ABSTRACT - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will lead multimillion-dollar effort to collect and analyze health data of people in eight major cities, to secure early warning of bioterror attack; computerized network that will collect data is expected to become cornerstone of national network to spot disease outbreaks by tracking data like doctor reports, emergency room visits and sales of flu medicine; Bush administration officials will not disclose which cities will be involved, but experts say Washington is likely to be one of eight; officials and experts say emerging health monitoring network will provide information that could save lives if terrorists strike with deadly germs like smallpox or anthrax; say head start of even day or two can greatly lower death rates by letting doctors treat patients soon and prevent isolated outbreak from becoming epidemic; Pres Bush is expected to refer to new bioterrorism defenses in his State of Union address; disease centers' initiative represents sharp swing to civilian leadership in field military pioneered and once dominated; even in civilian hands, emerging network raises concerns that such surveillance may violate individual medical privacy rights; administration officials deny that privacy concerns motivated them to move health monitoring network from its original site in Defense Dept to new domestic security agency; photo; chart (L) To secure early warning of a bioterror attack, the government is building a computerized network that will collect and analyze health data of people in eight major cities, administration officials say.

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