Biological Security - Weekly Update - March 2022

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.

March28

Country	Topic	Source
Africa	‘Africa must be self-sufficient’: John Nkengasong on learning the deadly lessons of pandemics	News, sport and opinion from the Guardian's US edition \| The Guardian
Global	Amid false Russian allegations of US “biolabs” in Ukraine, it’s worth asking: What is a bioweapon?	Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
BWC ISU	BWC Handbook now available in 6 languages	Welcome to the United Nations
Ghana	National Biosafety Authority intensifies Customs’ education on biosafety	MyJoyOnline.com - Ghana's most comprehensive website. Credible, fearless and independent journalism
India	Coordinated approach needed to tackle future zoonotic diseases: Epidemiologist Dr Giridhara Babu	The New Indian Express
Global	LESSONS FROM THE FIRST TIME RUSSIA ACCUSED THE UNITED STATES OF BIOWARFARE	Texas National Security Review
Russian Federation/Ukraine	Opinion: Russia’s Ukrainian invasion raises specter of biological attack	Breaking News, World News, US and Local News - NY Daily News - New York Daily News
Russian Federation/UK	Modest English doctor who saved Mother Russia: With smallpox ravaging the nation, Catherine the Great turned to a British medic to protect her son... and country	Home \| Daily Mail Online
Global	The Worrying Murkiness of Institutional Biosafety Committees	UnDark
United Kingdom	Woman in UK diagnosed with potentially fatal Ebola-like disease Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever	The Independent \| Latest news and features from US, UK and worldwide
United Kingdom	Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever identified in U.K.; here's what to know about the disease	CTV News \| Canada News \| Top Stories
United States	Heat Biologics Announces Appointment of Greg Burel, Former Director of the Strategic National Stockpile, to its Biothreat Advisory Board and as Senior Advisor to the Company	Yahoo Finance - Stock Market Live, Quotes, Business & Finance News
United States	How scientists can prevent an engineered pandemic	Welcome to Science\|Business \| Science\|Business
Global	What makes biological weapons so dangerous, and does Russia have them?	The Economist - World News, Politics, Economics, Business & Finance
WHO	One Health is critical to addressing zoonotic public health threats and environmental issues	WHO \| World Health Organization
WHO	Enhancing laboratory biosafety in South East Asia	WHO \| World Health Organization
WHO	WHO launched a tool to track outbreaks in real-time in 2019. Then came COVID-19.	WHO \| World Health Organization

March21

Country	Topic	Source
Australia	Tackle animal health to protect humans, urges medecines body	Agricultural & rural farm news \| The Land \| NSW
Bangladesh	One Health Investigation of House Crow (Corvus splendens) Mortality Event Linked to the Potential Circulation of H5N1 Virus at Live Bird Markets in Northwestern Bangladesh	ScienceDirect
Germany	What Happens On "Plague Island", Home To The World's Deadliest Viruses?	The Lighter Side of Science \| IFLScience
Kenya	Kenya joins Nigeria in Africa in approving guidelines for CRISPR and other gene editing techniques	Genetic Literacy Project \| Science Not Ideology
Global	New Ebola antibodies neutralize the most dangerous strains of the virus	Freethink - Move the World
Global	Two clever human antibodies can target Ebola and Sudan virus	Medical News \| Medical Articles
Jordan	Situating zoonotic diseases in peacebuilding and development theories: Prioritizing zoonoses in Jordan	docwirenews
Laos	Presence of zoonotic pathogens in wildlife market for human consumption in Laos	Medical News \| Medical Articles
Nigeria	FAO to train 60 veterinarians to tackle animal, zoonotic diseases	BluePrint
Russian Federation/Ukraine	Putin could create pandemic 'more lethal than Covid' with horror 'Ebola splice' bioweapon	Latest UK and World News, Sport and Comment - Express.co.uk
Global	The controversial quest to make a 'contagious' vaccine	National Geographic
United Nations	No sign of Ukraine bioweapons labs says disarmament chief, after further Russian claims	UN News \| Global perspective, human stories
United Nations	UN Environment Program joins alliance to implement One Health approach	WHO \| World Health Organization
United States	Why the U.S. fears Russia's potential use of chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine	Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

