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Science
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> 1998
> September
> September 18, 1998:
Hour Two: Readiness for Bioterrorism
| It seems like the stuff of nightmares, or of Hollywood blockbuster movies. Terrorists release a biological weapon in a major U.S. city, and emergency management officials rush to contain an outbreak of disease and safely decontaminate the affected area. But U.S. government officials are worried that terrorist use of bioweapons, sometimes called the poor man's atomic bomb," someday might be all too real. They're taking steps to prepare. But just how effective are those preparations? |  | In May, President Clinton announced a major initiative to build up stockpiles of vaccines against possible bioterrorism agents like anthrax. The vaccines would be stored at various sites around the country, ready to be used quickly in the event of an attack. But many biotechnology experts are questioning whether or not such a program could be effective, and whether or not there might be better uses for scarce defense dollars.
New York City has been training police, firefighters, and medical staff in how to deal with a germ warfare attack. It has also been buying germ detection equipment. War games are being held to test the readiness of emergency response teams, and those drills are turning up problems. In one New York drill, in which an imaginary dose of tularemia was released into an office building, many units of the response teams worked very well. However, the teams as a whole were still completely defeated by the attack scenario. Another drill involving a smallpox release along the U.S./Mexico border went even less well. In the scenario, thousands of citizens were killed as emergency units became too confused to handle the outbreak.
What steps need to be taken to adequately protect against bioterrorism? What agencies need to be trained -- and where should government officials focus spending? Join us on this hour of Science Friday for a look at how prepared we are - and at what could be done to prepare better.
Guests:
D.A. Henderson
Director, Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Margaret Hamburg
Former Commissioner of Health for New York City
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
Department of Health and Human Services
Washington, DC
Suzanne Fournier
Public Affairs Officer
Chemical and Biological Defense Command
U.S. Army
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
Books/Articles Discussed:
"Bioterrorism as a Public Health Threat ," by D.A. Henderson, Emerging Infectious Diseases, June-September 1998
"Bioterrorism as a Public Health Threat ," by J. McDade and D. Franz, Emerging Infectious Diseases, June-September 1998
"The Economic Impact of a Bioterrorist Attack: Are Prevention and Postattack Intervention Programs Justifiable?" by A.Kaufman, M. Meltzer and G. Schmid, Emerging Infectious Diseases, April-June 1997.
"Bioterrorism: Domestic Preparedness Suffers from Neglect of Public Health Infrastructure," Funding First: Comment, September 16, 1998.
Related Links:
Chemical and Biological Defense Information Analysis Center
Pacific Northwest National Labs Pathogen Detection
Biological Warfare Defense
Handbook on the Medical Aspects of NBC Defensive Operations
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