Biodefense: Next Steps

Biodefense: Next Steps

This hearing before the Subcommittee on Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness discusses the threat to US security posed by bioterrorism.

2005

Four material threats to US security include smallpox, anthrax, botulinum, and radiological/nuclear threats. Congress should enact a no-fault mechanism that covers both bioterrorism and any widespread public infectious disease outbreak where emergency interventions such as vaccination would be done on a large-scale basis. We must consider not only the current threat but also the future threat as the capabilities of terrorists and antibiotic resistance are both quickly evolving.