The Office of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Biodefense

Overview

The Weapons of Mass Destruction and Biodefense office integrates the bio-monitoring activities of executive branch Departments including biosurveillance, aerosol detection, clinical syndrome detection, mail room observation, and suspicious substance management. In conjunction with the Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate, this office leads responsibilities for veterinary and agro-defense activities, covering animal and zoonotic diseases and agricultural security issues related to livestock, food, and water.

Organization

The Weapons of Mass Destruction and Biodefense office is comprised of the following four divisions:

National Biosurveillance Integration Center (NBIC)

• integrates bio-monitoring activities of executive branch Departments to provide a biological common operating picture and facilitate earlier detection of adverse events and trends
• provides seamless integration of information through an interagency effort to fuse intelligence from more than 12 Federal agencies with biosurveillance information on human, animal, plant, and environmental health measures to provide early warnings of a possible biological attack

Food, Agriculture, and Veterinary Defense

• coordinates with Federal partners and public and private entities to ensure awareness, readiness, and response to all disasters related to food, water, animal, and agricultural security
• provides advice on all security issues regarding food, water, agro-defense, veterinary issues, and zoonotic diseases. For example, is investigating—with other Federal agencies—the effects on the Nation of animal diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), Avian Influenza, Rift Valley Fever, and Wheat Rust

Threats and Countermeasures

• with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), helps advance the effectiveness of Project BioShield by utilizing information derived from the Material Threat Determinations and Population Threat Assessments to identify medical countermeasures
• works with HHS partners to provide subject matter expertise on the use of countermeasures to protect the public

BioWatch

• provides a bio-aerosol environmental monitoring system to our Nation’s largest cities for early detection of biological attacks. BioWatch operates with the inclusion of public and private health personnel at all levels of government and is currently running in over 30 cities around the country
• works closely with local BioWatch partners and provides the infrastructure needed for OHA to further the Department’s biodefense mission with state and local partners
• runs the Rapidly Deployable Chemical Detection System (RDCDS) for chemical events and supports detection systems needed for National Special Security Events