BIODEFENSE: Federal Efforts to Develop Biological Threat Awareness

Abstract

Biological threats come from a variety of sources and can pose a catastrophic danger to public health, animal and plant health, and national security. Threat awareness, which consists of activities such as collecting and analyzing intelligence, developing risk assessments, and anticipating future threats, is vital to help federal agencies identify necessary biodefense capabilities and ensure investments are prioritized to make effective use of federal funds. GAO was asked to review how key federal agencies develop and share threat awareness information, and how that information informs further investments in biodefense. This report describes: (1) the types of actions that key federal agencies have taken to develop biological threat awareness, and how that information is used to support investment decisions; (2) the extent to which these agencies have developed shared threat awareness; and (3) how DHSs NBACC determines what additional threat characterization knowledge to pursue.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2017
Accession Number
AD1098882

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Congress
  • Dengue
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Environmental Protection
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Intelligence Collection
  • Interagency Coordination
  • Medical Personnel
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Public Health
  • Quarantine
  • Risk Analysis
  • Test And Evaluation
  • United States Government
  • Virus Diseases
  • Viruses

Readers

  • Critical Infrastructure Protection in CBRN and WMD Threats.
  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Emergency Management and Homeland Security.