Preparing for Bioterrorism

As citizens across the nation debate and dissect President Obama’s State of the Union address, we should not miss the opportunity to make good on one of his promises. President Obama devoted one line of his 70-minute speech to announcing a new plan to address the potential for bioterror attacks.

In light of increased chatter among terrorists and last fall’s experience with the H1N1 virus, it is clear we need new ideas and mechanisms of delivery if we want to save American lives. In fact, the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation and Terrorism just gave the United States an “F” for our “capabilities for rapid response to prevent biological attacks from inflicting mass casualties.”