Emerging Infectious Disease and Bioterrorism

Viroj Wiwanitkit^*

Visiting professor, Hainan Medical University, China

*Corresponding Author:

Viroj Wiwanitkit
Wiwanitkit House
Bangkhae, Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: 0086-898-66893760
Fax: 0086-898-66893760
E-mail: wviroj@yahoo.com

Received Date: July 16, 2014; Accepted Date: July 17, 2014; Published Date: July 21, 2014

Citation: Wiwanitkit V (2014) Emerging Infectious Disease and Bioterrorism. J Bioterror Biodef 5:e111. doi: 10.4172/2157-2526.1000e111

Copyright: © 2014 Wiwanitkit V. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Abstract

The emerging infectious disease is the unwanted situation in public health. However, there are several new emerging infectious diseases within the past decade. The consideration on the worldwide outbreak of the new emerging infectious disease is set. An interesting point is the trend of bioterrorism using the new emerging infectious pathogen. This topic will be further discussed in this editorial.

Keywords

Emerging; Infection; Bioterrorism

Introduction

The emerging infectious disease is the unwanted situation in public health. However, there are several new emerging infectious diseases within the past decade. The good examples are the set of new zoonotic atypical influenza infection and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The consideration on the worldwide outbreak of the new emerging infectious disease is set. An interesting point is the trend of bioterrorism using the new emerging infectious pathogen. In response to possible terrorism, the set of good surveillance system is needed. The coverage on “countermeasure against bioterrorism attacks and other emergencies” is needed [1]. This topic will be further discussed in this editorial.

Is it Possible that the New Emerging Infectious Pathogen becomes the Bioterrorism Agent?

“Is it possible that the new emerging infectious pathogen becomes the bioterrorism agent?” is an interest question. In fact, as a new disease, the limited knowledge can be expected; treatment and diagnosis might not easy. According to CDC report, “a new focus on emerging infectious diseases and bioterrorism” is mentioned [2]. Ashford et al. noted that “bioterrorism preparedness should emphasize education and support of this frontline as well as methods to shorten the time between outbreak and reporting [3].” The well-know “BioWatch” is the good project to correspond to bioterrorism and emerging infection [4].

How to Fight and Manage the Bioterrorism using New Emerging Infection

As note, it is no doubt that the terrorist scientist team might use the new emerging infectious pathogen as a tool for performing bioterrorism. The first thing is to investigate any new emerging infection to answer whether this is natural or intended outbreak [5,6]. Radosavljevic and Belojevic recently reported the use of new scoring system that might be useful for such discrimination [5]. In case that the bioterrorism is approved, the standard infection control must be applied. To set a preventive action, setting of the public free available online database of the new pathogen is the new action to fight with the possible bioterrorism [7]. Setting of the good “public health legislation” to the possible episode is also needed [8].

References

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2. Koplan J (2001) CDC's strategic plan for bioterrorism preparedness and response. Public Health Rep 116 Suppl 2: 9-16.
3. Ashford DA, Kaiser RM, Bales ME, Shutt K, Patrawalla A, et al. (2003) Planning against biological terrorism: lessons from outbreak investigations. Emerg Infect Dis 9: 515-519.
4. Institute of Medicine (US) and National Research Council (US) Committee on Effectiveness of National Biosurveillance Systems: Biowatch and the Public Health System (2009) Effectiveness of National Biosurveillance Systems: BioWatch and the Public Health System: Interim Report. National Academies Press (US), Washington (DC).
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