Biological Security - Weekly Update - November 2021

The Weekly Biological Security Update is prepared by PGA's International Peace and Security Program and provided strictly for informational purposes only. Any opinions expressed in articles contained in this Update are not necessarily shared by PGA or any individual/s associated with PGA, nor does PGA, or any individual/s associated with PGA, vouch for the accuracy of the contents of these articles.

November29

Africa	Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s Statement regarding the new SARS-COV-2 virus variant B.1.1.529
Africa	Antimicrobial Effectiveness Leaning to 'Tipping Point' Resistance
Africa	Mastercard Foundation and Africa CDC’s Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative delivers first tranche of over 15 million vaccines
Global	A cascading catastrophe: The drone threat to critical infrastructure "...Aum also appears to be the first terrorist organization to pursue drone warfare, acquiring, a Russian helicopter and two remote controlled drones in order to deliver biological weapons, according to a Stimson Center report...."
Australia	Australia’s frontline defence against pests and diseases bolstered as 96 new biosecurity officers start work
Bangladesh	As winter nears, many in Bangladesh fear a Nipah Virus re-emergence
Global	Biomanufacturing facilities facing persistent malware attack
BWC	BWC Meeting of States Parties - Joint NGO Statement to Biological Weapons Convention Meeting of States Parties Geneva 22 November 2021 Joint NGO Statement endorsed by PGA
BWC	BWC Meeting of States Parties - BWC Meeting of States Parties - Report on Universality of the BWC by Chairperson of the BWC MSP PGA is mentioned in Section II 3 (h) - II. Activities to promote universalization - on page 3 of this Report
Canada	Statement of Canada at BWC Meeting of States Parties
Canada	Quebec zoo hoping to vaccinate wild animals against COVID
Canada	Equine Flu, EIA In Alberta
Global	Climate Change: The Real Pandemic
DRC	Novel Use of Capture-Recapture Methods to Estimate Completeness of Contact Tracing during an Ebola Outbreak, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2018–2020
Europe	Bird flu outbreaks in Europe: what you need to know
European Council	Remarks by President Charles Michel at the Special session of the World Health Assembly
FAO	FAO/OIE/WHO Global Technical Meeting on MERS CoV and Other Emerging Zoonotic Coronaviruses
FAO	The Tripartite and UNEP tasked by G7 to advance One Health disease intelligence systems
France	France Detects Highly Pathogenic Bird Flu on Poultry Farm in North
France	France bans wild circus animals and mink farms, but not bullfighting
Hungary	Reservoir host studies of Lloviu virus: first isolation, sequencing and serology in Schreiber’s bats in Europe
India	‘India gearing up to control zoonotic pathogens at their animal source to prevent Covid-like outbreaks’
Global	Investigating the origins of novel pathogens
Laos	FAO and USAID support the Lao People's Democratic Republic to tackle emerging zoonotic diseases
Liberia	The Ebola crisis and people with disabilities' access to healthcare and government services in Liberia
Global	Major Nipah Virus Outbreak Killing at 50% Death Rate, Experts Say It the Next PANDEMIC
Nigeria	Association advocates epidemic preparedness
Nigeria	COVID-19: Nigerian govt pledges to end pandemic by 2022- Official
Nigeria	Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021: Nigeria’s challenges to implement action plan for food system protection
Nigeria	NBMA to ensure equity in application of modern biotech
Nigeria	NAFDAC says regulation of vet medicines, vaccines, necessary for food safety
Philippines	Wanted: A thorough investigation of the pandemic's origin
Global	Predicting the capacity of mammal species to become zoonotic SARS-CoV-2 hosts
RDC	Portrait du Pr Jean-Jacques Muyembe, virologue et co-découvreur du virus Ebola
Romania	Eco–Friendly Peelable Active Nanocomposite Films Designed for Biological and Chemical Warfare Agents Decontamination