March14

Country	Topic	Source
Africa	WHO Africa's 1st woman leader helps continent battle COVID	Canada's National Observer: News & Analysis
Australia	Japanese encephalitis virus declared ‘nationally significant’ as NSW woman in intensive care	News, sport and opinion from the Guardian's US edition \| The Guardian
BWC ISU	Workshop on Implementation of BWC in Togo	Twitter
Canada	Court denies B.C. mink farmers injunction on provincial industry ban	BIV: Vancouver & BC Business News, People, Lists & Events \| Business In Vancouver
China	Virologists from Chinese lab at centre of Covid cover-up claims admit 'devastating pandemics can occur' if viruses escape — but British experts slam tone deaf article as 'beyond satire'	Home \| Daily Mail Online
DRC	Protocol for a phase 3 trial to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a heterologous, two-dose vaccine for Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo	DocWireNews
FAO	Implementation of the “One Health” approach in West Africa: FAO and its partners take stock in Dakar	African Business - World leading source of analysis & debate on African economic issues
FAO	Regional Conference Endorses 'One Health Approach'	United News of Bangladesh \| Latest online news Bangladesh
India	Zoonotic diseases norm stalls plan to import Saneen goats	News: US News, Top News in India, US election news, Business news, Sports & International News \| Times of India
Global	‘Limited’ Tactical Nuclear Weapons Would Be Catastrophic	Scientific American
Nigeria	FAO To Train Additional 60 Veterinarians To Tackle Zoonotic Diseases	Breaking News in Nigeria Today - Tribune Online - Tribune Online -
Nigeria	Food Security: Nigeria Must Fund Fight Against Zoonotic Diseases —Don	Breaking News in Nigeria Today - Tribune Online - Tribune Online -
Global	One Health education should be early, inclusive, and holistic	The Lancet \| The best science for better lives
Republic of Congo	From mink to malaria	Nature
Global	Zoonoses : un risque majeur pour la santé publique	Le Quotidien de la Réunion \| Le quotidien régional n°1 à La Réunion. Retrouvez toute l'actualité locale : les faits divers, la politique, l’économie, la santé, les sports, ainsi que l’information de l’Océan Indien, nationale et internationale.
Russian Federation	Kremlin says world must know truth about Ukraine's alleged bio-warfare programme	Breaking International News & Views \| Reuters
Russian Federation	Russia makes claims of US-backed biological weapon plot at UN	News, sport and opinion from the Guardian's US edition \| The Guardian
Russian Federation	Russia’s ‘warning’ of Ukraine’s biological weapons sounds just like Syria	News, sport and opinion from the Guardian's US edition \| The Guardian
Russian Federation	Russian nuclear and biological disinformation undermines treaties on weapons of mass destruction	Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Ukraine	In Ukraine, US-military-linked labs could provide fodder for Russian disinformation	Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Ukraine	Zelenskyy rebuffs Moscow’s biological weapons claims ahead of UNSC meeting	News Updates for the Mid-South for over 23 Years!
Ukraine	Ukraine war: grim spectre of chemical and biological weapons raises fears of Putin’s dirty arsenal	The Conversation: In-depth analysis, research, news and ideas from leading academics and researchers.
United Nations	UN, US Dismiss Russian Claim of Biological Weapons Program in Ukraine	VOA - Voice of America English News
United Nations	UN political affairs chief warns of ‘utter devastation’ facing Ukraine cities by Russian forces	UN News \| Global perspective, human stories
United Nations	"....Today’s meeting comes on the heels of claims by Russian Ministry of Defence Spokesperson Major General Igor Konashenkov on 6 March, his country’s military had uncovered evidence of US-funded military biological programmes in Ukraine, including documents confirming the development of “biological weapons components”. Addressing those concerns, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu said the “United Nations is not aware of any biological weapons programmes”. Nor is it in a position to confirm or deny” reports that public health facilities are in areas impacted by armed conflict, placing the safety of those facilities at risk. She appealed to all parties in the conflict to ensure the safety of all such facilities in Ukraine. Explaining that the Russian Federation and Ukraine are both States parties to the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention - which prohibits their development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use - and that Moscow is a depositary Government, she said biological weapons have been outlawed since the Convention entered into force in 1975. With 183 States parties to the treaty, biological weapons are “universally seen as being abhorrent and illegitimate,” she stressed....However, the Convention lacks a multilateral verification mechanism overseen by an independent organization, such as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), meaning that the responsibility of assessing compliance rests with States parties. The treaty does contain several measures for States to address concerns or suspicions about the activities of their peers, Ms. Nakamitsu said. Under Article V, for example, States parties can consult and cooperate to resolve any problems which may arise. An annual exchange of information has been established, based upon the submission of confidence-building measures...The Russian Federation and Ukraine both participate annually in the confidence-building measures, and their annual reports are available to all States parties for the purposes of transparency and reassurance...."	Twitter
United States	US - FACT CHECK - Theory About U.S.-Funded Bioweapons Labs in Ukraine Is Unfounded/	The New York Times
United States	Russia could launch chemical attack in Ukraine	BBC - Homepage
United States	Bioterrorism: An analysis of biological agents used in terrorist events	ScienceDirect
United States	Army civilian microbiologists safeguard nation against biological warfare agents	DVIDS - Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
United States	SIGA Technologies launches clinical trials for oral TPOXX as post-exposure prophylactic	Homeland Preparedness News - The Leading Source
United States	Architecture and antigenicity of the Nipah virus attachment glycoprotein	Science
United States	Congress rejects Biden’s proposed cut to biosafety program	Roll Call - Covering Capitol Hill Since 1955
United States	CARA Microbiologists Safeguard Against Biological Threat Agents	Global Biodefense \| News on Pathogens and Preparedness
United States	U.S. Weighs Sanctions on Russian Uranium Supplier Rosatom	Bloomberg - Are you a robot?
United States	U.S. dismisses Russian claims of biowarfare labs in Ukraine	Breaking International News & Views \| Reuters
Vietnam	Pangolins harboring coronavirus underscored risk of wildlife markets	The Hill - covering Congress, Politics, Political Campaigns and Capitol Hill

