Biodefense Panel, Other Public Health Groups Applaud Approval of Zika Funding (Homeland Security Today.US) The co-chairs of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense applauded action by Congress to reach a compromise on Zika funding - which took more than eight months to het pushed through Senate Democrats after the White House first asked for supplemental funding--but reasserted its desire to seek a total shift in how the US budgets for infectious disease crises moving forward. Go to article

Zika Virus 6 Months Later (JAMA Network) On January 15, 2016, the CDC advised pregnant women not to travel to areas where the Zika virus was spreading. Six months later, more than 60 countries or territories have reported new local transmission of Zika. By August 4, 2016, nearly 1700 cases of travel-associated Zika infection, including 479 in pregnant women, had been reported in the continental US; Puerto Rico is experiencing rapid and extensive spread of the epidemic. Go to article

Zika Virus Cases Soar in Asia, WHO Says (NBC News) Zika infections are expected to continue rising in the Asia-Pacific region, where authorities are increasing surveillance, preparing responses to complications and collaborating on information about the disease, the WHO said Monday. Go to article

Niger Rift Valley Fever Outbreak Could Spread Across Borders: Health Experts (Reuters) An outbreak of Rift Valley fever that has killed at least 28 people in western Niger in recent months could spread to neighboring Mali and Algeria, health officials warned on Monday. Go to article

Flesh-eating Worms Have Returned to Florida (The Atlantic) Screwworms ate their way into livestock, dogs, deer, and even humans in the US until they were wiped out in 1982, in one of the most successful national eradication campaigns ever. This week, however, US officials confirmed that the screwworm is back. Poor deer in a wildlife refuge in the Florida Keys had somehow picked up the parasite, the US's first local infestation in 30 years. Go to article

Mumps Outbreak Continues to Grow in Arkansas (THV 11) The number of suspected mumps cases in Arkansas is growing. As of October 11, there were 427 mumps cases under investigation. That is the largest number of cases reported in the past 15 years. Now, a third MMR vaccine is being considered as the number of cases continues to grow. Go to article

Who Can Haitians Trust to Deliver Hurricane Aid? (NPR: Goats and Soda) Who's in charge of the aid? That's the question in the hurricane-ravaged southwest of Haiti. Should politicians hand it out? Or aid groups? Or religious leaders? Pastor Louis Masil, who lives in the tiny village of Banatte, doesn't think the government should be in control. Go to article

Venezuela: Health Minister Denies 23 Diphtheria Deaths (H5N1) Of all suspected cases--number unknown--only four have tested positive for diphtheria. Two of them died. At least that what Health Minister Luisana Melo, said this Tuesday, October 11. Nevertheless, unpublished ministry documents indicate that as of the latest week in October, 41 cases have been recorded this year. Go to article

Fact Sheet: United States Leadership to Advance the Global Health Security Agenda: 55 Countries Show Concrete Commitment to Prevent, Detect, and Respond (The White House.gov) This week in Rotterdam, the US will join the Netherlands and other participants in the 55-country Global Health Security Agenda, as well as non-governmental organizations, foundations, and private sector stakeholders, as they take collective action to address epidemic threats. Go to article

Risk Factors for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection Among Healthcare Personnel (Emerging Infectious Diseases) Healthcare settings can amplify transmission of MERS-CoV, but knowledge gaps about the epidemiology of transmission remain. We conducted a retrospective cohort study among healthcare personnel in hospital units that treated MERS-CoV patients. Go to article

Tuberculosis in Migrants Moving from High-incidence to Low-incidence Countries: a Population-based Cohort Study of 519,955 Migrants Screened Before Entry to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (The Lancet) Tuberculosis elimination in countries with a low incidence of the disease necessitates multiple interventions, including innovations in migrant screening. We examined a cohort of migrants screened for tuberculosis before entry to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and tracked the development of disease in this group after arrival. Go to article

Farmers Are Manipulating Microbiomes to Help Crops Grow (Wired) In the back of Indigo's Boston headquarters--past the gleaming new desks, past empty rooms awaiting new employees after a $100 million fundraising round--is a giant elevator. The elevator has one main purpose: to haul dirt up by the pallet load. Go to article

Writing the First Human Genome by 2026 Is Synthetic Biology's Grand Challenge (Singularity HUB) A "top secret" meeting of scientists was held at the Langone Medical Center on Halloween 2015. Their aim? To kickstart a new Human Genome Project and build a functional human genome from the base pairs up by 2026. Go to article

Huge Area of US West Burned Due to Warming Climate (ars Technica) Wildfires in the American West can make for apocalyptic images, but they're also routine, as the heat of the dry season can turn large areas of forest into fires-in-waiting. One lightning strike--or one careless human--can set off a blaze that consumes tens of thousands of acres. Go to article

War Goes Viral (The Atlantic) Like most every­thing today, the campaign was launched with a hashtag. But instead of promoting a new album or a movie release, #AllEyesOnISIS announced the 2014 invasion of northern Iraq--a bloody takeover that still haunts global politics two years later. Go to article