[NVIC] Quarantine System Lacking

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NVIC Note: Seven Billion dollars is spent annually on biodefense with a

17-fold increase in spending since 2001. But they tell us they still need

more money and more power.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/02/us_quarantine_system_l

acks_resources_panel_says/

US quarantine system lacks resources, panel says

Threat seen from new infections

By Maggie Fox, Reuters | September 2, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The US quarantine system does not do enough to keep out new

killer diseases such as avian flu or unknown bioterrorism threats, a panel

of specialists said yesterday.

They said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should be given

broad new powers to set up and enforce quarantine stations and to monitor

for imported infections.

Hundreds more people need to be trained to watch at ports of entry for

people who may be carrying diseases, the Institute of Medicine Committee

said.

''What happens if you get SARS or have a pandemic or a big outbreak occurs

somewhere and you need a big capacity very quickly? That is going to require

a lot more planning than is occurring today, " Dr. s , head of

the American Public Health Association and chairman of the committee that

wrote the report, said in a telephone interview.

''They need a lot more resources to do this. This is really an insurance

plan that is underfinanced and undersupported. "

The report calls for an updated approach to a system that is still based on

immigration and travel patterns of nearly a century ago.

''In the 1930s and '40s when people came in, most of them came in by boat.

They came in through very few ports, " said. ''If they had an

incubating disease, it often would incubate while they were on the ride over

here. "

Now, with jet travel, a person infected with smallpox, avian flu, or the

Ebola virus could have landed and traveled to anywhere in the country before

becoming ill -- spreading the infection all along the way.

The CDC and other specialists have warned of this danger for years, and the

panel said it is time to act.

The report said 120 million people travel in and out of the United States

each year. The CDC staffs 11 quarantine stations and will have 15 by the end

of the year.

He said the CDC would be able to spread its thin resources better by

training customs and security personnel, airline staff, and others, to

screen.

They also need updated methods, the report says.

''Quite frankly right now, how they identify who is sick is they stand at

the causeway where people get off the plane and look for sick people, "

said.

He said there is still a role for such old-fashioned surveillance.

''People hide monkeys under their shirts, believe it or not, " said.

''They bring in rats and rodents, pets in with them. Sometimes they bring

them in for food from countries they are coming from. "

Health screeners also need up-to-date computer information and access to

travel medical records and seating charts so they can easily trace those who

were near someone who turns out to have an infection, said.

''Over the years we have had two things happen -- the belief that the

infectious threat has gone, with the result that resources have dwindled

away, " he said. ''And the environment has changed and we are now looking at

emerging infectious threats and bioterrorism. "

These include severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which emerged in

China in 2002 and swept to several countries around the world via jet,

infecting 8,000 people and killing about 800 before it was stopped with

strict quarantines.

The H5N1 avian flu is considered another potential threat should it pass

easily into humans, and specialists fear that terrorists could use smallpox

or other infections.

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