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Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same way as in biological warfare. Further, modern agribusiness is vulnerable to anti-agricultural attacks by terrorists, and such attacks can seriously damage economy as well as consumer confidence. The latter destructive activity is called agrobioterrorism and is a subtype of agro-terrorism.
Biodefense refers to measures to restore biosecurity to a group of organisms who are, or may be, subject to biological threats or infectious diseases. Biodefense is frequently discussed in the context of biowar or bioterrorism, and is generally considered a military or emergency response term.
Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence are protective measures taken in situations in which chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear warfare hazards may be present. CBRN defence consists of CBRN passive protection, contamination avoidance, and weapons of mass destruction mitigation.
Autonomous Detection Systems (ADS), also called biohazard detection systems or autonomous pathogen detection systems, are designed to monitor air in an environment and to detect the presence of airborne chemicals, toxins, pathogens, or other biological agents capable of causing human illness or death. These systems monitor the air continuously and send real-time alerts to appropriate authorities in the event of an act of bioterrorism or biological warfare.
The Project Bioshield Act was an act passed by the United States Congress in 2004 calling for $5 billion for purchasing vaccines that would be used in the event of a bioterrorist attack. This was a ten-year program to acquire medical countermeasures to biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear agents for civilian use. A key element of the Act was to allow stockpiling and distribution of vaccines which had not been tested for safety or efficacy in humans, due to ethical concerns. Efficacy of such agents cannot be directly tested in humans without also exposing humans to the chemical, biological, or radioactive threat being treated, so testing follows the FDA Animal Rule for pivotal animal efficacy.
Black & Veatch (BV) is the largest engineering firm in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Founded in 1915 in Kansas City, Missouri it is now headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas It is a global engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) and consulting company specializing in infrastructure development in power, oil and gas, water, telecommunications, government, mining, data centers, smart cities and banking and finance markets.
Materials MASINT is one of the six major disciplines generally accepted to make up the field of Measurement and Signature Intelligence (MASINT), with due regard that the MASINT subdisciplines may overlap, and MASINT, in turn, is complementary to more traditional intelligence collection and analysis disciplines such as SIGINT and IMINT. MASINT encompasses intelligence gathering activities that bring together disparate elements that do not fit within the definitions of Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Imagery Intelligence (IMINT), or Human Intelligence (HUMINT).
BioWatch is a United States federal government program to detect the release of pathogens into the air as part of a terrorist attack on major American cities. Reportedly operating in Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, DC, San Diego, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, St. Louis, Houston, Los Angeles and 21 other cities, the BioWatch program was created in 2001 in response to the increased threat of bioterrorism sparked by the 2001 anthrax attacks, and was announced in President George W. Bush's State of the Union Address of 2003.
The Chemical and Biological Defense Division (CBD) is a division of the Science and Technology Directorate of the United States Department of Homeland Security. Within the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, CBD develops technologies to increase the United States's preparedness and protect key national infrastructure against chemical, biological, and agricultural threats and disasters through improved threat awareness and advanced surveillance, detection, and protective countermeasures.
The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) is the United States's principal research and development resource for non-medical chemical and biological (CB) defense. As a critical national asset in the CB defense community, ECBC supports all phases of the acquisition life-cycle ― from basic and applied research through technology development, engineering design, equipment evaluation, product support, sustainment, field operations and demilitarization ― to address its customers’ unique requirements.
The International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the improvement of public health by advancing the science and practice of disease surveillance. ISDS facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration and promotes and conducts research, education, and advocacy. ISDS's 400+ membership represents professional and academic subject matter experts in the fields of public health surveillance, clinical practice, health informatics, health policy, and other areas related to national and global health surveillance. ISDS holds an annual national conference for the public health surveillance community. The ISDS is a member society of the Global Health Workforce Alliance founded in 2006.
Biosecurity in the United States is governed by the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, which is part of the US Department of State. It obtains guidance and advice on specific matters relating to biosecurity from various other government agencies.
The United States biological defense program—in recent years also called the National Biodefense Strategy—refers to the collective effort by all levels of government, along with private enterprise and other stakeholders, in the United States to carry out biodefense activities.
The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2013 is a law enacted by the 113th United States Congress. The Act amends the Public Health Service Act in order to extend, fund, and improve several programs designed to prepare the United States and health professionals in the event of a pandemic, epidemic, or biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear accident or attack. The Act clarifies the authority of different American officials, makes it easier to temporarily reassign personnel to respond to emergency situations, and alters the process for testing and producing medical countermeasures. The Act is focused on improving preparedness for any public health emergency.
The United States National Biosurveillance Strategy is the plan to implement a biosurveillance system that will monitor and interpret data that might relate to disease activity and threats to human or animal health – whether infectious, toxic, metabolic, and regardless of intentional or natural origin – in order to achieve early warning of health threats, early detection of health events and overall situational awareness of disease activity.
Anne Hultgren was the Branch Chief for research and development in the Chemical and Biological Defense Division of the Science and Technology Directorate of the United States Department of Homeland Security. She worked in the department from 2005 to 2015. There she helped to develop and test the "Detect-to-Protect" biological detection program. As of February 2015 she became the executive director of the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation.
The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, formerly known as the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, is an organization of former high-ranking government officials that analyzes US capabilities and capacity to defend against biological threats. According to the Commission's mission statement, the organization was formed to "provide for a comprehensive assessment of the state of U.S. biodefense efforts, and to issue recommendations that will foster change."
In the United States, the National Biodefense Strategy is a biosecurity strategy that the federal government was directed to adopt by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. The act—the periodic National Defense Authorization Act, the authorization bill for national security—required the secretaries of Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Agriculture to coordinate to produce a comprehensive strategy for countering biological warfare threats and other biological threats. The Donald Trump administration announced the National Biodefense Strategy of 2018 the following year. Later, the Donald Trump administration announced they would siphon funds from medical programs to supplement fundings for the strategy. When questioned about this, it was reported that the Obama administration provided the plans for the strategy.
The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act (PAHPAI) is legislation introduced and passed by the U.S. Congress in 2019 that aims to improve the nation's preparation and response to public health threats, including both natural threats and deliberate man-made threats.
Jerome Schultz is an American bioengineering researcher, professor, and university administrator. He is a fellow of several national scientific societies and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He has held professorships at the University of Michigan, the University of Pittsburgh, University of California, Riverside, and he is currently a Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Houston.
References
- ↑ "Biosurveillance". 5 November 2014.
- ↑ "The BioWatch Program: Detection of Bioterrorism".
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