The last in our current series of workshops will take place tomorrow. The Future of Decon is bringing together some of the world's leading authorities on CBRN decontamination to discuss current methods, and what the future may hold.
Published in https://www.hstoday.us/
Today the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) announced the expansion of its Securing the Cities (STC) program to two additional metropolitan regions, Boston and New Orleans. This expansion will assist these regions with building capabilities to detect, analyze, and report nuclear and other radioactive materials.
“We are committed to working with state, local, tribal, and territorial governments across the country to help them safeguard their communities,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “The Securing the Cities program enables the Department and our partners to focus on the threat of radiological and nuclear terrorism. We will continue to expand the Securing the Cities program in the coming years.”
The STC program seeks to reduce the risk of a successful deployment of radiological or nuclear weapons against major metropolitan areas in the United States. Through STC, DHS provides radiological and nuclear detection equipment, training, exercise support, and operational and technical subject matter expertise through cooperative agreement grants. The initial awards are $2 million to both Boston and New Orleans to fund planning and analysis. Future grants will enable these cities to work with CWMD to build robust capabilities. Areas surrounding the core urban centers will be included in the program as well.
“Our job at CWMD is to help ensure our federal, state, local law enforcement, and first responder partners have the equipment, training, and knowledge they need to protect their communities and the Nation,” said CWMD Acting Assistant Secretary Gary Rasicot.
STC began in 2006 as a pilot project for the New York City/Jersey City/Newark region and expanded to the Los Angeles/Long Beach region in 2012, the National Capital Region in 2014, the Houston region in 2015, and the Chicago area in 2016. In 2020, the Department more than doubled the number of cities by expanding to six new regions–Atlanta, Denver, Miami, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Seattle. The CWMD Act of 2018 formally authorized the STC program and provided for this expansion.
CWMD serves as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s focal point for counter-weapons of mass destruction efforts. By supporting operational partners across federal, state, and local levels, CWMD coordinates and manages the detection effort for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) and health security threats. CWMD is committed to addressing current mission needs to enable operators on the ground to successfully detect, interdict, respond to, and report CBRN threats.
CBRNe World is looking forward to being in Boston in 2022 to see how the program is going.
The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Identification Board (CSB) announced this month that it is seeking to fill 4 chemical incident investigator positions to serve as an expert in industrial chemical safety and conduct investigations on major incidents across the country.
Responsibilities of the role include:
Chemical incident investigators also conduct safety advocacy activities by representing CSB at meetings of national and international public and private organizations. The position requires occasional travel.
For more information, visit https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/605272900#duties
Strategic Elements’ subsidiary Stealth Technologies is geared up to manufacture an autonomous defence vehicle through a new collaboration with Defence Science Technology Group (DSTG), part of the Australian Department of Defence, and the University of Western Australia (UWA).
The collaboration will result in the design and delivery of an autonomous drone-carrying vehicle that automates detection, while sensing CBRN agents. The vehicle will be able to carry drones into a target environment, while keeping humans at a safe distance, allowing the user to quickly navigate a target area using sensors. The new design will be based off Stealth Technologies’ existing IP, the AxV autonomous vehicle, which has already been used alongside organisations such as the WA Department of Justice and CSIRO.
The work will be partly funded by the Western Australian Defence Science Centre, which has agreed to provide $150,000 in funding towards the development, plus investigation into manufacturing opportunities in Western Australia. Along with the WA Defence Science Centre, UWA and DSTG have committed to provide $350,000 of cash and services to the collaboration, while Stealth Technologies will also invest around $350,000.
Under the funding agreement, Stealth Technologies will retain 100 per cent of the IP and associated commercialisation rights for CBRN and other defence force related applications. “The Autonomous CBRN vehicle has the ability to mitigate certain risks that our Australian Defence personnel face in CBRN environments whilst increasing the efficiency and accuracy of CBRN detection and sensing,” Managing Director of Strategic Elements, Charles Murphy said. “We see significant commercial opportunities to build its value across multiple sectors such as security, defence, mining and logistics.”
An initial concept design of vehicle, drone launch and land system is expected to be completed in Q3, 2021.
Army scientists working as part of an international consortium have developed and tested an antibody-based therapy to treat Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), which is carried by ticks and kills up to 60 percent of those infected. Their results are published online in the journal Cell.
