New CDC emergency center a public health 'war room'
ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
a new $7.1 million emergency operations center to guard against
bioterrorist attacks and help it track outbreaks of emerging diseases such
as West Nile virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome.
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 VIDEO |
 CDC officials are
searching for the cause of a deadly form of pneumonia. 
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| SYMPTOMS |
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The World Health Organization alerts
travelers to be aware of the symptoms, which
include:
- People after February 1
with a history of fever greater than 100.4 F (38 C)
and one or more respiratory symptoms, including
cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and
one or more of the following:
-
Close contact with a person who has been
diagnosed with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.
Close contact means having cared for, having lived with, or
having had direct contact with respiratory secretions and body
fluids of a person with SARS.
- Recent
history of travel to areas reporting cases of
SARS. | |
The center went into action March 14, weeks earlier than its planned
dedication, when the first cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome were
announced by the World Health Organization.
The center allows health officials to receive data and information from
disease detectives in the field, and officials can quickly confer with
international and federal agencies during a health crisis.
"This is a war room for health," said Gov. Sonny Perdue, who toured the
facility with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy
Thompson on Tuesday.
"Any forensic or criminal investigator will tell you the best thing
they can have at their fingertips is real-time information," Perdue said.
"This is real-time information that gives us a headstart on disease
outbreaks."
At one part of the center on Tuesday, CDC officers tackled the
worldwide outbreak of SARS, which has made more than 1,800 people ill,
killing more than 60. There are stations that handle field teams, clinical
concerns and international efforts against the disease.
Less sophisticated CDC crisis centers that tackled the 2001 anthrax
attacks and last year's West Nile virus explosion across the country were
held in available places at the time that included a classroom and an
auditorium on the CDC campus.
A $3.9 million donation by Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus helped
make the new center a reality and 15 companies helped provide equipment
for the center through the CDC foundation.
Because of security concerns, CDC officials requested that the media
not reveal the exact location of the center.
Copyright 2003 The
Associated Press.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten, or redistributed.
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