currently underway
29 May 2009
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/324/5931/1117
A good summary of the review is listed under ‘additional information’ at:
http://cstsp.aaas.org/BiosecurityComment.html
Interactive map of institutions involved in synthetic biology
27 May 2009
http://www.synbioproject.org/library/inventories/map/
New US transport regulations for pathogens
14 May 2009
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/05/regs-could-jeop.html
And the guidelines (soon to be regulations):
http://www.tsa.gov/assets/pdf/tsai_app_a_hssm_sai.pdf
‘Synthetic biology gets ethical’
12 May 2009
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090512/full/news.2009.464.html
The Wall Street Journal on DIY biology
12 May 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124207326903607931.html
Global Health Governance and Disease Control
‘Towards a common definition of global health’
6 June 2009
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673609603329/fulltext
‘Case studies in global health’
30 May 2009
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a911744252
‘Digital disease detection – harnessing the web for public health surveillance’
21 May 2009
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/360/21/2153
Institute of Medicine releases report into the US Commitment to Global Health
20 May 2009
http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3783/51303/67183.aspx
Summary and comment:
http://blogs.cgdev.org/globalhealth/2009/05/institute-of-medicine-releases-report-on-us-commitment-to-global-health.php
Policy forum on the cholera crisis in Africa
15 May 2009
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/324/5929/885
New York MDR-TB doctor to head CDC
15 May 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/health/policy/15cdc.html
And comment:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673609610424/fulltext
‘Global Health Actors Claim To Support Health System Strengthening—Is This Reality or Rhetoric?’
28 April 2009
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000059