March7

Country	Topic	Source
Africa	Africa needs genomic diagnostic machines	Graphic Online
Africa	Africa's COVID-19 cases surpass 11.22 mln: Africa CDC	XinhuaNet
Cambodia	Discovering disease-causing pathogens in resource-scarce Southeast Asia using a global metagenomic pathogen monitoring system	PNAS
Cambodia	‘One Health’ gains traction in battle against zoonoses	PhnomPenh Post
Canada	Future infectious diseases: Recent history shows we can never again be complacent about pathogens	The Conversation: In-depth analysis, research, news and ideas from leading academics and researchers.
Canada	Appili lands DOD money for bioterrorism vaccine; Goldfinch touts new PhII data	Endpoints News – The biopharma world is here
Global	Don’t let finger-pointing doom this key treaty against bioweapons	Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Eritrea	Technical Support to upgrade the Microbiology (Bacteriology) Unit of the National Health Laboratory of Eritrea	WHO \| Regional Office for Africa
Global	How Four Women Destroyed 1,200 Tons of Poison Gas — and Defused a Crisis	Rolling Stone - Music, Film, TV and Political News Coverage
Nigeria	‘Bird flu outbreaks may worsen poultry farmers’ woes’	The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News \| The Latest news in Nigeria and world news. The Guardian Nigeria Newspaper brings you the latest headlines, opinions, political news, business reports and international news. — The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News
Global	One Health as a catalyst for sustainable development	Nature
Russian Federation/Ukraine	‘Despite Putin’s nuclear bluster, the use of biological weapons in Ukraine is much more likely’	The Telegraph - Telegraph Online, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph
Russian Federation/Ukraine	Russia 'may be preparing to use chemical weapons in Ukraine'	The Telegraph - Telegraph Online, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph
Russian Federation	The Soviet-era Russian laboratory where Putin's 'bioweapon arsenal of smallpox, anthrax and Ebola is being kept'	Home \| Daily Mail Online
Russian Federation/US/Ukraine	Russia's latest 'false flag': Moscow accuses US of helping Ukraine with illegal bio-weapons research on Black Death, anthrax and rabbit fever in frenzy of allegations to galvanize domestic support for Putin's war and justify invasion	Home \| Daily Mail Online
Rwanda	Infectious disease outbreaks highlight gender inequity	Nature
Global	The Next Virus “Hotspot”, the Arctic: Why a One Health Response is Needed	Home - Impakter
United Kingdom	UK statement on Ukraine: Conference on Disarmament	Welcome to GOV.UK
United Kingdom	Boris Johnson: 6 Steps the West Must Take to Help Ukraine Right Now "....Though there can be no comparison with the assault on Ukraine, we in the United Kingdom know something of Mr. Putin’s ruthlessness. Four years ago, we endured the outcome of Russian operatives’ use of chemical weapons against people in Salisbury, England...."	The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos
United Kingdom	UK covered up anthrax contamination from Gruinard Island, according to new documents	inews.co.uk - The Essential Daily Briefing
United Kingdom	Bird flu funding as UK steps up fight against zoonotic diseases	Homepage - Poultry World
Ukraine	Desinformation über Biolabore	Aktuelle Nachrichten - Inland Ausland Wirtschaft \| tagesschau.de
United Nations	UNSCR 2622 (2022)	United Nations/
United States	Avoid clinical trial 'valley of death' with medical countermeasure program	The Hill - covering Congress, Politics, Political Campaigns and Capitol Hill
United States	Nipah and Hendra viruses may provide blueprints for vaccine design and antibody treatments	Outbreak News Today -
United States	Medical laboratory Soldiers hone skills at German military microbiology institute	The Official Home Page of the United States Army
United States	New doctoral program in molecular microbiology and immunology addresses critical workforce shortage	Welcome to The University of Texas at San Antonio \| UTSA
Global	We Need International Agreement on How to Handle These Dangerous Technologies	Slate Magazine - Politics, Business, Technology, and the Arts

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Biological Security - Weekly Update - March 2022