|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
U.S. Response: Officials Working to Create Animal Disease Surveillance SystemsU.S. officials are working to create national, state and local disease surveillance systems to detect suspicious outbreaks of animal diseases that could indicate a biological weapons attack or agricultural terrorism, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Feb. 3). For example, suspiciously high numbers of cases of bovine anthrax, or an outbreak of anthrax in a region of the country where the disease is rare, could be indications of bioterrorism, said Radford Davis, assistant director of Iowa State University’s Center for Food Security and Public Health. “Or a cat diagnosed with plague in Florida and the cat never left Florida. That’s news because plague is limited to the Southwest,” Davis said. Veterinarians will play an important role in the planned surveillance systems, officials said. The U.S. Agriculture Department has requested an additional $47 million this to year to enhance a network to respond to biological terrorism and an additional $23 million for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which trains veterinarians to respond to foreign animal disease outbreaks. “The sooner we can detect a foreign animal disease, quarantine it and shut down the movement of livestock, the sooner we will be able to contain it,” said Bobby Acord, administrator of the inspection service (Michael Rubinkam, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, April 15).
From April 14, 2003 issue.Smallpox: Congress Passes Immunization Compensation PlanBy David McGlinchey The bill has now been sent to the White House for President George W. Bush’s signature. The plan was negotiated between the White House and leading congressional Democrats and was introduced by Representative Richard Burr (D-N.C.) Friday. Both houses passed the bill by voice vote the same day. Congressional Republican leaders, backed by the White House, have said a compensation plan is urgently needed to encourage participation in the immunization program and defend the United States against a potential bioterrorism attack. Burr introduced a compensation bill late last month but Democrats criticized it as insufficient and the plan was rejected. Under the newly passed bill, volunteers who are permanently and completely disabled will receive up to $50,000 annually in lost wages, with no lifetime cap. Volunteers who are temporarily or partially disabled can receive the same annual compensation, but they face a lifetime limit of $262,100. The United States would pay $262,000 to spouses of volunteers who are killed by the vaccine. Dependents of those who are killed can receive $262,000 in a lump sum, or $50,000 annually until they are 18. The United States will not tax the payments, according to Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). Lawmakers from both parties hope the bill will jumpstart the struggling vaccination program, which has been plagued by concerns about rare, but potentially severe side effects, and the lack of compensation for those who are sickened or killed. More than 30 cases of heart inflammation have been reported among military and civilian vaccine recipients and U.S. health officials have recorded a number of other complications. While states had hoped to immunize about 450,000 civilians by the end of February, fewer than 32,000 medical and emergency workers have stepped forward to take the vaccine, according to the latest figures provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kennedy negotiated the bill with the White House and was pleased with the results. “For months we’ve worked to develop a fair, reasonable package to end this crisis. Today, we can finally say that we have an agreement,” Kennedy said. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said the bill would strengthen the immunization program and allay the fears of potential volunteers. He said the move is part of a “long-term strategy” which also includes strengthening the overall public health infrastructure.
From April 11, 2003 issue.Anthrax: Testing Indicates Domestic Source Created 2001 Attack SporesU.S. Army scientists have been able to reproduce the anthrax spores used in the autumn 2001 anthrax attacks and have determined that the spores were produced using limited knowledge and simple methods, the Baltimore Sun reported today (see GSN, Nov. 11, 2002). After producing about a dozen samples, scientists at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah have determined that the spores used in the attack were made with “a pretty small operation” that cost “no more than a few thousands dollars,” a government source said. Whoever was responsible for the attack would have needed microbiology expertise to separate the dormant spores from the living cells, to dry the spores without killing them and to mill the product, the source said, adding that the methods used were indicative of an improvised laboratory. The findings “support the idea that the anthrax came from a domestic source and probably not a state program,” said David Siegrist, a bioterrorism expert at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. “It shows you can have a fairly sophisticated product with fairly rudimentary methods,” he said. Former U.N. inspector Richard Spertzel, however, said he had heard from sources that the spores produced at Dugway failed to match the purity and particle size of those used in the attacks. The FBI still appears to be focusing its efforts on Steven Hatfill, a former U.S. Army biologist who has long been the public focus of the bureau’s investigation, the Sun reported (see GSN, Feb. 7). Two FBI agents recently visited Timothy Maier, a reporter for Insight