Terrorism: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Improving Responses U.S.-Russian Workshop Proceedings (2004) / Chapter Skim
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D Excerpts from “Bioterrorism: A National and Global Threat”
D Excerpts from “Bioterrorism: A National and Global Threat”
Pages 206-213
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From page 206... ...
Russian foreign intelligence services noted in 1993 that "the evident trend toward the broad proliferation of biotechnologies (which as a rule are dual use in nature) and the difficulties in controlling the production and use of biological agents and toxins increase the likelihood that `third-world' countries will use biological weapons in local military conflicts as well as for sabotage and terrorist purposes."4 The report also emphasized the advantage of biological weapons over nuclear and chemical weapons in that they make it possible to inflict serious economic damages on the enemy by the initial *
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From page 207... ...
According to WHO estimates, 2 billion people annually suffer from infectious diseases, of whom 17 million die. Some 50,000 deaths per day result from infectious diseases, and half of the world's population is threatened by epidemic diseases.6 There are also other reasons for which biological agents could be a preferred tool for terrorists, primarily including their accessibility; their ease of preparation, storage, and shipment; and their capacity for covert use.
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From page 208... ...
The main objectives in this system are · increasing the effectiveness of epidemiological monitoring of infectious diseases on the basis of comprehensive use of computerized information and analytical systems, environmental monitoring, and collective immunity of the population · developing regulations and methodologies for infectious disease prophylaxis · implementing federal and regional programs to promote the sanitaryepidemiological welfare of the population · improving the infectious disease vaccination system · expanding the public information system for persuading the population to take personal and societal measures for infectious disease prophylaxis · strengthening the material and technical infrastructure of laboratories in the treatment and prophylaxis institutions and centers of the State Sanitary-Epidemiological Observation Service, providing them with the necessary equipment, and introducing modern methods for detecting infectious disease pathogens (PCR and others) · increasing scientific research in diagnostics, epidemiology, treatment, and prophylaxis of infectious diseases11
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From page 209... ...
The countries agreed to establish joint cooperation in supplying vaccines and antibiotics, to participate in a constructive dialogue on harmonizing laws and regulations on the creation of vaccines, particularly the smallpox vaccine, and to provide further support for the existing World Health Organization disease monitoring network and for WHO efforts to develop a coordinated strategy for curbing disease outbreaks. The plan also calls for exchanging plans for preparing for and recovering from emergency situations, reviewing opportunities for joint personnel training, and organizing exchanges of observational data from national medical laboratories, information on actual or threatened incidents of food contamination, and strategies for food supply security.13 The theme of joining forces to fight terrorism was discussed by officials from the U.S.
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From page 210... ...
military hospitals.17 An automated system has been developed to process information from patient visits and telephone calls to doctors' offices and clinics.18 Modern geographic information systems, or GIS technology, could provide substantial help in analyzing various epidemic situations. The first epidemiological research conducted in Russia with the help of GIS technology showed that they facilitated the study of infectious disease distribution patterns, the prediction of the future course of outbreaks, and the analysis of potential consequences of acts of bioterrorism.19 Special teams (epidemiological brigades)
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From page 211... ...
The experience accumulated by these institutions can serve as a foundation for creating a national system for countering terrorist acts. Attention should also be focused on the system developed by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture for monitoring especially dangerous and little-studied exotic diseases, including zooanthroponotic infectious diseases of animals.25 An obvious condition for ensuring Russia's biological security is sufficient and stable state funding for basic and applied biomedical research aimed at developing a new generation of diagnostic tools and medications for treatment and prevention.26 At the Eighth Congress of Epidemiologists, Microbiologists, and Parasitologists, which was held in Moscow in March 2002, participants emphasized the need for fundamental expansion of scientific research, design, and testing efforts in the following areas: · new rapid pathogen detection methods and tools based on cutting-edge research in the fields of biotechnology and nanotechnology · new-generation vaccines and live recombinant vaccines based on viral vectors developed through genetic engineering methods, live polyvalent antiviral vaccines, and DNA vaccines · new chemical substances and formulations of new disinfectant agents27
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From page 212... ...
In conclusion, we believe it is necessary to reemphasize that the state's capacity to counter the threat of bioterrorism -- one risk factor for the appearance and spread of infectious diseases -- is determined by the condition of the health care system and its readiness to detect, localize, and eliminate infectious outbreaks regardless of the origins of the pathogens causing them. Another key factor in state preparedness is the quality of basic and applied research conducted both to study pathogens at the molecular and epidemiological levels and to create the diagnostic, prophylactic, and therapeutic tools necessary for preventing or eliminating disease outbreaks.
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From page 213... ...
2002. Use of automated ambulatory-case encounter records for detection of acute illness clusters, including potential bioterrorism events.
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