The first shipment of Anthim (obiltoxaximab) injection, a novel treatment for the inhalation of Bacillus anthracis, which causes anthrax, has arrived in the US Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) according to a press release yesterday from Elusys Therapeutics, Inc. Elusys manufactures Anthim and has received more than $240 million from the US government to develop the drug over the past 15 years.
Using Project BioShield funding, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is investing up to $539 million in a freeze-dried (lyophilized) smallpox vaccine for women who are pregnant or nursing and for people with HIV or atopic dermatitis, HHS said in a press release today.
A research letter in Nature yesterday said that up to 40% of all animal deaths in the Ivory Coast's Tai National Park were caused by an unusual strain of the bacteria that causes anthrax. The strain, Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis, could even lead to extinction of the park's chimpanzee population, researchers said.
Syria has confirmed 15 additional cases of polio, including 1 case in a child who may have contracted the disease in Raqqa, a city held by the terrorist group ISIS, Reuters reported today.
Two cases were announced in Syria earlier this month, the first since 2014, so the total has now reachaed 17 cases, with symptom onset ranging from Mar 3 to May 23. All 17 cases involve paralysis.
Yesterday the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) released its epidemiologic survey of Zika virus and said the mosquito-borne illness was on the decline in Mexico but increasing in Anguilla, Paraguay, and Peru. Zika cases in the United States, meanwhile, topped 4,600.
An international group reporting in Clinical Infectious Diseases said a 9-month-old who died of Ebola in Guinea after her parents showed no signs of the illness likely contracted the virus through her mother's breastmilk. Both the mother's milk and the father's semen tested positive for Ebola virus.
Samples of UK-produced pork products have tested positive for a livestock strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), according to a report today by The Guardian.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) yesterday proposed adding Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis to the list of HHS select agents and toxins as a Tier 1 Select Agent, the most concerning as a possible bioterrorism agent.
The US government is awarding $20 million in prizes for innovative ideas for the development of rapid, point-of-care diagnostic lab tests to quickly identify antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to a National Institutes of Health (NIH) press release today.
Besides leading smallpox eradication, Henderson is also known for his role in shaping public health education and for instilling passion for solving infectious disease problems.
