March 29, 2016
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Public Health & Healthcare Preparedness
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BLOG Zika Virus. GAO Chief Scientist Tim Persons recently testified before Congress on the Zika virus. Today's WatchBlog shares what he said about the disease, how it spreads, and the options available to individuals and nations to try to stop it from spreading. (GAO, 3/24/16)
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STATEMENT NIH Statement on World Tuberculosis Day 2016. Despite recent advances, TB remains one of the world's deadliest diseases. TB incidence worldwide has declined 18 percent since 2000. However, in 2014 the disease still caused 9.6 million people across the globe to be sick, and killed 1.5 million people, mainly in developing countries, according to the WHO. (NIH, 3/24/16)
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WEBINAR Zika Action Plan (ZAP) Summit. The goals of the Summit are to provide state and local senior officials with information and tools needed to improve Zika preparedness and response within their states and jurisdictions;increase knowledge on the latest Zika science, including implications for pregnant women; increase knowledge of best communications practices, including crisis and risk communication principles; accelerate readiness for local Zika transmission through training and technical assistance to states to help establish and support surveillance and share best practices for vector control; and identify possible gaps in preparedness and response at the federal, state, and local levels, and help to begin to address possible gaps. The webinar will be held on Friday, April 1, 2016 from 8:30 AM - 3 PM EST. Registration is required. (CDC, 3/23/16)
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PRESS RELEASE Blood Test Can Predict Risk of Developing Tuberculosis. An international team of researchers has identified biological markers in the blood of latently infected people that may give doctors a tool they have long sought: a way to predict who is at high risk of developing active TB. If validated through additional clinical trials, a test based on these blood biomarkers would allow doctors to target therapies to at-risk people, thus preventing them from getting sick. (NIAID, 3/23/16)
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NEWS ObamaCare Site Faced 316 Cyber Incidents. The Web portal used by millions to purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act logged 316 cybersecurity incidents during an 18-month period, a government report revealed on Wednesday. Most of the incidents involved electronic probing of the site's systems by potential attackers looking for weaknesses. (The Hill, 3/23/16)
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NEWS "Whole-of-Hemisphere" Fighting Zika Virus. US Southern Command is just part of the "whole-of-hemisphere" approach to combating the Zika virus, the Southcom commander said today at a Council of the Americas forum on Zika and the Americas. Navy Adm. Kurt W. Tidd stressed the command is supporting other US agencies in the fight against the disease. (Department of Defense, 3/22/16)
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GUIDANCE Zika Communication Planning Guide for States. In order to meet state, local, and territorial health department goals for the Zika response, clear, consistent, and frequent communication ensures that people receive and understand information that can help them make decisions. Communication with the public will foster behaviors to prevent the spread of Zika and protect pregnant woman and their pregnancies. (CDC, 3/22/16)
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BLOG Zika, Mosquitoes, and Standing Water. With spring weather and mosquito season coming soon in the United States, the Zika virus - and the mosquitoes that carry the virus - may be a major concern. Zika is currently affecting more than 30 countries and territories in the Americas and Pacific Islands. (CDC, 3/22/16)
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BLOG World TB Day 2016. Today on World TB Day - more than a century after the scientific discovery of the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB), TB continues to be one of the world's most deadly infectious diseases and among the leading causes of death worldwide. (CDC, 3/22/16)
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NOTICE Meeting: Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis. This council advises and makes recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Assistant Secretary for Health, and the Director, CDC, regarding the elimination of tuberculosis. Agenda items include the following topics: (1) Discussion on US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Recommendations; (2) Draft of TB Treatment Guidelines; (3) Updates from Workgroups; and (4) other tuberculosis-related issues. (Federal Register, 3/22/16)
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NEWS This Lab is Ground Zero in the US Fight Against Zika. Behind an unmarked gated entrance in this working-class neighborhood of San Juan, scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have only one focus: to stop Zika's spread. About 100 virologists, biologists, entomologists and more are working here, including dozens brought from CDC sites in Colorado and Georgia. (Washington Post, 3/20/16)
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Homeland Security & Disaster Preparedness
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NEWS NIST, Partners Set Research Agenda for Protecting Firefighters from Harm. Recently, the National Institute of Standards and Technology teamed with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to host a symposium at which more than 100 representatives of the fire service and fire research communities identified and prioritized firefighter health and safety issues, and then created a guide for addressing them through scientific study and technology development. (NIST, 3/23/16)
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Radiological & Nuclear Disaster Preparedness
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Science & Technology Policy
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NEWS Prestigious Texas Lab Cited Again for Animal Deaths. In the latest probe, the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service cited the Galveston National Laboratory last month for problems including improper data collection regarding animal observations and failure to promptly notify an attending veterinarian of an animal's death. (AP, 3/25/16)
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There are no hearings scheduled for this week.
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