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The author recounts how the Miami-Dade Bioterrorism Center at the American Media International office building in Boca Raton, South Florida prepared for and responded to anthrax attacks. The Miami-Dade Hazardous Material Team looked into an operational solution and a group of scientists worked at the Miami-Dade County Branch of the Florida Public Health Laboratory. The protocol for managing the white powder incidents in their jurisdictions consisted of sample taking, chemical and bio analyses, and preservation of a portion of the powder for evidence. The Miami-Dade County Office of Emergency Management purchased a Perkin Elmer 7700 Quantitative Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) System. The team responded during the attack on October 4, 2001.

One of the most time-sensitive and logisticallychallenging emergency response operations today is to provide mass prophylaxis to every man, woman and child in a community within 48 hours of a bioterrorism attack. To meet this challenge, federal, state and local public health departments in the USA have joined forces to develop, test and execute large-scale bioterrorism response plans. This preparedness and response effort is funded through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Cities Readiness Initiative, a programme dedicated to providing oral antibiotics to an entire population within 48 hours of a weaponised inhalation anthrax attack. This paper will demonstrate how the State of Florida used a logistics modelling tool to improve its CRI mass prophylaxis plans. Special focus will be on how logistics modelling strengthened Florida's resource management policies and validated its public information strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study regarding bioterrorism. The researchers evaluated the bioterrorist attacks using the simulation method of the Center for Biological Defense. They found out that anthrax, an infectious animal disease, in Central Florida caused the outbreak. The authors said that the study suggests enhancement of BioDefend planning.

The article outlines a simulation conducted as part of a federal grant award administered through the Center for Biological Defense at the University of South Florida. The disease entity simulated was an attack of anthrax introduced into the Central Florida region. The spread, effects, and eventual control of the disease entity are highlighted.

Provides information on the North Carolina investigation into the first case of bioterrorism-related inhalational anthrax in Florida in October 2001. Background on the case; Surveillance methods used to identify potential cases of systemic anthrax; Factors which could have helped the investigation run more efficiently.

On October 4, 2001, we confirmed the first bioterrorism-related anthrax case identified in the United States in a resident of Palm Beach County, Florida. Epidemiologic investigation indicated that exposure occurred at the workplace through intentionally contaminated mail. One additional case of inhalational anthrax was identified from the index patient's workplace. Among 1,076 nasal cultures performed to assess exposure, Bacillus anthracis was isolated from a co-worker later confirmed as being infected, as well as from an asymptomatic mail-handler in the same workplace. Environmental cultures for B. anthracis showed contamination at the workplace and six county postal facilities. Environmental and nasal swab cultures were useful epidemiologic tools that helped direct the investigation towards the infection source and transmission vehicle. We identified 1,114 persons at risk and offered antimicrobial prophylaxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores issues related to the recognition and management of anthrax in the U.S. There had been 12 cases of clinical anthrax documented in initial reports which included two cases of inhalational anthrax among employees of a tabloid publishing company in Boca Raton, Florida. Bacillus anthracis is one of the most molecularly monomorphic bacteria that is known and its principal virulence factors are encoded on two plasmids. It is stated that infection is initiated with the introduction of the spore through a break in the skin or entry through the mucosa.

Presents information on a case of anthrax in Florida. Results of the epidemiologic and public health surveillance conducted to identify the transmission of infection; Actions taken in response to the anthrax case; Symptoms of inhalational anthrax.

This paper examines the dependability of the Event Assessment Tool over time. The latter is part of a CD-ROM--Emergency Risk Communication CDCynergy--distributed primarily to public information officers in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Event Assessment Tool is designed to aid emergency professionals in identifying the magnitude of a crisis event and to suggest appropriate actions to confront such a situation. Applied twice during the 2001 anthrax bioterrorism crisis in Boca Raton, Florida, the tool functioned in a binary manner by first indicating a moderate crisis level (on 4 October) and then four days later (on 8 October) a highly intense crisis, suggesting that it is time sensitive. This anthrax event provides an opportunity for crisis and disaster managers to understand the dynamic nature of crises. Rapid changes during these types of events suggest that any metric used to predict intensity must account for this variability. Additional limitations and implications of the tool are discussed.