U.S. Cities Stockpile Bioterror Countermeasures

Cities and counties throughout the United States are creating stockpiles of anthrax countermeasures that mirror the drugs available in the Strategic National Stockpile, the Baltimore Sun reported today (see GSN, June 3).

The drugs, purchased with federal money given to cities to prepare for a terrorist attack, are meant to immediately treat first responders in the event of an anthrax attack without having to wait for drugs from the National Stockpile.

“It makes a difference knowing that you can take the medicine immediately and not put your family at risk through exposure,” said fire fighter Randall Owens.

However, one bioterrorism expert was critical of the practice.

“The idea is kind of nuts,” said William Stanhope of the Institute for Bio-Security at St. Louis University. “It presumes it is going to be an anthrax attack, and it presumes that we will know in an instant. ... A bioterrorist attack will not be white powder floating out of the sky. It will not be obvious. It will be covert.”

Stanhope also feared that distributing countermeasures for only anthrax gives first responders a false sense of security.

“There’s a good chance it won’t be anthrax,” he said.

Baltimore, Md., Health Commissioner Peter Beilenson said the city would not distribute any countermeasure before the situation is carefully analyzed.

“I’m a doctor. My first concern is to do no harm,” said Beilenson. “We’re just trying to be proactive and do the right thing with this [homeland security] money in a very smart, targeted way.”

A second public health official said the stockpile was necessary because it would take too long to distribute countermeasures from the National Stockpile.

“There is a difference between getting several trailer-loads of drugs to a central location in a state and then unpacking trailers and boxes and dividing the drugs into county sizes and dispersing them to the public,” said Diane Matuszak of the Baltimore Health and Mental Hygiene Department. “You would want the [antidotes] in the hands of every citizen within 48 hours” (Greg Barrett, Baltimore Sun, June 6).

Meanwhile, researchers from Canada and the United States said post-attack anthrax immunization and antibiotic therapy is more effective than pre-attack vaccination.

In the event of an anthrax attack, “post-attack prophylactic vaccination and antibiotic therapy is the most effective and least expensive strategy,” said researcher Robert Fowler (Biotech Week, June 8).

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