Using blood samples donated by disease survivors, the study’s authors characterized the human immune response to natural CCHFV infection. They were able to identify several potent neutralizing antibodies that target the viral glycoprotein—a component of the virus that plays a key role in disease development. Several of these antibodies, administered individually or in combination, protected mice from CCHFV when given prior to virus exposure.
To treat mice that had already been infected, the team created “bispecific” antibodies that combined potency with the ability to bind to two separate sites on the CCHFV glycoprotein. One of these bispecific antibodies, called DVD-121-801, overcame CCHFV infection in mice with just a single dose administered 24 hours after challenge with live virus. Efforts are underway to develop DVD-121-801 as a potential therapeutic for human patients, according to co-first author Andrew H. Herbert, Ph.D., of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).
CCHFV is the most prevalent tick-borne virus that causes human disease, and is endemic in countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Despite its high lethality and widespread distribution, no vaccines or specific treatments are available. It has been designated a priority pathogen by the World Health Organization. “Rodent models of CCHFV infection are useful in testing and down-selecting neutralizing antibodies,” commented Herbert. “However, to advance a lead candidate for therapeutic use, it will be necessary to conduct studies in larger animal models that more faithfully recapitulate human disease.”
In addition to USAMRIID, other institutions participating in the study were Adimab, LLC; Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York; Mapp Biopharmaceutical, Inc.; the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; the University of Texas at Austin; Institut Pasteur in Paris, France; BenGurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel; and Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe, Uganda.
As part of ongoing national preparedness efforts, BARDA has purchased and begun accepting delivery of the antibiotic NUZYRA (omadacycline) from Paratek Pharmaceuticals of Boston, Massachusetts, to treat infections caused by anthrax.
The contract with Paratek was BARDA’s first under Project BioShield to expand the use of an existing antibiotic to treat anthrax infections. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug in October 2018 as a broad spectrum, once-a-day oral and intravenous (IV) tetracycline to treat community-acquired pneumonia caused by bacteria, including drug-resistant strains.
Using Project BioShield authorities and funding, BARDA awarded a contract to Paratek in December 2019, potentially totaling up to $285 million over 10 years, for the late-stage development needed to achieve regulatory approval of the drug for post-exposure prophylaxis after anthrax exposure and to treat lung infections caused by inhaling anthrax spores. The contract also supports post-marketing requirements of the drug for bacterial pneumonia and enables federal procurement of NUZYRA.
Focusing on emergency uses of products that are FDA-approved for common medical needs reduces development and preparedness costs for taxpayers and simplifies logistics during emergency responses. In addition, an important element of emergency response is having effective antibiotics available to treat secondary bacterial infections, particularly multidrug- resistant bacterial infections, which can complicate a public health emergency response.
The contract is part of BARDA’s Antibacterials Program which has supported 28 advanced research and development public-private partnerships with industry, ranging from small biotechnology firms to global pharmaceutical companies.
This award is just one component of BARDA’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) medical countermeasures portfolio. Visit the CBRN portfolio to learn more about efforts to expand the development pipeline and accelerate the progression of products that combat the rising global health threat of antibiotic-resistant infections.
Kromek, the leading British developer of wearable, and other, radiation detectors, was invited to participate in the multi-agency PATRIOT 21 training exercise last month. PATRIOT 21 was held over three days from 15-17 June at the Volk Field Air National Guard base in Camp Douglas, Wisconsin, USA. Kromek deployed D3S ID Radioisotope Identification Device (RIID) devices to support the exercise
PATRIOT 21, which is the largest exercise of its kind each year, involved working at the Combat Readiness Training Center. Participants were drawn from CBRN specialists in the Air National Guard, US Air Force, the Army Emergency Response and CBRN team and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) co-ordinators.
Kromek was the only UK company supporting Exercise Patriot and one of just seven industry partners. Its world-renowned detector, the D3S ID, itself a key part of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) SIGMA system, was put to the test in a variety of scenarios. These included: a vehicle accident, where the vehicle was known to have medical radiological isotopes on board; another where the vehicle which was immobilized and suspected of nefarious activity; a third scenario involved a plane carrying suspected drug cartel members forced to land over US airspace. General nefarious activity was suspected, mostly of a biological/chemical nature.
The initial response to the simulated threats was from the local first responders, after which it was escalated to a state-wide level, with the National Guard Emergency response teams then activated. After initial searches for radiological, chemical or biological traces, results were communicated to the FBI WMD specialists who then coordinated state and federal agencies. Users on the scene practised detecting and identifying radiological hazards.
