Biodefense

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To better identify emerging or reemerging pathogens in patients with difficult-to-diagnose infections, it is important to improve access to advanced molecular testing methods. This is particularly relevant for cases where conventional microbiologic testing has been unable to detect the pathogen and the patient's specimens test negative. To assess the availability and utility of such testing for human clinical specimens, a literature review of published biomedical literature was conducted. From a corpus of more than 4,000 articles, a set of 34 reports was reviewed in detail for data on where the testing was being performed, types of clinical specimens tested, pathogen agnostic techniques and methods used, and results in terms of potential pathogens identified...

The surge in opioid-related deaths, driven predominantly by fentanyl and its synthetic derivatives, has become a critical public health concern, which is particularly evident in the United States. While the situation is less severe in Europe, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction reports a rise in drug overdose deaths, with emerging concerns about the impact of fentanyl-related molecules. Synthetic opioids, initially designed for medical use, have infiltrated illicit markets due to their low production costs and high potency, with carfentanil posing additional threats, including potential chemical weaponization...

Tools and methods of precision medicine are developing rapidly, through both iterative discoveries enabled by innovations in biomedical research (e.g., genome editing, synthetic biology, bioengineered devices). These are strengthened by advancements in information technology and the increasing body of data-as assimilated, analyzed, and made accessible-and affectable-through current and emerging cyber-and systems- technologies. Taken together, these approaches afford ever greater volume and availability of individual and collective human data...

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States is actively reshaping parts of its national security enterprise. This article explores the underlying politics, with a specific interest in the context of biosecurity, biodefense, and bioterrorism strategy, programs, and response, as the United States responds to the most significant outbreak of an emerging infectious disease in over a century. How the implicit or tacit failure to recognize the political will and political decision-making connected to warfare and conflict for biological weapons programs in these trends is explored...

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Microbial organisms have been implicated in several mass extinction events throughout Earth's planetary history. Concurrently, it can be reasoned from recent viral pandemics that viruses likely exacerbated the decline of life during these periods of mass extinction. The fields of exovirology and exobiology have evolved significantly since the 20th century, with early investigations into the varied atmospheric compositions of exoplanets revealing complex interactions between metallic and non-metallic elements...

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SARS-CoV-2 spreads pandemically since 2020; in 2021, effective vaccinations became available and vaccination campaigns commenced. Still, it is hard to track the spread of the infection or to assess vaccination success in the broader population. Measuring specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies is the most effective tool to track the spread of the infection or successful vaccinations. The need for venous-blood sampling however poses a significant barrier for large studies. Dried-blood-spots on filter-cards (DBS) have been used for SARS-CoV-2 serology in our laboratory, but so far not to follow quantitative SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike reactivity in a longitudinal cohort...

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In the 20th century, the concept of terrestrial life's unity was solidified, and the 21st century saw the emergence and establishment of astrovirology. To date, life originating beyond Earth has not been identified. The singular instance where NASA investigated potential microfossils in Martian ejecta found on Earth has since been refuted. This report suggests that a more comprehensive discussion and analysis of life's biosignatures and communication methods are essential. Such approaches are crucial not only to avoid overlooking the possible existence of extra-terrestrial intelligence (ETI) but also to prevent potential human infections that could arise from extra-terrestrial contact...

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Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is considered to be a high biodefense priority based on its threat to livestock and its ability to cause human hemorrhagic fever. RVFV-infected livestock are also a significant risk factor for human infection by direct contact with contaminated blood, tissues, and aborted fetal materials. Therefore, livestock vaccination in the affected regions has the direct dual benefit and one-health approach of protecting the lives of millions of animals and eliminating the risk of severe and sometimes lethal human Rift Valley fever (RVF) disease...

Enumerated threat agent lists have long driven biodefense priorities. The global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic demonstrated the limitations of searching for known threat agents as compared to a more agnostic approach. Recent technological advances are enabling agent-agnostic biodefense, especially through the integration of multi-modal observations of host-pathogen interactions directed by a human immunological model. Although well-developed technical assays exist for many aspects of human-pathogen interaction, the analytic methods and pipelines to combine and holistically interpret the results of such assays are immature and require further investments to exploit new technologies...

Filoviruses, categorized as World Health Organization (WHO) Risk Group 4 (RG-4) pathogens, represent significant global health risks due to their extraordinary virulence. The Filoviridae family encompasses Ebola strains such as Sudan, Zaire, Bundibugyo, Tai Forest (formerly known as Ivory Coast), Reston, and Bombali, in addition to the closely related Marburg and Ravn virus strains. Filoviruses originated from a common ancestor about 10,000 years ago and displayed remarkable consistency in genetic heterogeneity until the 20th century...

INTRODUCTION: Q fever, caused by the intracellular bacterium Coxiella burnetii , is considered an occupational and biodefense hazard and can result in debilitating long-term complications. While natural infection and vaccination induce humoral and cellular immune responses, the exact nature of cellular immune responses to C. burnetii is incompletely understood. The current study seeks to investigate more deeply the nature of long-term cellular recall responses in naturally exposed individuals by both cytokine release assessment and cytometry profiling...

World Health Organization (WHO) Risk Group-4 (RG-4) pathogens are among the most dangerous of the emergent and re-emergent viruses. International health agencies, working in concert, bridge the gaps in health care for populations at risk for RG-4 viral pathogen exposure. RG-4 virus research incorporates Biodefense Program and Biosafety Laboratory (BSL)-4 technologies. RG-4 viruses include Arena- viridae , Filo- viridae , Flavi- viridae , Herpes- viridae , Nairo- viridae , Paramyxo- viridae , and Pox- viridae ...

Francisella tularensis subspecies tularensis is a category-A biothreat agent that can cause lethal tularemia. Ceftobiprole medocaril is being explored as a medical countermeasure for the treatment of pneumonic tularemia. The efficacy of ceftobiprole medocaril against inhalational tularemia was evaluated in the Fischer 344 rat model of infection. The dose was expected to be effective against F. tularensis isolates with ceftobiprole minimum inhibitory concentrations ≤0.5 µg/mL. Animals treated with ceftobiprole medocaril exhibited a 92% survival rate 31 days post-challenge, identical to the survival of levofloxacin-treated rats...

The highly toxic plant toxin ricin is one of the most known threatening toxins. Accurate and sensitive biosensing methods for the first emergency response and intoxication treatment, are always pursued in the biodefense field. Screening affinity molecules is the fundamental mainstream approach for developing biosensing methods. Compared with common affinity molecules such as antibodies and oligonucleotide aptamers, peptides have great potential as biosensing modules with more accessible chemical synthesis capability and better batch-to-batch stability than antibodies, more abundant interaction sites, and robust sensing performance towards complex environments...

Recent disease events have heightened awareness for the need for collaboration between the nation's public health and veterinary infectious disease communities to improve preparedness for current and future biological threats. To address this need, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (USDA NBAF) has partnered with Texas A&M University through its Global Health Research Complex (TAMGHRC) to establish the Research Alliance for Veterinary Science and Biodefense BSL-3 Network (RAV3N)...