A recent article by a group of cyber-physical security experts at University of California Irvine (UCI) highlighted a potential vulnerability in negative pressure containment rooms. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3548606.3560643 A commentary about this article was authored by George Poste and David Gillum at Arizona State University asking the question: "Should this research have been published?" https://thebulletin.org/2023/01/researchers-hacked-a-labs-pathogen-containment-system-was-it-a-good-idea-to-publish-the-results/#post-heading The authors discuss the impact of publishing lab vulnerabilities considering recent scrutiny of potential gain-of-function research and the relative lack of government oversight over this line of research.  They go on to criticize the disparity between this release of information and how the cybersecurity community has [...]

The ABSA International Laboratory-Acquired Infection (LAI) Database has posted new entries for the following pathogens or toxins. You can search partial terms using the asterisk (*), AND, OR: 2013- Shiga Toxin from Escherichia coli O157:H7: mixing six E. coli O157:H7 strains in a soil-biochar blend Unknown time- Zika Virus; Injection of a highly concentrated live ZIKV strain into a mouse, followed by blood withdrawal and sacrifice of the mouse 2021- SARS-CoV-2; Actual cause not identified. The article speculates that the researcher took off her PPE in the wrong order, starting with the "face mask." 2021- Monkey B virus, Herpes B virus, Macacine alphaherpesvirus [...]

The ABSA International Emerging Infectious Diseases Committee (EIDC) continues to update the toolboxes for salient infectious diseases and other relevant topics such as antimicrobial resistance. The latest updates include the following: SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 Toolbox updates feature resources related to minimizing transmission of SARS CoV-2 from free-range animals to humans, recent peer-reviewed publications on SARS CoV-2 variants, transition from pandemic to endemic status of SARS CoV-2 transmission, COVID-19-related syndromes, CDC updates regarding isolation and quarantine timing. Lastly, the EIDC's resource titled Considerations for Handling Potential SARS-CoV-2 samples was updated to reflect the recent Federal Select Agent and Toxins Interim Rule published in [...]