The exercises demonstrated; the importance of RIIDs that operate with speed and sensitivity of detection, provide accurate identification of radioactive material and have autonomous or semi-autonomous reach-back detection and analytical capabilities all to lessen the time operators are directly exposed to radiological hazards. Other conclusions from PATRIOT were that the CBRN specialists need detectors with high levels of endurance in extreme climates, and which are operable, often one handed, by a user in full PPE. All these are attributes of D3S ID and other products within the same range – the D5 RIID and the SIGMA system.
John Filby, from Kromek’s Pennsylvania office, who attended PATRIOT 21, said “it was particularly pleasing at the exercise debrief to hear participants praising Kromek’s D3S RIID’s speed, accuracy, connectivity and endurance. In one instance, a D3S ID which was idling in ‘snooze mode’ in an operator’s pocket correctly identified a radiological source before the RIID and survey meter that were actually being tested.”
For further information, go to www.kromek.com or contact John Cottrell at CMS Strategic www.cmsstrategic.com
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) is seeking information on chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threat detection capabilities for long-term data collection campaigns and to provide coverage city-wide. The request for information (RFI) was posted through DHS Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program’s Other Agency Technology Solutions (OATS) in support of CWMD and is now live until July 30.
“We strive to research, procure, test, and deliver the most advanced technologies so that our partners operating on the front lines have proven technology to keep our Nation safe,” says Gary Rasicot, Acting Assistant Secretary for CWMD. “Early detection of a potential threat is critical to saving lives. I am proud to present CWMD’s first RFI under our SBIR program and I am grateful for the opportunity to engage our small business partners in defending our cities against CBRN threats.”
CWMD asks small businesses to consider the following capabilities of a developed solution:
Interested parties are encouraged to visit the RFI on Sam.gov for more information. Please note the RFI is for information and planning purposes, not proposals. CWMD is seeking a brief description of how the potential solution can be derived from a prior SBIR/STTR funding agreement. The deadline for submitting whitepapers is July 30.
CWMD serves as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s focal point for counter-WMD efforts. By supporting operational partners across federal, state, and local levels, CWMD coordinates and manages the detection effort for CBRN and health security threats. CWMD is committed to enhancing domestic law enforcement and first responder detection, interdiction, response, and reporting of CBRN threats.
Deliberately-caused disease as a means of terrorism is a major threat which the scientific community and policymakers are not currently prepared to mitigate, say experts from the Biological Security Research Centre (BSRC) at London Metropolitan University.
A particular concern, they say, is the currently weak state of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) which is the cornerstone of the international efforts to prevent biological warfare.
States Parties of the BTWC have sought ways to strengthen the Convention, such as a science and technology review of the risks and benefits of advances in the life sciences and a code of conduct for life scientists under the Convention. However, successful implementation of these measures will require a considerable improvement in the currently low level of awareness about biological security among life scientists around the world
Professor Lijun Shang, Director of the BSRC said, “Although the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened concerns about the impact of disease outbreaks on modern society, there is not enough awareness among scientists about the real extent of the dangers from natural, accidental and particularly deliberately-caused disease to humans, animals and plants.
"Scientists play a key role in any technology development, including the development of any potential “weapons” - even if they do not intend their research to be used for harmful purposes. Therefore, it’s imperative to educate scientists and raise awareness of the risk of ‘dual use’- the ways in which benignly-intended research can be repurposed to deliberately cause harm.
"There is a pressing need for innovative means of effectively and efficiently communicating these dangers and what might best be done to minimise them to scientists, policymakers and the general public. This is particularly relevant to life scientists who could see their benignly intended work misused by others for hostile purposes.”
Professor Malcolm Dando, Associate Member of the BSRC and Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow of Biology and International Security at the University of Bradford said, “The problem of dual use – the fact that benignly-intended knowledge and technologies could later be used by others for hostile purposes - can be seen in the history of biological weapons, as the focus of attention in the offensive programmes moved from pathogenic bacterial to pathogenic viruses, as we gained a better understanding of viruses in the last century.
“There has been much discussion over the last ten years about so-called gain-of-function research on deadly viruses. The work is intended to facilitate knowledge, understanding and eventually disease prevention and cure, but could clearly be put to other uses.
