Raber Ellen
Counterterrorism Program, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551, USA.
Biosecur Bioterror. 2011 Sep;9(3):257-61. doi: 10.1089/bsp.2011.0045.
Recovering from a biological attack is a complex process requiring the successful resolution of numerous challenges. The Interagency Biological Restoration Demonstration program is one of the first multiagency efforts to develop strategies and tools that could be effective following a wide-area release of B. anthracis spores. Nevertheless, several key policy issues and associated science and technology issues still need to be addressed. For example, more refined risk assessment and management approaches are needed to help evaluate "true" public health risk. Once the risk is understood, that information can be considered along with the types of characterization activities deemed necessary to determine whether the cost and time of decontamination are actually warranted. This commentary offers 5 recommendations associated with decision making regarding decontamination and clearance options that should accompany a comprehensive risk analysis leading to more effective risk management decisions. It summarizes some of the most important technological gaps that still need to be addressed to help decision makers in their objective of reducing health risks to an acceptable level. The risk management approach described should enable decision makers to improve credibility and gain public acceptance, especially when an adequate science and technology base is available to support the required decisions.
从生物攻击中恢复是一个复杂的过程，需要成功应对众多挑战。跨部门生物恢复示范项目是首批多部门合作的项目之一，旨在开发在大面积释放炭疽芽孢杆菌孢子后可能有效的策略和工具。然而，仍有几个关键的政策问题以及相关的科学和技术问题需要解决。例如，需要更精确的风险评估和管理方法来帮助评估“真正的”公共卫生风险。一旦了解了风险，就可以结合为确定去污的成本和时间是否真正合理而认为必要的特征描述活动类型来考虑这些信息。本评论提出了5项与去污和清理选项决策相关的建议，这些建议应伴随全面的风险分析，从而做出更有效的风险管理决策。它总结了一些仍需解决的最重要的技术差距，以帮助决策者实现将健康风险降低到可接受水平的目标。所描述的风险管理方法应使决策者能够提高可信度并获得公众认可，特别是当有足够的科学和技术基础来支持所需决策时。
