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November 26, 2001 Press ReleaseCDC Update: CDC Releases Draft Smallpox Response Plan Atlanta, Georgia – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today released "Interim Smallpox Response Plan and Guidelines," which outlines CDC's strategies for responding to a smallpox emergency. The plan, which is a working draft, has been sent to all state bioterrorism coordinators, state health officers, state epidemiologists, and state immunization program managers for review and comment. The plan identifies many of the federal, state, and local public health activities that would need to be undertaken in a smallpox emergency, including response plan implementation, notification procedures for suspected cases, CDC and state and local responsibilities and activities, and CDC vaccine and personnel mobilization. "The global public health community in a landmark effort 21 years ago eradicated smallpox from the planet," said CDC Director Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan. "Today, we find ourselves preparing for a difficult-to-imagine event, an intentional release of smallpox. Although such a release might be unlikely, we must prepare for it so that the spread of illness will be minimized." The plan also provides state and local public health officials with a framework that can be used to guide their smallpox planning and
readiness efforts as well as guidelines for many of the general public health activities that would be undertaken during a smallpox emergency. For the latest update on CDC activities and on-going anthrax investigations visit www.bt.cdc.gov or www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media.
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Media Home Page | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Contact Us CDC Home | Search | Health Topics A-Z This page last updated November 26, 2001 United States Department of Health and Human Services |