“The United States is on recent record of stating concerns about the compliance of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia with the BTWC and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). We do know that a good number of major states did weaponise pathogens and toxins effectively during the last century, and the biotechnology revolution is almost certainly making it easier for more people to have the necessary capabilities.”
A variety of efforts have been made to find efficient and effective ways of improving biological security awareness and education amongst life scientists in different countries, but this is a massive as well as an important task so innovative methods have to be found to achieve better and faster results.
One of the ways they are working to educate the science and policy communities innovatively is through the dissemination of a series of cartoons outlining the risks of scientific research being misused for nefarious purposes. Taking advantage of scientists’ familiarity with illustrative material – graphs, histograms, pie charts, diagrams, flow charts, and even graphical abstracts of papers in key journals - these cartoons were produced (with a little humour) in order to provide a means by which life scientists themselves could become better engaged with helping to improving biological security.
Each cartoon consists of two pages and successively addresses Preventing Biological Weapons, Codes of Conduct, Education and Awareness, Evaluation and Integration. Although designed specifically for university lecturers and students in order to advance university-level biological security education, the cartoons should also be useful in other contexts such as in schools and for sharing amongst the interested general public. The cartoons are available in 13 languages, to expand their international impact.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program recently awarded funding to two small businesses to develop non-contact, inexpensive machine learning training and classification technologies. Integrated machine learning platforms can significantly reduce time, redundancy, cost, and improve the accuracy in detecting threats such as explosives, chemical agents, and narcotics.
“S&T embraces the significant advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities and their ability to enhance threat detection,” said Kathryn Coulter Mitchell, DHS Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary for Science and Technology. “The SBIR Program provides the opportunity for S&T to partner with innovative small businesses and develop machine learning tools critical to addressing threat detection needs. I am looking forward to seeing the technologies that will be developed by these SBIR efforts.”
Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), based in Andover, MA, and Alakai Defense Systems, Inc. (Alakai), based in Largo, FL, each received approximately $1 million in SBIR Phase II funding to develop technologies that can rapidly and accurately identify unknown spectrometer signals as safe or threatening. The DHS SBIR Program, managed by Program Director Dusty Lang and administered at the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), selected PSI and Alakai to participate in Phase II of the program subsequent to demonstration of feasibility in Phase I, for each companies’ compact, accurate and rapid classification Machine Learning Module for Detection Technologies solutions.
Under Phase II, PSI will continue to develop their deep-learning algorithm for detection and classification of trace explosives, opioids, and narcotics on surfaces, for optical spectroscopic systems. PSI will extend the algorithm’s capabilities from infrared reflectance spectroscopy to include Raman spectroscopy, as well as a proposed operational module prototype, which will have a classification accuracy of greater than 90 percent.
During their Phase II efforts, Alakai, will continue development of the Agnostic Machine Learning Platform for Spectroscopy (AMPS) that rapidly and accurately detects trace quantities of hazardous and related chemicals from a variety of spectroscopic instruments.
“Our impetus for developing these machine-learning modules stems from the Transportation Security Administration’s operational needs for threat signature fusion, the ability to learn, detect and classify new threats without being explicitly programmed, and, ultimately, increase accuracy of detection,” said Thoi Nguyen, DHS S&T Program Manager for the Next Generation Explosive Trace Detection (NGETD) Program. “With experienced industrial partners like Alakai and PSI, and our strong collaboration with TSA, we hope these efforts will contribute to wider applications of machine learning across the Homeland Security mission space."
At the completion of the 24-month Phase II contract, SBIR awardees will have developed a prototype to demonstrate the advancement of the technology, spearheading the potential for Phase III funding.
Under Phase III, SBIR performers will seek to secure funding from private and/or non-SBIR government sources, with the eventual goal to commercialize and bring to market the technologies from Phases I and II.
To learn more about the DHS SBIR Program visit: https://sbir2.st.dhs.gov or contact .
Register now for the Insights Outreach: Getting Onboard with SBIR webinar on July 6, 2021 from 2-3 p.m. ET. During this live webinar, attendees will hear from the DHS SBIR Director about how small businesses can participate in the SBIR program and how technologies developed through SBIR can support DHS component technology needs.
For more information on the DHS SBIR Program, visit: https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/sbir.
For more information on S&T’s innovation programs and tools, visit: https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/work-with-st.