South Africa	What do we know about the new COVID strain found in South Africa?
South Sudan	Ministry of Health with support from WHO strengthens Ebola Virus Disease preparedness and response readiness in the high-risk counties of Morobo and Yei River, Central Equatoria state
Global	Study shows porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is capable of zoonotic transfer
Global	Surface Aerosol Stability and Pathogenicity of Diverse Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Strains, 2012?2018
Tanzania/Canada	Tanzania’s Ubongo wins grand challenges Canada’s Rotman innovation of the year award
Togo	AU endorses Togo’s vaccine pass
Uganda	Makerere to Become Leading Research, Science Institution in Africa-Musenero
United Kingdom	Rethinking Health Security After Covid-19
United Kingdom	Neanderthal fossil may be earliest evidence of disease jumping from animals to humans
United Kingdom	Small-Scale Chemical and Biological Production: Current Threats and Future Trajectories
United Kingdom	Mysterious seeds posted to Guernsey residents spark international biosecurity warning
United Kingdom	Coronavirus digest: Oxford chief says omicron 'unlikely' to reboot pandemic
United Kingdom	Have lessons been learned ahead of the next pandemic?
United Kingdom	Lab Leaks \| Alex de Waal
United States	Statement by the United States of America at BWC Meeting of States Parties : November 2021 PGA is appreciative for the acknowledgement by the USA of PGA's ongoing robust efforts to promote Universality of the BWC in the separate US Statement on the Report on Universality of the BWC of the Chairperson of the BWC MSP, delivered at 11:44:36am on November 25th, 2021
United States	Statement by the United States of America at BWC Meeting of States Parties : November 2021
United States	Possession, Use, and Transfer of Select Agents and Toxins-Addition of SARS-CoV/SARS-CoV-2 Chimeric Viruses Resulting From Any Deliberate Manipulation of SARS-CoV-2 To Incorporate Nucleic Acids Coding for SARS-CoV Virulence Factors to the HHS List of Select Agents and Toxins
United States	Preventing future pandemics starts with recognizing links between human and animal health
United States	Public health worker recruitment major focus of Senate’s new BIO Preparedness Workforce Act
United States	CEPI to expand COVID-19 vaccine testing network to assess countermeasures to other epidemic threats
United States	DARPA Program Aims to Develop Fundamentals of Biomanufacturing in Space
United States	Natural History of Aerosol-Induced Ebola Virus Disease in Rhesus Macaques
United States	Results of a 2020 Survey on Reporting Requirements and Practices for Biocontainment Laboratory Accidents
United States	Genetic engineering: why some fear the next pandemic could be lab-made
United States	C.D.C. Says ‘Smallpox’ Vials Found in Lab Did Not Contain Disease-Causing Virus
United States	Potential Use for Serosurveillance of Feral Swine to Map Risk for Anthrax Exposure, Texas, USA
United States	Multiple stages of evolutionary change in anthrax toxin receptor expression in humans
United States	Development of a protective inactivated vaccine against Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever infection
United States	TB bacterium: UAB researcher describe how the exotoxin is secreted and trafficked
United States	You Should Be Afraid of the Next ‘Lab Leak
United States	In Memoriam
United States	Prophet in Purgatory
United States	Tony Goldwyn Recalls Post-9/11 Anthrax Scare: 'We Didn't Open Our Mail for a Month'
United States	Daniel Dae Kim talks about 'The Hot Zone: Anthrax' and representation
Global	We May Have Underestimated The First Known Outbreak of Bubonic Plague
WHO	'The sky isn't falling in' – WHO's Dr Mike Ryan urges calm around new Covid variant
WHO	Coronavirus origins: WHO’s Sago experts sit down for first meeting
WHO	The WHO is seeking a new treaty on handling future pandemics. It could be a hard sell