magazine, to discuss an interview he conducted with Hatfill in 1998. The agents seemed to be interested in a photograph of Hatfill published in Insight that year that showed him dressed in biological protection gear, demonstrating “how a determined terrorist could cook up a batch of plague in his or her own kitchen using common household ingredients and protective equipment from the supermarket,” according to the caption, the Sun reported. Van Harp, assistant FBI director in charge of the Washington Field Office, refused to comment on what he called “uninformed speculation” about the bureau’s research. He did say that the bureau has 50 investigators working on the “Amerithrax” investigation, supported by “a huge scientific effort.” “We’re making progress,” Harp said (Scott Shane, Baltimore Sun, April 11). U.S. Postal Service Set to Begin Decontamination of New Jersey Facility Meanwhile, the U.S. Postal Service is set to begin the decontamination of the Hamilton Township mail-handling center in New Jersey, which became contaminated with anthrax after processing four of the letters used in the attacks (see GSN, Aug. 22, 2002). The decontamination equipment is scheduled to begin arriving at the facility from Washington within the next few weeks. It will take one to two months to set up the equipment, at which point the facility will be decontaminated using chlorine dioxide, which was used successfully at the Brentwood Road postal facility and the Hart Senate Office Building, both in Washington. The Hamilton facility is not scheduled to reopen until at least spring of next year, postal officials said. “This has not been a quick process. I know there are many that wish we could have had this cleaned up by now, and among that many is myself,” said Tom Day, Postal Service vice president for engineering, who last year told employees that the Hamilton center could be open this spring. “Safety is the first concern, and we will sacrifice time for safety every time,” he said (Troy Graham, Philadelphia Inquirer, April 11). For further information, see: CDC Frequently Asked Questions About Anthrax Journal of the American Medical Association Background on Anthrax GSN Anthrax Attack Chronology (Dec. 12, 2001)
From April 10, 2003 issue.Smallpox: U.S. Immunizes More Than 31,000 VolunteersU.S. health officials had vaccinated 31,297 civilian volunteers as of April 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today (see GSN, April 3). The CDC has recorded 50 moderate to severe reactions to the vaccine since the program began, and the U.S. Defense Department this week followed the lead of the civilian smallpox immunization program and excluded personnel who have three or more risk factors for heart disease (see GSN, April 2). “Based on input from the American College of Cardiology and other expert advisors, we developed new screening criteria based on multiple cardiac risk factors,” said a message posted yesterday on the U.S. Army’s smallpox immunization Web site. “People with three or more of those conditions would be exempted,” said Col. John Grabenstein, deputy director for military vaccines for the Army’s surgeon general, while discussing the revisions (David McGlinchey, April 10). .
From April 10, 2003 issue.Anthrax: U.S. Postal Service to Expand Testing of Detection SystemThe U.S. Postal Service is set to expand testing of a new system of biological agent detectors, a senior postal official said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2002). The system has undergone testing in Baltimore and will now be installed in 14 other cities for further evaluation, Postal Service Vice President for Engineering Tom Day said yesterday. The detectors, which are installed on mail-handling equipment, use DNA testing to determine the presence of biological agents such as anthrax, he said. “We have carefully reviewed its results and we are now confident that it is working successfully, Day said. The new 30-day test is scheduled to begin June 1, according to the Associated Press. Once the test is completed, the Postal Service will then decide whether to install the detectors at U.S. postal facilities throughout the country (Associated Press/Washington Post, April 10). For further information, see: CDC Frequently Asked Questions About Anthrax Journal of the American Medical Association Background on Anthrax
From April 9, 2003 issue.U.S Response: U.S. Plan Would Fund Local Health Department HiringsBy David McGlinchey The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration “will continue to focus on the education and training needed to prepare for and respond to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies. For state and local health departments that do not have sufficient fiscal resources at this time for hiring, an effort is being made to advance necessary funding,” said a March 27 letter from health officials to government auditors. The funding would come from fiscal 2003 budgets, according to the letter. CDC officials could not immediately say how much money was going toward the effort. Health officials sent the letter in response to a General Accounting Office report that sampled the bioterrorism defenses of seven cities and concluded that readiness levels were widely varied. In the letter, health officials also said they intend to release guidelines this year to “reinforce our emphasis on coordination of planning on a regional level” to improve bioterrorism defenses. The Health Resources and Services Administration is also providing $28 million to train medical workers for a biological attack, health officials said.
About Newswire | Contact National Journal | Re-Use Guidelines
HOME | CONTACT US | GET INVOLVED | SITE MAP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Back to top