Hand sanitizers and surface disinfectants have proven essential in the COVID-19 era but are also a critical means to reduce or prevent the spread of many infectious diseases. This is one of the reasons the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is investing in a potentially fast, effective, and longer-lasting alternative to alcohol-based solutions. The DHS Science and Technology Directorate’s (S&T) Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) has awarded $105,877 in Phase 1 funding for Bloodstone Division, LLC’s development of an anti-viral disinfectant under the SVIP Emerging Needs: COVID-19 Response & Future Mitigation solicitation.
Bloodstone Division is a Service-Disabled veteran owned small business based in Tampa, Florida. Teaming up with Kingfisher Medical in Ohio, the Bloodstone project proposes a new use for an existing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved active ingredient for use as an anti-viral, or virucide. The project will first seek to develop the data needed for this new use by assessing residual viricidal efficacy, along with the effectiveness of its application on personal protective equipment (PPE) and use for surface cleaning, and as a hand sanitizer. If testing is successful, additional approvals will be sought from the EPA or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for this patent-protected alternative use of this active ingredient.
Phase 1 of the Bloodstone project is based on findings from a study by the United Kingdom’s (U.K.) Ministry of Defense (MoD) that tested the effects of the neat technical grade active ingredient and the active ingredient in formulation on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease now known as COVID-19. Initial results from the MoD study are promising. It demonstrated effective inactivation of the virus, residual efficacy, and continual inactivation of the virus for at least a couple of hours. Phase 1 of the project will be to gain independent testing to confirm and expand upon the U.K. MoD findings regarding the efficacy of the compound as a disinfectant.
“Our goal is to find ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at DHS workplaces, with the greater benefit of producing a surface and hand disinfectant that could one-day be used by all Americans,” said Melissa Oh, SVIP Managing Director. “This new application has the potential to provide long-lasting protection against and slow the spread of COVID-19 and possibly future viral pandemics.”
“DHS personnel working in austere environments, such as Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Coast Guard, and Federal Emergency Management Administration may benefit from the dual-use properties of this product,” said Wil Pharis, Program Manager, Mission Capability Support, DHS S&T. “If the project is able to achieve its goals, it means the potential ability to rapidly disinfect security checkpoints, facilities, and extend the life of masks and PPE.”
SVIP is one of S&T’s programs and tools to fund innovation and work with private sector partners to advance homeland security solutions. Companies participating in SVIP are eligible for up to $2M of non-dilutive funding over four phases to develop and adapt commercial technologies for homeland security use cases.
For more information on current and future SVIP solicitations, visit https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/svip or contact .
Yesterday, the Consulate General of Spain in Shanghai posted a notice on thier website containing some concerning news about the invlountary hospitalisation of foreign citizens living and/or arriving in China that have been vaccinated or overcome Covid in recent months.
The full release, and link to the website is below.
In recent weeks, and without any official communication from the Chinese authorities, foreign citizens residing in China and vaccinated with the Chinese vaccine or foreign vaccines, and / or having overcome COVID 19 in previous months and subsequently vaccinated, are being hospitalized. , in a non-consensual or voluntary manner, for 3 or 4 days upon arrival in China PR.
At the airport upon arrival they do blood tests and if the antibody test is higher than a figure established by the health authorities, as a result of the vaccination, they make them sign documents in Chinese without translation into English and admitted to a hospital .
In the hospital they do more blood tests and PCR, as well as chest MRI and some additional invasive test, the results of which are neither given nor informed. They limit themselves to asking for cooperation for 3-4 days.
In the hospital, you have to pay only for WeChat for toilet paper, towels, any sanitary products you need, as well as bottled water. They do not accept payment in cash or by credit card.
The Shanghai Municipality Foreign Affairs Office does not reply to the Notes Verbales it receives, nor does it provide a telephone response, as is customary.
Neither the people admitted nor the Consulates General in Shanghai have been informed of this surprising and unethical practice nor of the minimum antibody level set. It is also not known how they select these people.
If you are going to return to PR China in the coming weeks, the Consulate General asks you to take into account all this information, do not sign documents that you do not understand, use a translator on your mobile to understand what you are signing and take a photo before handing them in, as they will not give you a copy.
This Consulate General, the Embassy in Beijing and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Delegation of the European Union in Beijing, are taking steps to stop this practice immediately.
http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/SHANGHAI/es/Consulado/Paginas/Articulos/2021-06-24.aspx
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