Biological weapons and infectious diseases share several fundamental
characteristics that the United States can leverage to counter both
of these threats more effectively. Both a bioweapons attack and a
natural pandemic, such as avian flu, can be detected in similar ways, and the
effectiveness of any response to an outbreak of infectious disease, whether
natural or caused deliberately by terrorists, hinges on the strength of the
U.S. public health and medical systems — the network of federal, state,
local, and private-sector entities responsible for the health of the nation’s
population. Natural pandemic outbreaks and bioterrorist attacks would place
different stresses on these systems at the outset, yet the basic response and
containment mechanisms would be essentially the same.