Today's Headlines: October 4, 2018
Biological Agents & Infectious Diseases
Domestic Preparedness & Response
The Long, Strange History of the Presidential Text Alert (
Wired) Donald Trump plans to text you Wednesday, whether you want him to or not. The first nationwide test of the government's Presidential Alert system will unfold at 2:18 pm ET, when almost every cell phone user in the US will receive a text message from FEMA saying, "THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."
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Global Health Security
Defeating Re-Emerging Alkhurma Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Outbreak in Saudi Arabia and Worldwide (
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases) Sporadic incidence and prevalence of Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus (AHFV) (family Flaviviridae; genus
Flavivirus) in Saudi Arabia (KSA) is profiled periodically. The virus, which is related to tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) complex and is genetically closely related to Kyasanur Forest disease virus (KFDV), was primarily identified in KSA in November and December 1995 based on isolation from the blood of 6 male butchers aged 24 to 39 years old and residents in the Jeddah province, of whom 4 recovered completely.
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Government Affairs & National Security
F.B.I. Arrests Utah Man in Ricin Scare at Pentagon (
New York Times) The F.B.I. on Wednesday arrested a Navy veteran suspected of sending two envelopes to the Pentagon this week that contained raw materials for the deadly poison ricin. The man, William Clyde Allen III, was detained at a home in Logan, Utah.
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Reports of the Death of Arms Control Have Been Greatly Exaggerated (
War on the Rocks) The deliberate or accidental detonation of a nuclear weapon could set off a literal and figurative chain reaction that could end the world as we know it. Yet today, a renewed full-scale arms race is no longer an implausible scenario. Nuclear weapons are still being built, modernized, and stockpiled around the world.
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Medicine & Public Health
New Tools in the Ebola Arsenal (
New England Journal of Medicine) Human Ebola virus disease can be caused by four viruses: Sudan virus, Tai Forest virus, Bundibugyo virus, and Ebola virus (EBOV, species
Zaire ebolavirus). The 2014 outbreak of EBOV in West Africa was the worst ever, with more than 28,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Mali.
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Excess Mortality and Causes Associated with Chikungunya, Puerto Rico, 2014-2015 (
Emerging Infectious Diseases) During 2014-2015, a total of 31 deaths were associated with the first chikungunya epidemic in Puerto Rico. We analyzed excess mortality from various causes for the same months during the previous 4 years and detected 1,310 deaths possibly attributable to chikungunya. Our findings raise important questions about increased mortality rates associated with chikungunya.
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Science & Technology
Rethink Needed Over Use of Automated Health Records (
Financial Times: Subscription Required) A UK government minister has called for a "profound rethink" of the ethical frameworks around using health data and artificial intelligence as the technology begins to delve ever more deeply into patients' personal records.
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Other 21st Century Threats
Russia Cyber-Plots: US, UK and Netherlands Allege Hacking (
BBC News) Russian spies have been accused of involvement in a series of cyber-plots across the globe, leading the US to level charges against seven agents. The US justice department said targets included the global chemical weapons watchdog, anti-doping agencies and a US nuclear company.
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The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate US Companies (
Bloomberg) The attack by Chinese spies reached almost 30 US companies, including Amazon and Apple, by compromising America's technology supply chain, according to extensive interviews with government and corporate sources. In 2015, Amazon.com Inc. began quietly evaluating a startup called Elemental Technologies, a potential acquisition to help with a major expansion of its streaming video service, known today as Amazon Prime Video.
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How Should We Deal with a Large-Scale Chemical Attack? (
BBC News) Scientists at Loughborough University have developed means of quickly testing possible victims of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear disaster or attack. The tests include breath and saliva analysis and drones that can measure toxic fumes or radiation in the air.
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