In an effort to help federal agencies identify biodefense capabilities and identify priorities for spending, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a study Wednesday tracking national activities that contribute to biological threat awareness.
Key players involved in the study were the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Defense (DOD), Agriculture (USDA), Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The GAO determined that there are three investment areas the agencies all used.
First, they all use intelligence gathering on designated “adversaries’” capabilities to cause harm. This includes analysis of biological weapon capabilities and global disease surveillance for monitoring of health threats. The second important area is scientific research, which is traditional lab-based research revolving around biological dangers, meant to identify their means of transmission, effects of infection, and host susceptibility. The final major area is analysis, which includes modeling and study of scope and potential impact of these threats.
These agencies share the information they gather with one another through different mechanisms, hoping to reduce duplication and overlap. The GAO found, however, that they do not always succeed and that there is room to better leverage their resources as a united front and help generate budgetary tradeoffs. No truly shared threat awareness plan exists yet, though recent legislation has required such agencies to create a national strategy for it.
According to the DHS, knowledge gaps in Bioterrorism Risk Assessment exist, especially when it comes to data about biological agents with high consequence estimates and uncertainty.