Status Brief
History/Origins:
Developmental Milestones/Developments to Date:
Current Assessment/State of the Field:
Problems/Challenges:
Proposals:
1998
Henderson, D., A., “Bioterrorism as a Public Health Threat,” Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 4, No. 3, July-Sept 1998.
- Admonition & historical accounts.
Russia, Japan, Ebola, Marburg, Hemorrhagic Fever, Smallpox, Germany, Yugoslavia, Vaccination, Iraq
2005
Rep. Peter King, ”HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS”, FIRST SESSION JULY 12, 2005. “PROJECT BIOSHIELD: LINKING BIOTERRORISM THREATS AND COUNTERMEASURE PROCUREMENT TO ENHANCE TERRORISM PREPAREDNESS.”
- “The purpose of today’s hearing is to evaluate the Department of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services’ implementation of the Project BioShield Act of 2004. Initially proposed by the President in his State of the Union address in 2003.”
- Rep. Peter King, “enacted into law exactly 1 year ago, BioShield was designed to address the lack of a commercial market for countermeasures against CBRN weapons, creating incentives for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to invest and do research in the development of such products.”
- “Effective countermeasures exist for few of the biological threats deemed the most dangerous by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The paucity of such countermeasurers stems from the lack of a significant commercial market. Of course, diseases such as Marburg and Ebola occur so infrequently in nature biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to invest the millions of dollars required to bring preventive new treatments or vaccines to market.”
Project Bioshield, Marburg, Ebola, Bioterrorism
2010
Kron, Josh, “Uganda Seen as a Front Line in Bioterrorism.” NYT A8, November 11, 2010.
- Uganda Virus Research Institute
- “need to tighten the security of vulnerable public health laboratories in East Africa” – Andrew C. Weber, Asst. to Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs.
- “preventing terrorist acquisition of dangerous pathogens, the seed material for biological bioweapons, is a security imperative.”
- Shabab insurgent group – “attention on East Africa as a frontier in American security interests.”
- warm, wet environment fuels biothreats of anthrax, marburg, and ebola.
- anthrax- killed hundred of hippos in recent years
- marburg- tourist died after contracting disease at a natl park
- ebola- outbreak 2007- killed over 20 people
- relaxed security and poor funding/financing creates a security risk.
Biodefense, Anthrax, Bioterrorism, Lab Safety, Public Health, Ebola, Biosafety, Africa, Marburg