Risk Assessment and Risk Communication Strategies in Bioterrorism Preparedness

Description

The anthrax envelopes incident in the United States in 2001 created the impetus for a substantial increase in preparedness for bioterrorist threats among both public health and law enforcement professionals, worldwide. Ever increasing resources are now being allocated for dealing with a wide variety of potential threats, from the reintroduction of eradicated viruses such as smallpox to the possibility of genetically engineered novel pathogens. Despite the potentially devastating consequences of the various projected bioterror scenarios, it remains remarkably difficult to quantitatively assess the actual risk in each of these scenarios. Nevertheless, such risk assessment is crucial for determining the appropriate allocation of resources for research and preparedness. The public anxiety expected during a large-scale bioterrorism attack may even be more damaging than the direct effects of the bioterrorism agent, both in health-related and economic outcomes. Carefully tailored risk communication is a major tool for individuals, decision-makers or even entire communities to make educated decisions about their responses to well-being, and avoid social disruption. In this book, we have included articles from leading experts in the various disciplines associated with risk assessment and risk communication associated with bioterrorism. These papers are based on presentations at a NATO Advanced Research Workshop in Israel in June 2005, which addressed these issues. The resulting volume integrates the viewpoints of public health, law enforcement, risk analysis and media experts into a comprehensive, practical guide for approaching risk assessment and risk communication in a bioterrorism event. Front Matter....Pages i-x Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Introduction to Bioterrorism Risk Assessment....Pages 3-17 Some Public Health Perspectives on Quantitative Risk Assessments for Bioterrorism....Pages 19-29 Situational Awareness in a Bioterror Attack via Probability Modeling....Pages 31-44 The Bioterrorism Threat....Pages 45-54 Change of Mind-Set Following 9/11: The few that are already willing to Resort to Weapons of Mass Destruction....Pages 55-66 Antimicrobial Prophylaxis and Providing Subacute Care in the Context of a Bioterrorism Event: Lessons learned from 2001....Pages 67-76 Detecting and Responding to Bioterrorism....Pages 77-92 Species-Neutral Disease Surveillance: A Foundation of Risk Assessment and Communication....Pages 93-99 Front Matter....Pages 101-101 Introduction to Bioterrorism Risk Communication....Pages 103-116 Risk Communication to Health-Care Workers as a Risk Reduction Measure in Bioterrorism....Pages 117-121 Anthrax-Euronet and Beyond – Challenges of Scientific Research on High Risk Agents....Pages 123-130 Risk Communication and Public Behavior in Emergencies....Pages 131-133 Prevention Strategies and Promoting Psychological Resilience to Bioterrorism Through Communication....Pages 135-162 Risk Communication and the Community Response to a Bioterrorist Attack: the Role of an Internet-Based early warning system A.K.A “The Informal Sector”....Pages 163-175 Information Systems for Risk Communication Related to Bioterrorism....Pages 177-191 Front Matter....Pages 193-193 Risk Assessment in Smallpox Bioterrorist Aggression....Pages 195-203 Renewal of Immunological Memory to Smallpox: Use of New Tools Yields Old Results....Pages 205-218 Preparing for a Smallpox Bioterrorist Attack: Pulse Vaccination as an Optimal Strategy....Pages 219-229 A Priori Versus a Posteriori Risk Assessment for Bioterror Attack....Pages 232-234 Impact of the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Stability in the Middle East....Pages 235-236 Front Matter....Pages 193-193 The Role of Risk Assessment in Preparing the Health-Care System for Bioterrorism and Natural Epidemics....Pages 237-238 Susceptibility of B. Anthracis to Various Antibacterial Agents and their Time-Kill Activity....Pages 239-240 Natural Or Intentional Food Contamination? How can we know?....Pages 241-241 Bioterrorism Emergency Response: Current Concepts and Controversies....Pages 243-244 Preparedness and Response for Bioterrorism Involving the Food Supply....Pages 245-245 Risk Communication and Psychological Impact: Technological and Operational Methods of Mitigation....Pages 247-248