Biological Threats and Terrorism: Assessing the Science and Response Capabilities, Workshop Summary

In the wake of September 11th and recent anthrax events, our nation’s bioterrorism response capability has become a priority for policymakers, researchers, public health officials, academia and the private sector. In a three-day workshop, convened by the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Emerging Infections, experts from each of these communities came together to identify, clarify and prioritize the next steps that need to be taken to prepare and strengthen bioterrorism response capabilities. From the discussions it became clear that of utmost urgency is the need to cast the issue of a response in an appropriate framework that can attract the attention of Congress and the public and garner sufficient and sustainable support for such initiatives. Numerous workshop participants agreed that there are many gaps in the public health infrastructure and countermeasure capabilities that must be prioritized and addressed in order to assure a rapid and effective response to another bioterrorist attack.