Biosurveillance Key to Long-Term WMD Protection

The US House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee has rolled out a new version of legislation aimed at enhancing American efforts to prevent and respond to bioterror attacks.  Interestingly, while the threat and probability of biological weapons of mass destruction being used against the United States is currently perceived as lower than other risks, the Committee has pointed out the importance of careful planning and preparation in this area, since it remains one in which much work still needs to be done.

Of particular significance is the legislation’s call for a new special assistant to the President for biodefense, charged with the responsibility for developing a national strategy for biosurveillance, to advance situational awareness of threats. With our broad experience in deployed biosurveillance capability, Dycor is very much in support of the approach this legislation mandates. Knowing what is ‘normal’ in terms of bioaerosol background is critical to being able to characterize and track biological events, whether manmade or naturally-occurring. The task is huge, complex and multifaceted – and the new US legislation goes a long way to recognizing the work it will take, and the benefits that will occur, from approaching this task the right way.

Dycor’s biosurveillance capability is not merely equipment-focused, but based on practical procedures and analytical knowledge that come from operational deployments of integrated monitoring, sampling, data interpretation and communications solutions. See how our solutions have worked in scenarios just like those which the US is now preparing to address with this new legislation.