NC Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response

Bioterrorism and Disease Surveillance

Be Prepared

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Public Health Preparedness and Response Survey

The first steps toward establishing an office specifically designed to address biological attacks began in November 2001 when more than $3 million from the state's "Rainy Day Fund" was made available to public health officials. In addition to bioterrorism preparedness, the Division of Public Health was tasked with revitalizing the department's disease prevention and detection infrastructure.

The effort gained more momentum in the spring of 2002 when federal grant money became available and the concept of creating a dedicated "Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response" (PHP&R) was formally embraced. A side benefit to the federal grant was that a large portion of the state funds expended toward the effort were reimbursed or not spent, resulting in a state expenditure toward the effort totaling less than $500,000. Having access to the state funds, however, had given North Carolina a jump-start over most other states and gave our preparedness efforts momentum that carries on today.

To make efficient and effective use of the funds, the PHP&R office created seven Public Health Regional Surveillance Teams (PHRSTs) to provide support to local health agencies serving all 100 counties. The host counties for these regional offices are Buncombe, Mecklenburg, Guilford, Wake, Cumberland, Pitt, and New Hanover. Each team includes an epidemiologist, an industrial hygienist, a nurse consultant, and administrative specialist.

A vital link in the state's ability to detect and respond to a disease threat is laboratory capacity. In that regard, the N.C. State Laboratory of Public Health has expanded its capacity and is working with the local health departments in Buncombe, Mecklenburg, and Pitt counties to develop regional bioterrorism laboratory testing capabilities.

Another key component to the effort is communications. DPH deployed its first version of the North Carolina Health Alert Network (NCHAN) in October of 2002. This secure, internet based alerting system provides 24/7 flow of critical health information among North Carolina's state and local health departments, hospital emergency departments, and law enforcement officials. The NCHAN database system provides secure, tiered health alerts to key personnel through simultaneous use of phone, fax, email, and pagers to communicate urgent health information.

The N.C. Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool (NC DETECT) provides statewide early event detection and timely public health surveillance to public health officials and hospital users. The data is continually collected from hospital emergency departments, the Carolinas Poison Center, and other medical facilities. The system was created by and is managed by the N.C. Division of Public Health and the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with support from the CDC.

Tying all of these components together is the NCHAN web site, used both as a conduit for exchanging health information and as a resource for accessing an almost limitless collection of information on disease control and bioterrorism issue.

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Bioterrorism and Disease Surveillance

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