November22

Africa	Principles for Strengthening Biological Security in Africa
Africa	Scientists mystified, wary, as Africa avoids COVID disaster
Africa	Africa CDC and CDDEP release African Antibiotic Treatment Guidelines for Common Bacterial Infections and Syndromes
Africa	Stronger governance needed to fight superbugs in Africa: Antimicrobial Resistance threatens Africa’s development
Global	A Blueprint for Global Health Security
China	First known Covid case was Wuhan market vendor, says scientist
China	Using a One Health approach to prioritize zoonotic diseases in China, 2019
Global	Could Covid Lead to Progress?
Denmark	Infection, recovery and re-infection of farmed mink with SARS-CoV-2
Global	From the wild and the tame : zoonotic parasites
Global	Gender-based violence and infectious disease in humanitarian settings: lessons learned from Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19 to inform syndemic policy making
Global	Importance of One Health for COVID-19 and Future Pandemics
Global	Latest Side Effect of Climate Change Might Be a Bubonic Plague Comeback
Liberia	Living with the trauma and stigma of being an Ebola gravedigger in Liberia
Global	More countries agree to address antimicrobial resistance, despite COVID-19 setbacks
Nigeria	Biobanking of COVID-19 specimens during the pandemic: The need for enhanced biosafety
Nigeria	How to tackle biosecurity threats, emerging infectious diseases in Africa, by experts
OIE	As bird flu outbreaks spread around the world, OIE urges vigilance
Switzerland	INOVIO, GuardRX and Geneva University Hospitals collaborate on clinical trial of Ebola DNA vaccine candidate booster
United Kingdom	'PERFECT STORM' Terror cops warn jihadis are falling under radar due to Covid as number of jihadis reported falls by FIFTH in 1 year
Ukraine	Decontamination of Seawater in a Harbor: Case Study of Potential Bioterrorism Attack
United States	Statement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the U.S. Approach to Strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention
United States	The Importance of Biodefense in the Wake of COVID-19
United States	Maryland resident tests positive for Monkeypox
United States	Woman faces terrorism charges for coughing near police officers and telling them she has COVID-19
United States	FBI Reaches Out To Farmers To Prevent Agroterrorism

November15

Africa	Africa's COVID-19 cases near 8.56M: Africa CDC
Africa	South-to-south mentoring as a vehicle for implementing sustainable health security in Africa
Albania	Defense Ministry updates list of Dual-Use Items, Technologies
Australia	The COVID-19 pandemic is intricately linked to biodiversity loss and ecosystem health
Canada	High Commissioner Chris Cooter announced a commitment of $10 million from Canada’s Weapons Threat Reduction Program in support of the Signature Initiative to Mitigate Biological Threats in Africa
Canada/Germany	Lufthansa Technik Becomes Global Distributor for the RAY line of UV-C Disinfecting Robots
Canada	B.C. mink farmers 'severely shaken' by ban
Canada	Nova Scotia to pay for COVID-19 vaccines for mink as B.C. shutters industry
China	Prediction of pandemic risk for animal-origin coronavirus using a deep learning method
Global	Communists call for international movement against biological warfare
Global	Defanging a Killer Virus
Denmark	Danish PM denies she knew order for mink kill was not legally valid
Österreich	Schmutzige Bomben: Kampfstoffe als neue Terrorbedrohung
DRC/Nepal	Nepali Superintendent in DR Congo is UN Woman Police Officer of the Year "....Her contributions have been especially important during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, past Ebola outbreaks...."
Global	How Easily Can a Virus Escape From a Lab?
Nigeria	Govt Urged to Invest in Biotechnology to Strengthen Food Security
Nigeria	Biosafety: Experts Review Guidelines For Genetically Modified Stacks
Nigeria	Lagos develops mass COVID-19 vaccination strategy to reduce spread, prevent re-emergence
Nigeria	Nigeria must adopt Science & Tech to overcome food challenge – NABDA DG
Philippines	The plague wars
RCA/RDC	Pas d'Ebola en Centrafrique, mais la vigilance reste de mise
RDC	Ebola maîtrisé dans l’Est de la RDC
Uganda	First SynBio conference in Africa promises a bright future for Synthetic Biology
United Kingdom	University of Oxford starts new Ebola vaccine trials
United Kingdom	Engaging public representatives in biosecurity and pandemic preparedness
United Kingdom	Wiltshire's Porton Down balloted for strike over pay
United Kingdom	Further guidance to help businesses understand their obligations under new laws to strengthen national security
United Nations	UNSCAR Upcoming events
United States	Biological Weapons In The 'Shadow War'
United States	Bipartisan Senate bill seeks 9/11 style commission to investigate COVID-19 outbreak
United States	The Real Danger Of A Biological Cold War With China
United States	Bipartisan Senate bill seeks 9/11 style commission to investigate COVID-19 outbreak
United States	Johnson & Johnson to provide COVAX with COVID-19 vaccine doses to fill coverage gaps among most vulnerable
United States	Colorado House Cat Tests Positive for Bubonic Plague
Global	Was Covid-19 A Black Swan Event?
Global	What the 14th Century Plague Tells Us About How Covid Will Change Politics
WHO	Emerging technologies and dual-use concerns: a horizon scan for global public health

