Bioterrorism: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Role in Public Health Protection

摘要

This testimony discusses work on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) activities to prepare the nation to respond to the public health and medical consequences of a bioterrorist attack. The country is now dealing with anthrax exposures resulting from the agent being sent through the mail and the consequences of dealing with even limited exposures have proven to be quite significant. Prior to the recent anthrax incidents, a domestic bioterrorist attack had been considered to be a low-probability event, in part because of the various difficulties involved in successfully delivering biological agents to achieve large-scale casualties. On September 28, 2001, we released a report that describes (1) the research and preparedness activities being undertaken by federal departments and agencies to manage the consequences of a bioterrorist attack, (2) the coordination of these activities, and (3) the findings of reports on the preparedness of state and local jurisdictions to respond to a bioterrorist attack. This statement will summarize our findings in the September report regarding CDC's research and preparedness activities on bioterrorism and augments the previous work on combating terrorism. This report will focus on CDC's research and preparedness activities on bioterrorism, and remaining gaps that could hamper the response to a bioterrorist event.