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Stockpiles
of Vaccines and Therapeutic Drugs
 he
CDC has established
a Strategic National Stockpile, which consists of "push-packs"
containing large stocks of antibiotics, other drugs, and medical supplies.
These stocks are pre-positioned around the country and could be delivered
to any point in the United States within 12 hours. State and local public
health authorities have begun to develop plans for distributing and
administering these materials. The federal government has also purchased
a large supply of smallpox vaccine, which would be administered rapidly
in the event of an outbreak to contain the spread of the disease. Efforts
have been made to vaccinate health care workers who could serve as first
responders in the event of a smallpox attack.
Research on
Bioterrorism Countermeasures
In recent years, the federal government has made major investments in
research and development of new drugs and vaccines to counter bioterrorist
threat agents. After September 11, the total U.S. budget for civilian
biodefense increase 16-fold, from $305 million in FY 2001 to
approximately $5 billion in FY 2004, 2005, and 2006. The
National
Institutes of Health (NIH) received an even more dramatic 34-fold
increase in biodefense spending from FY 2001 to FY 2006. Much of this
funding has gone to a component of NIH called the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID). NIAID has established eight new biodefense research centers around
the country to study infectious diseases and develop new vaccines, antimicrobial
drugs, and approaches to respond to biological attacks.
In 2004, President George W. Bush
signed the Project BioShield Act, which was designed to speed the
development by the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries of
vaccines and advanced treatments for diseases likely to be used in
bioterrorist attacks. Two years later, Congress sought to fix a
number of deficiencies in Project BioShield by passing the Pandemic
and All-Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006 (PAHPA). Title IV of PAHPA
created a new federal agency called the Biomedical Advanced Research
and Development Authority (BARDA) to provide financial and
managerial support for developers of medical countermeasures.
BARDA’s mission is to utilize all available tools, including
public-private partnerships, to ensure the successful development of
critical drugs and vaccines against CBRN threat agents, as well as
natural emerging infections such as pandemic influenza.
Recent advances in biotechnology, such
as genetic engineering, may be a double-edged sword. While facilitating
the development of new diagnostic tools, vaccines, and medical
countermeasures, these powerful technologies may also make it possible
for future terrorists to genetically engineer more deadly disease
agents.
See an in-depth analysis of the multiple
stages of the response to a BW attack in the multimedia section.
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