NCSL LegisBrief
Briefing Papers On the Important Issues of the Day
Bioterrorism
By Cheryl Runyon
April / May 2001
Volume 9, Number 21
Biological or germ warfare has been used since the 6th century B.C. when the Assyrians poisoned their enemies' wells with rye ergot. More recently, the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo released sarin nerve gas in Tokyo's subway system in 1995, injuring 3,800 and killing 12. To protect themselves from such terrors, the United States and 141 other countries signed the Biological Weapons Convention in 1972, which prohibits stockpiling biological agents for military purposes and forbids research into the use of biological agents. But the threat still exists today.
Initial responders to a biological disaster include county and city health officers, hospital staff, other members of the medical community and the public health system. Hospitals would be the frontline response institutions, with hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of people requiring immediate care.
State Action
Should a bioterrorist attack occur, what are the challenges that face health care providers and emergency management staff, and how can state legislatures help? The current infectious diseases reporting system is slow and could result in costly delays. State policymakers may want to review state laws and regulations for reporting a contagious disease and consider appropriating funds to provide additional laboratory staff and to update computer and communications tools.
Another state policy concern is the quarantine of people, buildings and perhaps entire sections of a city. In most states, the statutes governing such restrictions are overlapping, contradictory and outdated. Only a few state legislatures (Colorado, Minnesota and Texas) have revised their statutes to create a uniform legal basis for disease control.
The Nevada Legislature passed a bill during the 1999 session to make it a felony to possess, stockpile or threaten to use anthrax or other biological agents. Nevada is using grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prepare for a possible biological weapons release. The state surveyed its local health agencies for readiness and found 50 percent lacked high-speed Internet access, 94 percent lacked adequate emergency preparedness training for bioterrorist incidents, 46 percent did not have broadcast facsimile capabilities for emergency notifications, and 77 percent did not have an emergency response plan that addressed a bioterrorist attack.
The state Bureau of Disease Control and Intervention is focusing on: improving awareness among local health officials in order to detect a bioterrorist attack; upgrading laboratory techniques to rapidly identify organisms; and creating a communications system to quickly disseminate information about an attack. Nevada created, with CDC funds, the Health Alert Network to link the state with a nationwide information and communications system. Additional CDC funding will provide early detection training and new laboratory equipment.
Nevada health officials also are working with the state Division of Emergency Management-the lead agency to plan for and respond to a bioterrorist attack. The state has involved local and federal emergency response agencies in training and planning exercises for a bioterrorism event.
New Mexico's Department of Health is working with hospitals to test a syndrome surveillance system. Doctors document patient admissions from touch-screen computers; the diagnosis, demographic data, test ordered and other information can be entered in less than a minute. The data are transmitted to the department's central database and can inform doctors whether the patient is an isolated case or part of a widespread pattern of illness.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have initiated several programs in all 50 states to prepare for biological and chemical terrorism. They include developing state, federal and local bioterrorism response plants, assessing local readiness, enhancing electronic communications between state and local health agencies, establishing a network of laboratories that can rapidly identify biological and chemical agents, and improving disease tracking systems to detect the slightest indication of a bioterrorist attack.
The CDC also is working with partners to develop and improve vaccines and antibiotics to help those exposed to a bioterrorist attack. The CDC has developed a National Pharmaceutical Stockpile that can provide medicine anywhere in the United States at a moment's notice.
Federal Action
Congress approved the Public Health Improvement Act to provide $220 million in FY 2001 and funding through FY 2006 to organize the nation for the health consequences of a bioterrorist attack. The federal government will form an interagency working group to improve the ability to detect, diagnose and respond to a bioterrorist attack.
Selected References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Biological and Chemical Terrorism: Strategic Plan for Preparedness and Response. Recommendations of the CDC Strategic Planning Workgroup." Morbidity-Mortality Weekly Report 29, no. RR-4, April 21, 2000.
Noji, Eric K. "Biological Agents as Natural Hazards and Bioterrorism as a "New" Natural Disaster Threat." Natural Hazards Observer 25, no. 2, November 2000, www.colorado.edu/hazards.
Smithson, Amy and Leslie-Anne Levy. Ataxia: The Chemical and Biological Terrorism Threat and the U.S. Response. Washington, D.C.: The Stimson Center, October 2000.
Contacts for More Information
Lisa Speissegger, Tracey Hooker, Cheryl Runyon
NCSL-Denver
(303) 830-2200 ext., 199, 198, 252
Scott Lillibridge
Centers for Disease Control Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Initiative
(404) 639-0385
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