States get money to fight bioterrorist threat

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States get money to fight bioterrorist threat

Posted 9-27-99
By Barbara Tone, RN

Atlanta. The nation will be better prepared to fight bioterrorism, thanks to recent grants awarded by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Sept. 15, the CDC announced that it was awarding $40 million to individual states and major cities to improve bioterrorism detection and response.

"It is our hope that this funding will strengthen the infrastructure so that if we do have one of these threats, every state has the capacity to identify the agent, get the message out to the community, and promptly notify federal authorities," CDC spokesperson K.D. Hoskins said.

The funding covers 127 projects in five categories:

Preparedness planning and readiness assessment: $1.3 million for readiness planning assessment by local and state health departments
Epidemiology and surveillance capacity: $7.8 million to develop capacity to detect outbreaks of illnesses that might have been caused by terrorists
Laboratory capacity for biologic agents: $8.8 million to expand state and local biological laboratory capacity
Laboratory capacity for chemical agents: $4 million for laboratory expertise to identify the biological or chemical agents involved
Health alert network/training: $19 million for an improved electronic communication network, which will include Internet access for local health departments to provide information to public health officials about outbreaks of unusual diseases

Texas received funding for epidemiology and surveillance capacity, laboratory capacity, and health alert network/training. The grant will enhance statewide reporting efforts, improve detection of possible biologic agents, and bring all local and regional health departments online to speed communication, according to state officials.

"The sooner we know about a problem, the sooner we can control it," said Julie Rawlings, epidemiologist for the Infectious Disease, Epidemiology, and Surveillance Division of the Texas Department of Health.

Whether or not bioterrorism ever becomes reality, Rawlings said the funds would be beneficial to the residents of Texas. "It doesn't matter if an outbreak is due to bioterrorism, poor handling of food, or the flu," she said. "These funds will be used to deal with situations on a day-to-day basis."

The grants are part of the $173 million in funding budgeted for bioterrorism preparation for 1999.