Center News

10 Years After Anthrax Attacks, Time to Assess Progress, Goals

Recommendations Offered on Future Direction

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011—Baltimore, MD—The Center for Biosecurity of UPMC released online ahead of print a new publication, A Crossroads in Biosecurity: Steps to Strengthen U.S. Preparedness, which takes stock of progress since 2001 and makes recommendations for change that would help build resilience and preparedness against biological threats.

“Many important government and private sector programs were born in response to the anthrax attacks, and there has been real progress since. But there is so much more that now needs to get done. This is no time to rest on our laurels, and no time to slash budgets needed for preparedness,” said Dr. Thomas Inglesby, CEO of the Center for Biosecurity.

The compendium includes the following commentaries authored by senior Center scholars:

A Crossroads in Biosecurity
Post-9/11 Challenges of a Crisis
Managing the Insider Threat in High-Containment Laboratories
Connecting the Dots on Biosurveillance
Time for Crisis Standards of Care
Preparing Hospitals for Large-Scale Infectious Disease Emergencies
Four Ways to Reduce the Time and Cost of Anthrax Cleanup
Community Resilience: Beyond Wishful Thinking

“The U.S. needs to be better prepared to deal with biological threats. At this 10-year mark, our government has a lot of important choices to make about how best to get ready. The Center’s compendium gives our views on many of those choices and on the best paths to take,” said Anita Cicero, Deputy Director of the Center.

View the compendium online

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The Center for Biosecurity is an independent, nonprofit organization of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) whose mission is to strengthen national security by reducing the risks posed by biological attacks, epidemics, and other destabilizing events, and to improve the nation’s resilience in the face of such events.