BIOTERRORISM
Many Worry That Nation Is Still Highly Vulnerable to Germ Attack
By SHERYL
GAY STOLBERG and JUDITH MILLER
 lthough
the Bush administration has invested hundreds of millions of dollars
over the past year to strengthen the nation's defenses against a
biological attack, experts say the United States remains highly
vulnerable to bioterrorism, particularly strikes on the food supply.
The long-neglected public health system, which was stretched thin
during the anthrax attacks of last fall, has received nearly $1
billion. States have used the money for plans to cope with a germ
attack, and some are already hiring workers who can respond to
intentional attacks or natural outbreaks of diseases like West Nile
virus.
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"Each day we are getting stronger," said Tommy G. Thompson, the
secretary of health and human services. Even so, significant
shortcomings remain.
Many experts, including Mr. Thompson, say the administration has
not paid enough attention to protecting the plants and animals in
the food supply from biological attacks. The Food and Drug
Administration doubled the number of food inspectors, to 1,500, this
year, but even so, Mr. Thompson said, the government is "woefully
inadequate in this area." He called this his biggest concern.
Battles persist within the federal bureaucracy, particularly over
the role of the new Department of Homeland Security in preparing for
germ attacks. John J. Hamre, president of the Center for Strategic
and International Studies, a research organization devoted to
security, says the bioterrorism effort is still "years away" from
being properly organized.
"We're better prepared as a society, but not necessarily as a
government," said Mr. Hamre, a deputy secretary of defense in the
Clinton administration.
Meanwhile, a deep philosophical divide has emerged between
scientists and intelligence officials over whether to withhold
scientific information in the name of national security. A case in
point is a rift over a study on agricultural bioterrorism prepared
by the National Research Council.
The report, a draft of which was obtained by The New York Times,
says the government lacked a comprehensive plan to respond to
agricultural bioterrorism. But it has yet to be published, its
authors say, because of fears that it could aid potential
terrorists.
"There's a possibility of it being literally classified," said
Dr. Joshua Lederberg, a microbiologist and Nobel laureate who served
on the committee that wrote the report. "Some people think it
shouldn't be released."
So while government officials say considerable progress has been
made against bioterrorism, they acknowledge that there is a long way
to go.
"There are still some gaps," said Dr. Julie L. Gerberding,
director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "There
is a kind of mosaic of capacity right now."
While public health agencies have received a big lift, hospitals
have received far less money from the federal government, and many
hospital executives say they cannot afford to prepare for
bioterrorism on their own.
Although the budget of the National Institutes of Health has
grown considerably to accommodate more research into new drugs and
vaccines, the next generation of therapeutics is still years away.
"That just doesn't happen overnight," said David Franz, former
commander of the Army's bioterrorism defense laboratory in Fort
Detrick, Md.
Indeed, Dr. Franz and others say, the biggest change has been one
of attitude.
Doctors and nurses who have never seen a case of smallpox — a
disease that was eradicated two decades ago — are now learning how
to identify its distinctive rash and how to administer the vaccine,
which has not been routinely given to Americans since 1972.
Health officials pay closer attention to infectious disease. For
example, Dr. Georges Benjamin, who runs the Maryland health
department, now has his staff compile a monthly e-mail report of
disease outbreaks overseas.
"We didn't feel threatened by that before," said Dr. Benjamin,
who is also president of the Association of State and Territorial
Health Officials. "The world has changed. Every time we get an
outbreak at all, the first question we ask is, `Was this
intentional?' "
The Agencies: Boom Times
As director of the Iowa public health laboratory, Mary J.
Gilchrist has long worried about germ attacks, but long had trouble
getting colleagues interested.
"People thought I was from outer space," Dr. Gilchrist said.
Last year, her bioterrorism preparedness budget was scant:
$100,000, all of it from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
This year, with $1.5 million in federal bioterrorism money, Dr.
Gilchrist is hiring laboratory workers and buying equipment to
enable her technicians to conduct rapid tests on infectious agents.
She says she worries that she will be unable to fill new positions
because other public health agencies are also hiring.
"There's going to be a brain drain," Dr. Gilchrist predicted.
Bioterrorism has brought boom times to public health agencies. In
January, President Bush signed a bill authorizing $1.1 billion for
bioterrorism preparedness, with the bulk of it, $930 million,
designated to be parceled out among the states for improvements in
public health.
The Office of Public Health Preparedness, created by Mr.
Thompson, reviewed state plans and had disbursed nearly all the
money by June, said Jerome M. Hauer, the office's director and an
assistant secretary.
Now the states must carry out their plans.
In Massachusetts, for example, Nancy Ridley, assistant
commissioner of the state's Department of Public Health, said it
took several months just to get officials in 351 local health
departments to agree on how to divide the state into regions so the
federal dollars could be distributed. "Everybody wants a piece of
the pie," she said.
In Texas, Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, the commissioner of health, is
trying to determine how to handle an attack that would involve the
state's neighbor, Mexico. Could Mexican hospitals care for American
patients, and vice versa? Would Mexicans be eligible for smallpox
vaccine from the United States stockpile?
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