About the Division of Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response (DBPR)

The Division of Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response (DBPR) strengthens the ability of CDC and its partners to preserve the health and quality of life of communities by providing public health leadership and support to prepare and respond to bioterrorism and other public health infectious disease emergencies.

DBPR is composed of the Office of the Director (OD), the Epidemiology Surveillance and Response Branch (ESRB), and the Laboratory Response Branch (LRB).

In carrying out its mission, DBPR:

• Provides the agency’s initial rapid response capabilities (epidemiology, surveillance, laboratory, and operational) for bioterrorism and other infectious disease emergencies with 24-hour on-call status.
• Provides response planning and preparedness leadership and expertise for bioterrorism and infectious disease emergencies.
• Provides primary emergency response coordination and surveillance, epidemiology and laboratory support to other divisions within the Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases (CCID).
• Develops and manages the Laboratory Response Network (LRN).
• Provides primary CDC laboratory, surveillance and epidemiologic support for planning and assistance with National Security Special Events (NSSEs) such as the Democratic and Republic National Conventions, G8 Summits, and the Olympic Games.
• Provides technical assistance to public health and other partners regarding bioterrorism detection and response.
• Develops Investigational New Drug (INDs) and Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for unlicensed pharmaceutical components identified for use in a bioterrorism event.
• Develops rapid diagnostic tests and serves as the primary screening laboratory for CDC for specimens that may contain bioterrorism agents of concern.
• Provides CDC subject matter expertise for bioterrorism threat agents and emergency response.

Environmental Microbiology, in the Office of the Director

Environmental microbiology (EM) is the study of microbial pathogens, disease-causing organisms and fungi found in the environment. EM is critical to understanding the introduction, spread, and control of infectious diseases in human populations. DBPR staff is working to coordinate research at the CDC in order to better understand how to protect the public’s health, workers, and responders from exposures to both naturally-occurring microorganisms as well as those intentionally introduced into the environment.

EM has been identified as a CDC preparedness and response priority. The EM Program is enhancing CDC’s capacity to improve the nation’s ability to prevent, detect, investigate, respond and recover from public health threats and emergencies.

Currently, the EM Program has secured, identified and obligated funds from EPA and DHS to support five research projects at CDC. Other EM activities include involvement in the:

• Interagency Microbial Risk Assessment Guideline Working Group to evaluate remediation and clean-up of microbial risks in the environment.
• Interagency Biological Restoration Demonstration (IBRD) Technical Working Group (WG) to improve recovery and restoration of wide urban areas and critical infrastructure following a biological incident.
• National Interagency Biodefense Campus (NIBC), which includes other federal agencies co-located at Fort Detrick (i.e., DHS, USDA, NIH and DOD). CDC’s mission at the NIBC was defined to specifically advance EM capabilities to protect public health by researching and developing new methods for monitoring biological agents in the environment, characterizing, and assessing the hazard they may pose to public health, and investigating new ways to prevent harmful exposure.
• NIBC committees, subcommittees, and working groups (e.g. Ft. Detrick Interagency Coordinating Committee, Scientific Interaction Subcommittee, Executive Steering Committee, Board of Directors, Financial Business Practices Subcommittee, Facilities and Infrastructure Subcommittee, Safety and Occupational Working Group, Education and Training Working Group) to address NIBC issues in safety, security, budget, public affairs, and infrastructure.
• FBI and other scientific advisory groups to evaluate and improve early detection methods for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents in environmental samples.
• Evaluation of EPA’s document, “Standardized Analytical Methods for Environmental Restoration Following Homeland Security Events”, which will be used nationally by laboratories performing confirmatory analysis of environmental samples during the recovery phase of response.

DBPR Branches

Epidemiology Surveillance and Response Branch (ESRB)

The Epidemiology Surveillance and Response Branch (ESRB), in the Division of Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response (DBPR), works as a unit and with the Laboratory Response Branch (LRB) to comprehensively address the elements that are integral to assuring an effective response to acts of bioterrorism (BT) and other infectious disease public health emergencies. Specific ESRB activities center on preparing comprehensive epidemiologic, surveillance, and clinical responses to BT and natural biothreat agent infections. This includes optimizing the Early Aberration Reporting System (EARS) that can assist local-level health offices with early detection of BT events or possible outbreaks. EARS can monitor both tailored and default syndromic surveillance data while providing added input to national systems such as BioSense.

ESRB works to improve detection and investigation of potential bioterrorism and other public health infectious disease emergencies and to help provide the assessment necessary for implementing appropriate measures to control the outbreak and prevent further disease.

The branch provides a myriad of expertise in:

• Response operations
• Epidemiology and surveillance
• Medical countermeasures
• Exercise and National Security Special Event preparations
• Planning

Training Products and support are available for the Early Aberration Reporting System (EARS), disaster surveillance, and response planning.

Laboratory Response Branch

The Laboratory Response Branch (LRB) consists of five teams, including: LRN Operations, Technical Advisors, Regulatory Affairs, Bioterrorism Rapid Response and Advanced Technology Laboratory, and Reagents. These five teams support and manage the biological diagnostic component of the Laboratory Response Network (LRN), which currently has detection capabilities for multiple biological and chemical threat agents. The LRN and its partners develop, maintain, and strengthen an integrated national and international network of laboratories that can quickly respond to requirements for rapid high-confidence testing, timely notification, and secure messaging of results associated with acts of biological and chemical terrorism as well as other high- priority public health emergencies.

Biological testing laboratories that participate in the LRN are comprised of a national network of federal, state, and local public health, military, veterinary, agricultural, food and environmental testing laboratories that provide diagnostic capacity to identify agents that may be connected to bioterrorism events and other infectious disease public health emergencies. Over 160 laboratories participate in testing for identification of 20 biological threat agents in clinical, environmental, and food samples.

The LRN is a partnership of key stakeholders involved in preparation and response to biological and chemical terrorism. The network was developed in 1999 by four founding partners: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) and the Department of Defense (DoD). The LRN also maintains active partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security, American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, American Society of Microbiologists, Department of State, Customs and Border Protection, and a number of international government agencies, such as public health agencies in Canada, Mexico, and Australia.

Core Services Provided by LRB:

• Help Desk and Lab Qualification Support
• Agent-Specific Handling & Testing Protocols
• Standardized Test Reagents & Controls
• Web-based Lab Locator & Referral Directory
• Secure Website Communications and Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR)
• Training & Technology Transfer
• Proficiency Testing Program
• 24/7 Access to EOC Duty Officer and LRN POC
• 24/7 primary screening laboratory for specimens that may contain bioterrorism agents of concern

Bioterrorism Rapid Response and Advanced Technology Laboratory (BRRAT)

The Bioterrorism Rapid Response and Advanced Technology Laboratory (BRRAT) is CDC’s state-of-the art research and development laboratory for technology and tests used to detect biological agents that could be used for bioterrorism. BRRAT staff evaluates the latest technology and works with CDC’s leading experts in microbiology to develop new tests that can detect biological threat agents in clinical and environmental samples. The BRRAT lab also plays an important role in national laboratory surveillance programs, such as BioWatch, a Department of Homeland Security environmental monitoring program. The CDC laboratory is also called upon to provide clinical and environmental testing support during events of national significance such as national political conventions, global leader summits, and major sporting events.