United States Department of Defense United States Department of Defense

Published November 6, 2012

Biosurveillance

Biological, chemical, and nuclear terrorist attacks, extreme weather events, and naturally-occurring emerging infectious diseases all pose national security threats unbounded by state, country, and regional borders. The Department of Defense uses global biosurveillance networks to identify and track such threats and to help defend the United States.

Top Stories

DOD Partners with Cities, Countries on Biosurveillance

In line with the first National Biosurveillance Strategy released last month, the Defense Department is working with U.S. cities and countries around the world to enhance capabilities needed to detect and track a range of natural or intentional global disease outbreaks. Story

DOD Bolsters Biosurveillance Diagnostics, Monitoring

Defense Department officials routinely work to protect the nation from terrorist attacks and weapons of mass destruction. But today they're bolstering defenses against an older threat that emerges from animals and insects and arises in people as infectious diseases.Story

DOD Has Running Start on Biosurveillance Strategy

The White House has issued the first U.S. National Strategy for Biosurveillance to quickly detect a range of global health and security hazards, and the Defense Department has a running start in implementing the new plan, a senior defense official said. Story

Global Nature of Terrorism Drives Biosurveillance

The global nature of terrorism and the growing potential of nations and individuals to acquire weapons of mass destruction drive the Defense Department's effort to counter these threats, the assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs said. Story

DOD Center Tracks Health, Illness in U.S. Forces

A new Defense Department agency employs combined medical expertise to track health, illness and injury across the military services, the center director said. Story

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Biosurveillance Imagery

"As a nation, we must be prepared for the full range of threats, including a terrorist attack involving a biological agent, the spread of infectious diseases, and food-borne illnesses. The effective dissemination of a lethal biological agent, for instance, could endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and result in untold economic, societal, and political consequences."

- President Barack Obama