States lack bioterrorism response plans

WASHINGTON – States that routinely deal with hurricanes and other natural disasters are better prepared than others to handle bioterrorism, but overall the nation is struggling to develop plans for public health emergencies.

Florida and North Carolina, both familiar with evacuating residents and distributing emergency aid, received top rankings in a study by the private Trust for America’s Health. Alaska and Massachusetts got the lowest ratings, despite infusions of federal aid designed to improve emergency responsiveness.

Overall, the report found that states are slowly becoming better prepared to handle bioterrorism, but most still lack statewide response plans. Federal planning money is declining.

Combating bioterrorism is the weakest link in homeland security, said former Connecticut Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr., now president of Trust for America’s Health.

He said that while the report focuses on bioterrorism, it also shows the country is ill-prepared to deal with daily public health emergencies from childhood asthma to West Nile virus.

The report issued Tuesday found only six states are adequately prepared to distribute vaccines and antidotes in emergencies, but it named only three of them: Florida, Illinois and Louisiana.

States like Florida have spent money on training and built an effective infrastructure to deal with public health emergencies, said Shelley Hearne, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health.

The report concluded that basic bioterrorism detection, diagnosis and response capabilities are not in place, and the country has a long way to go to protect the public from such attacks.

A common problem was lack of money. Federal bioterrorism aid was decreased by about $1 million per state in 2004, and about one-third of the states saw their public health budgets decline.