This week, CDC’s Division of Strategic National Stockpile is practicing how it would respond to the release of anthrax in multiple locations across the nation. Four states – North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky – also are participating in this exercise so they, too, can test their abilities to respond.

In a biological attack using anthrax spores – scientifically known as Bacillus anthracis – large numbers of people could develop fatal inhalation anthrax. Luckily, CDC stores large quantities of antibiotics, which if taken before symptoms appear, can prevent inhalation anthrax. In an emergency response, CDC is prepared to provide these antibiotics to counteract anthrax exposure and protect the health of the American people.

How would these antibiotics reach the public? Once they’re distributed to the local health departments, public health staff and trained volunteers would operate points of dispensing (PODs) for exposed people to receive medications. These locations would be announced through local media and will serve as central places for the public to get these life-saving medical countermeasures. Take a look at how PODs work…