CDC to realign BioSense to focus on most populous cities
BY Bob Brewin
Published on Feb. 5, 2007
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to narrow the focus of its key disease surveillance system, BioSense, and proposes to reduce 2008 funding for state and local programs and projects to respond to pandemic flu outbreaks by $125 million, compared with 2007 levels.
In the federal budget released today, the CDC requested $57 million for BioSense in fiscal 2008, down $200,000 from what Congress approved in 2007. The CDC said it will realign the program and narrow its scope to focus on public health preparedness in the most populous cities in the country.
Overall, the CDC asked for $88 million for biosurveillance programs in 2008, $10 million more than approved by Congress for 2007 in the continuing resolution passed last month.
The CDC originally designed BioSense to automatically pull real-time disease diagnosis data from emergency rooms into a central CDC repository through secure Internet connections.
The data would include information on medical complaints, such as fevers or respiratory infections, that might indicate an avian flu outbreak or a bioterrorism attack. In 2008, the CDC said it intends to focus BioSense on communicable infectious disease threats and intends to improve its ability to detect seasonal influenza.
The CDC asked for a 2008 budget of $698 million for state and local pandemic and bioterrorism preparedness, down from $824 million in 2007. However, the agency said the federal government has allocated $6.4 billion to state and local health departments since the anthrax attacks of 2001.
BY Bob Brewin
Published on Feb. 5, 2007
Related Links
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to narrow the focus of its key disease surveillance system, BioSense, and proposes to reduce 2008 funding for state and local programs and projects to respond to pandemic flu outbreaks by $125 million, compared with 2007 levels.
In the federal budget released today, the CDC requested $57 million for BioSense in fiscal 2008, down $200,000 from what Congress approved in 2007. The CDC said it will realign the program and narrow its scope to focus on public health preparedness in the most populous cities in the country.
Overall, the CDC asked for $88 million for biosurveillance programs in 2008, $10 million more than approved by Congress for 2007 in the continuing resolution passed last month.
The CDC originally designed BioSense to automatically pull real-time disease diagnosis data from emergency rooms into a central CDC repository through secure Internet connections.
The data would include information on medical complaints, such as fevers or respiratory infections, that might indicate an avian flu outbreak or a bioterrorism attack. In 2008, the CDC said it intends to focus BioSense on communicable infectious disease threats and intends to improve its ability to detect seasonal influenza.
The CDC asked for a 2008 budget of $698 million for state and local pandemic and bioterrorism preparedness, down from $824 million in 2007. However, the agency said the federal government has allocated $6.4 billion to state and local health departments since the anthrax attacks of 2001.