Standing Committee on Health Threats and Workforce Resilience's Books

Enhancing BioWatch Capabilities Through Technology and Collaboration

Proceedings of a Workshop

By: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,Health and Medicine Division,Board on Health Sciences Policy,Standing Committee on Health Threats and Workforce Resilience

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Enhancing BioWatch Capabilities Through Technology and Collaboration

Proceedings of a Workshop

By: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,Health and Medicine Division,Board on Health Sciences Policy,Standing Committee on Health Threats and Workforce Resilience

The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) BioWatch program aims to provide an early indication of an aerosolized biological weapon attack. The first generation of BioWatch air samplers were deployed in 2003. The current version of this technology, referred to as Generation 2 (Gen-2), uses daily manual collection and testing of air filters from each monitor, a process that can take 12 to 36 hours to detect the presence of biological pathogens. Until April 2014, DHS pursued a next-generation autonomous detection technology that aimed to shorten the time from sample collection to detection to less than 6 hours, reduce the cost of analysis, and increase the number of detectable biological pathogens. Because of concerns about the cost and effectiveness of the proposed Generation 3 system (Gen-3), DHS cancelled its acquisition plans for the next-generation surveillance system. In response to the cancellation announcement, Congress asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a review of the program and the proposed system enhancements that would have been incorporated in BioWatch Gen-3. However, Mike Walter, BioWatch Program manager, Office of Health Affairs, DHS, said that DHS did not agree with all of GAO's characterizations of the BioWatch program efforts described in this review. In response to this, DHS requested that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conduct a workshop to further explore the findings of the 2015 GAO report and discuss the impact these findings may have with regard to the future development of the technical capabilities of the BioWatch program. Workshop participants also discussed existing and possible collaborations between BioWatch, public health laboratories, and other stakeholders that could contribute to the enhancement of biosurveillance capabilities at the federal, state, and local levels. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

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Page Count

111

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National Academies Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

030945168X

ISBN 13

9780309451680

Reopening K-12 Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Prioritizing Health, Equity, and Communities

By: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education,Board on Children, Youth, and Families,Board on Science Education,Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats,Committee on Guidance for K-12 Education on Responding to COVID-19

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Reopening K-12 Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Prioritizing Health, Equity, and Communities

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to the nation's K-12 education system. The rush to slow the spread of the virus led to closures of schools across the country, with little time to ensure continuity of instruction or to create a framework for deciding when and how to reopen schools. States, districts, and schools are now grappling with the complex and high-stakes questions of whether to reopen school buildings and how to operate them safely if they do reopen. These decisions need to be informed by the most up-to-date evidence about the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19; about the impacts of school closures on students and families; and about the complexities of operating school buildings as the pandemic persists. Reopening K-12 Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prioritizing Health, Equity, and Communities provides guidance on the reopening and operation of elementary and secondary schools for the 2020-2021 school year. The recommendations of this report are designed to help districts and schools successfully navigate the complex decisions around reopening school buildings, keeping them open, and operating them safely.

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