Risk Assessment and Risk Communication Strategies in Bioterrorism Preparedness (eBook) von Manfred S. Green

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Risk Assessment and Risk Communication in Bioterrorism, held in Ein-Gedi, Israel, June 2005

1. Preface.2. Risk Assessment Strategies.- 2.1. Introduction to Bioterrorism Risk Assessment.- 2.2 Modeling the Risk and Impact of a Bioterrorism Event.- 2.3 Motivation Capabilities and Risk.- 2.4 Using Risk Assessment to Direct Preparedness Efforts.- 2.5 Surveillance Methods for Early Detection of Bioterrorist Event.3. Risk Communication.- 3.1 Introduction to Bioterrorism Risk Communication.- 3.2 Risk Communication Dogma is a Mitigating Tool.- 3.3. Communication Techniques in Health Professionals.- 3.4 Getting the Message Through.- 3.5 Novel Technologies and their Role in Effective Risk Communication.4. Case Study: Focus on Smallpox.- 4.1 Risk Assessment in Smallpox Bioterrorist Agression.- 4.2 Renewal of Immunological and Public Memory to Smallpox – Use of New Tools Yields Old Results.- 4.3. Preparing for a Smallpox Bioterrorist Attack: Pulse Vaccination as an Optimal Strategy.

The anthrax envelopes incident in the United States in 2001 created the impetus for a substantial increase in preparedness for bioterrorist threats among both public health and law enforcement professionals, worldwide. Ever increasing resources are now being allocated for dealing with a wide variety of potential threats, from the reintroduction of eradicated viruses such as smallpox to the possibility of genetically engineered novel pathogens. Despite the potentially devastating consequences of the various projected bioterror scenarios, it remains remarkably difficult to quantitatively assess the actual risk in each of these scenarios. Nevertheless, such risk assessment is crucial for determining the appropriate allocation of resources for research and preparedness. The public anxiety expected during a large-scale bioterrorism attack may even be more damaging than the direct effects of the bioterrorism agent, both in health-related and economic outcomes. Carefully tailored risk communication is a major tool for individuals, decision-makers or even entire communities to make educated decisions about their responses to well-being, and avoid social disruption. In this book, we have included articles from leading experts in the various disciplines associated with risk assessment and risk communication associated with bioterrorism. These papers are based on presentations at a NATO Advanced Research Workshop in Israel in June 2005, which addressed these issues. The resulting volume integrates the viewpoints of public health, law enforcement, risk analysis and media experts into a comprehensive, practical guide for approaching risk assessment and risk communication in a bioterrorism event.