A Strategic Vision for Biological Threat Reduction The U.S. Department of Defense and Beyond (2020) / Chapter Skim
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3 Addressing Biothreats through Successful Engagement
3 Addressing Biothreats through Successful Engagement
Pages 69-94
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From page 69... ...
• Biosecurity is not only directly affected by critical scientific disciplines, but also by interdisciplinary perspectives, and indirectly by social, economic, and cultural concerns that may be unique to the BTRP partner country. BENEFITS OF SCIENTIFIC ENGAGEMENT TO BIOTHREAT REDUCTION Engagement of scientists has been a cornerstone of biological threat reduction programs since their formal inception in the 1990s.
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From page 70... ...
What Principles Guide Successful Biosecurity and Health Security Programs? Biosecurity investments focus on natural, accidental, and intentional biological threats.
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From page 71... ...
• Biosecurity investments need to be flexible and timely while trying to anticipate future threats–both the what and the where, even if the when cannot be estimated. Successful programs match people, and the most effective engagements involve collaborative partnerships and strong relationships among trusted, credible, and knowledgeable interlocutors built over time; through trust in such relationships, contentious issues can more readily be resolved and trust between nations can be enhanced.
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From page 72... ...
There are advantages to addressing these events as different manifestations of the same family of challenges. An integrated view of biological threats prevents bureaucratic boundaries from interfering with partnerships and progress.
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From page 73... ...
Department of Agriculture, including the Agricultural Research Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility under construction in Manhattan, Kansas; U.S. Agency for International Development efforts to strengthen global capacity for detection and discovery of zoonotic viruses with pandemic potential, and the Infectious Disease Detection and Surveillance project improving the quality of real-time surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic diseases; the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
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From page 74... ...
. In this regard, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency/Biological Threat Reduction Program sponsored a meeting in June 2017 that coincided with the Second International Symposium on Infectious Diseases of Bats in Fort Collins, Colorado.
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From page 75... ...
. BOX 3-2 Bioengagement on Agricultural Pathogens Since the mid-1990s, the Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP)
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From page 76... ...
IFBA's mission is to advance biosafety and biosecurity in research, industry, and human and animal health sectors by providing opportunities for professional certification in these areas, promoting best practices for biorisk management (e.g., a consolidated risk management framework to address accidental and deliberate biological risks in laboratories) , raising awareness about biological risks, promoting partnerships to address biological risks, and assisting with biosafety and biosecurity policies.
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From page 77... ...
. While formal institutional relationships are, of course, critical, highly successful and sustainable engagements are often the result of two or more individuals who may come from widely diverse backgrounds in their respective home countries but who see a common need, generally agree regarding how to address that need, and are able to work together in an environment of openness and trust.
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From page 78... ...
engagement programs and implementers to absorb and operationalize, and that it will require considerable discussion and development of tools tied to assessing the impact of CTR programs for the concept to be fully adopted. FINDING 3.1: Successful programs match people from the two partner countries who have the necessary technical and
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From page 79... ...
There are a number of prior examples of U.S. government-led and -supported global programs that have succeeded and improved response to infectious disease threats, and provide insights for BTRP to consider.
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From page 80... ...
PEPFAR is the largest commitment by any nation in the world to address a single disease and is generally viewed as one of the most significant and successful global health initiatives ever undertaken. It is a prime example of the U.S.
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From page 81... ...
In that respect, the many HIV diagnostic laboratories established by PEPFAR across Africa have become a great resource for combating other infectious diseases when additional capacities were needed. Towner provided examples: CDC converted the HIV diagnostic laboratory in Luanda, Angola, and built on the HIV
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From page 82... ...
One particularly dramatic example of an emerging infectious disease outbreak is the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, a contemporary example of the sudden appearance of a previously unknown pathogen that spread around the world as infected individuals rapidly traveled to distant countries via air routes.
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From page 83... ...
The U.S. government's response to SARS carries lessons for the many government agencies working to reduce biological threats, including the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and BTRP, to improve disease surveillance and biosecurity aspects of the response to prevent, mitigate, and control outbreaks in partner countries.
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From page 84... ...
Fourth, cooperation between support agencies is critical to educate the community, encourage medical identification and treatment, increase patient compliance, enforce requirements when needed, and obtain overall buy-in from the public. Fifth, broad legal and policy challenges exist in responding to an infectious disease outbreak, and guidance is needed to orchestrate a prompt and effective response.
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From page 85... ...
The Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016 was an eyeopener and a wake-up call to the continuing critical deficiencies in the national, regional, and global mechanisms for detecting, reporting, and responding to an epidemic as envisioned under IHR (2005) , and the potential global threat from infectious disease outbreaks.
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From page 86... ...
outbreak in West Africa and prepare at-risk countries for potential EVD cases. This outbreak underscored the unique and unpredictable nature of the biological threats that CBEP seeks to reduce by enhancing BS&S [biosafety and biosecurity]
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From page 87... ...
. Following the West Africa Ebola epidemic, several groups, including the National Academies Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future, undertook lessons-learned exercises and proposed actions to improve global health preparedness and response for future infectious disease threats.
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From page 88... ...
1 Early identification and counteraction are critically important to a successful response to emerging biological threats. In reality this means that some assets and capabilities need to already be in place for response because: (1)
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From page 89... ...
. Ebola outbreaks have ranged all the way from East Africa to West Africa, and the committee does not underestimate the difficulties in trying to predict where an Ebola outbreak could occur or, given limitations on resources, what could be done in advance to preposition bioengagement programs and surveillance capabilities (particularly in areas of conflict)
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From page 90... ...
Thus, the network could serve as an instrument for stability and security of the region through early detection of zoonotic disease threats. An Example of a Successful DOD Joint Program on Filoviruses and Severe Sepsis: The Joint Mobile Emerging Disease Intervention Clinical Capability, Uganda (Ongoing)
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From page 91... ...
This platform will allow for rapid response to test the new therapeutics or medical countermeasures during the next Filovirus outbreak. MUWRP is the coordinating entity in Uganda and works closely with the Infectious Diseases Institute.
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From page 92... ...
. The conference featured side events on "Espionage, epizootics, and economics: safeguarding global animal health"; "Enhancing preparedness through simulated exercises and capability building"; and "Building interagency collaboration at the national and regional levels for biological threat reduction through simulation (table-top)
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From page 93... ...
They served to advance awareness and collaboration on global health security broadly and on biosafety and biosecurity specifically, while maintaining the important catalytic role of GHSA through the newly approved GHSA 2024 framework. Such engagement and participation of BTRP at these meetings is essential for the program to remain current and scientifically informed, as well as to establish networking connections with key leaders from around the world.
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