About a dozen people were infected with the anthrax virus in
2001, but 30,000 people were placed on antibiotics and 200,000
laboratory tests were performed as a result.
Researchers at UCLA are developing more efficient systems to
manage similar outbreaks of pathogens.
Research of biological pathogens used for purposes of
bioterrorism has gained more interest as well as funding in the
past few years, researchers said.
Quicker methods of biological pathogen detection in patients and
the environment, alarm systems for air testing, rapid storage of
data in databases, therapeutic treatments and vaccine development
are among other advances being made in the field of bioterrorism
research.
For example, in the past culture samples of bacteria were grown
for analysis, but scientists are currently able to identify
pathogens based on DNA sequences.
“The area that probably still needs more attention is
epidemiology and logistics, namely the development of improved
public health surveillance systems to detect outbreaks more quickly
and planning for rapid distribution of vaccines and antibiotics in
preparation for treating large numbers of patients,” said
Gregory Moran, professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of
Medicine and a member of the L.A. County Bioterrorism Advisory
Panel.
Quicker detection of bioterrorism pathogens and faster treatment
of patients is a focus of bioterrorism research.
“From a public response point of view, we can be
overwhelmed by the number of (patient) samples we have to
test,” said Scott Layne, professor in the department of
epidemiology in the UCLA School of Public Health.
Layne developed the High-Throughput Automated Laboratory Network
that can be used in the future to rapidly analyze infectious
diseases or bioterrorism pathogens.
Samples from patients and clinical observations will be sent via
plane and Internet, respectively, to a high-throughput automated
laboratory.
The data will be logged onto a national database which will
allow specialists to collect information about outbreaks, which
diseases the viruses cause, which vaccines can be administered and
other information.
“It’s more up-to-date information without delays in
timing, so it’s high volume, high speed and real time
information,” Layne said.
Anthrax, classified as a severe bioterrorism agent by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, can be contracted by
airborne spores.
“Anthrax gives terrorists the most bang for the buck. It
is very effective when you weaponize it in getting a lot of people
very sick,” said Peter Katona, a professor at the David
Geffen School of Medicine and president of the Center of Medical
Multimedia Education and Technology.
Should a bioterrorism situation arise, multifaceted responses
would occur.
“There are contingency plans in place to handle various
issues … which combines lots of entities: public health, news
media, police department, health department,” said
Katona.
A public health response would involve testing patients and
administering vaccines.
“(In terms of a public health response), the health
department would attempt to contain the spread if the agent is
communicable between persons. They would also release information
to the public through the media regarding any precautions that
should be taken and information about how to receive treatment in
addition to vaccines or antibiotics if appropriate,” Moran
said.
It is very unlikely that people will come into contact with
pathogens such as anthrax or smallpox unless a bioterrorism
situation arises.
A skin form of anthrax can naturally occur, and plague is
present among rodents in the Southwest, but pulmonary forms are
first deemed to be bioterrorism unless they are proven not to be,
said Steven Rottman, a professor at the David Geffen School of
Medicine and director of the UCLA Center for Public Health and
Disasters, in an e-mail.
“We need to try to find ways to more rapidly mobilize in a
large (bioterrorism) outbreak,” Moran said.