November8

Africa	Africa's COVID-19 cases pass 8.52 mln: Africa CDC
Africa/Morocco	Africa CDC Designates Morocco’s Pasteur Institute ‘Center of Excellence’
Africa	CDC proved itself during the pandemic,’ says John Nkengasong
Africa	African scientists call for policies to support synthetic biology and other innovative technologies
BWC	BWC/ISU Updates
Canada	‘If you want to see where the future starts, it’s here’: Canada's innovation minister tours U of T
Canada	B.C. to phase out mink farming by 2025 due to risk of COVID-19 transmission
Canada	Zentek Wins ISC Challenge to Develop a Portable Detection Device for SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater
Canada	Ontario company announces state-of-the-art COVID protection
Canada	Winnipeg lab documents back in Ottawa spotlight
CEPI	CEPI adds Q2 Solutions Beijing lab to centralized COVID-19 vaccine testing network
Global	Could Nipah virus cause the next pandemic?
Denmark	Danish PM Mette Frederiksen under pressure over mink cull
DRC	Ebola outbreak rises to 8 cases, 6 deaths
DRC	DR Congo reports eight Ebola cases: WHO
DRC	DR Congo reports 11 Ebola cases: WHO
France	Bird flu in Europe: France moves to ‘high risk’
India	'One Health implementation needs help from all stakeholders'
Israel/Canada	Israel’s MigVax oral vaccine scores $4.3m. to fast-track development
Global	Germ Warfare \| Terrorists will wage terrifying new biowar as Wuhan ‘lab leak’ chaos shows they could get away with murder, say experts
Global	Nipah Virus Outbreak Eyed as Trigger of the Next Pandemic; Is Our Healthcare Sector Ready to Face Another Zoonotic Disease?
North Korea	Strategy & Policy: North Korea’s Game Plan and Capability
RDC	Ebola sous contrôle en RDC en un mois grâce à un vaccin et deux médicaments
RDC	RDC/Ebola : Deux personnes déclarées guéries au Centre de traitement d’Ebola (CTE) de Beni
Rwanda	Rwanda embraces biotech through OFAB expansion
Global	The Importance of Biodefense in the Wake of COVID-19
Global	The shifting sands of ‘gain-of-function’ research
Uganda	U.S. Ambassador Visits Rwenzori Region: Inaugurates Zoonotic Safety Lab, Strengthening Health Security \| November 5, 2021 \| PR 15/2021
United Kingdom	Virus Alert COP26: Scotland’s doctors on high alert for cases of killer diseases like Ebola during climate conference
United Kingdom	Catch the ChemBio SCENT! Screening, Collecting and Exploiting Novel Technologies
United Kingdom	UK orders tougher biosecurity measures as bird flu detected
United Kingdom	Rat A Nightmare Scots mum who kept 37 rats in bedroom & ‘kissed them’ hospitalised with rare disease
United States	Bill Gates warns of smallpox terror attacks as he seeks research funds
United States	Seeking buy-in for a new world health order
United States	Johns Hopkins, Council on Foreign Relations report urges immediate efforts to strengthen pandemic vaccine planning
United States	China Military Power Report Details Advances, Goals in 2020
United States	US concerned about China’s interest in toxins which can be used for chemical weapons
United States	U.S. Warns of Efforts by China to Collect Genetic Data
United States	Pentagon Reexamining How It Addresses Chem-Bio Threats
United States	Fauci says Rand Paul is ‘egregiously incorrect’ about gain of function research in Senate showdown
United States	NYC Rats: They're in the Park, on Your Block and Even at Your Table
United States	How Texas Biomed researchers are working to halt the next pandemic before it begins
United States	Denver Zoo reports world's first coronavirus cases in hyenas
United States	US orders biological warfare detection kits and decoy flares from Chemring
United States	Chemring’s US Arm Books $99M DOD Contract for Maritime Biological Detection Tech
United States

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Biological Security - Weekly Update - November 2021