Biodefense research: can secrecy and safety coexist?

Biosecurity and Bioterrorism : Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science
Laura H Kahn

Abstract

Over the next 10 years, the United States will spend 6 billion US dollars to develop countermeasures against biological and chemical weapons. Much of this research on highly virulent pathogens will be done in academic settings around the country. This article explores the challenges in ensuring secrecy to protect national security while accommodating the right of local communities to have access to safety information regarding select agents and laboratory-acquired infections. Secrecy has been defended as being vital for protecting national security. Problems with secrecy can include the misinterpretation of intentions, particularly in laboratories located in nuclear weapons design facilities, and the restricted access to information relevant to public health and safety. While federal select agent legislation requires laboratories to have emergency plans in place with first responders, these plans do not necessarily include public health professionals, who will be responsible for any future public health action, such as quarantine, surveillance, or mass vaccinations, in the unlikely event that a laboratory-acquired infection spreads into a community. Laboratory-acquired infections do occur, even with the best safety mechanisms i...Continue Reading

References

Aug 3, 1995·The New England Journal of Medicine·M BarryC J Peters
Jul 28, 2001·The New England Journal of Medicine·A SrinivasanD L Thomas
Oct 25, 2002·Emerging Infectious Diseases·Daniel B JerniganUNKNOWN National Anthrax Epidemiologic Investigation Team
Sep 27, 2003·Science·Martin Enserink

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Citations

Jul 16, 2008·Clinical Microbiology Reviews·Tjeerd G KimmanMichèl R Klein
Dec 29, 2012·American Journal of Veterinary Research·Tanya D Graham
Aug 1, 2021·The Lancet Infectious Diseases·Carrie M Long, Andrea Marzi

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