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News Release
Michigan Bioterrorism Alert Listserv for physicians launched in collaboration with UM Bioterrorism Preparedness Initiative
December 09, 2002 press release from the University of Michigan School
of Public Health
The University of Michigan Bioterrorism Preparedness Initiative, in collaboration with the Michigan Infectious Diseases Society and the Michigan State Medical Society and with funding from the Michigan Department of Community Health, announces a new Michigan Bioterrorism Alert Listserv (MBAL) for physicians. Its purpose is to disseminate information and encourage ongoing discussion about bioterrorism, and to help Michigan physicians identify and respond to potential bioterrorism events.
The new listserv is modeled after the Emerging Infections Network (EIN) of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), which was established to allow medical personnel to ask national experts a wide range of infectious disease-related questions. During the 2001 anthrax attacks, this network provided practical information to medical personnel caring for patients concerned about either exposure or illness. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided daily releases, the EIN was invaluable in addressing practical questions about patient-specific issues.
The MBAL is designed for the following functions:
- As a source of information on bioterrorism
, by providing updated information on a weekly basis. Participants can query the listserv if questions about bioterrorism arise. Ongoing dialog may ensue as others in the listserv weigh in. During a suspected or actual outbreak, information can be updated daily and participants can get rapid answers to crucial questions by sending queries over the network.
As a biosurveillance system, an expanding listserv involving caretakers throughout the state can quickly disseminate information regarding an outbreak in one part of the state to participants in other localities. This heightened level of alertness will make it more likely that other cases will be promptly identified. Listserv members can then serve as conduits of information to other healthcare workers. As technology improves, dialogue and reporting of unusual illnesses may approach real time. This system, in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Community Health’ s (MDCH) considerable biosurveillance network, will significantly augment the state’s ability to quickly detect both naturally occurring as well as terrorist related biologic events.
The structure of the MBAL includes:
- Manager: This person will have a medical and/or public health background and will be in charge of day-to-day management of listserv communications, screening each entry to determine whether it is suitable for dissemination. Advertisements, job listings, etc., as well as topics not related to bioterrorism or emerging infections will be rejected. If an outbreak were to occur, information over the network could be curtailed to include only entries pertaining to the outbreak.
- Director (Sandro Cinti, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Michigan Hospitals/Ann Arbor VA Medical Center, MIDS Subcommittee on Bioterrorism): This person will have extensive knowledge of bioterrorism and will be in charge of disseminating weekly information on the latest developments on this topic. In the event of an outbreak, up-to-the-moment information will be disseminated, focusing on patient care issues and control of further spread of illness.
- Members: Participating physicians will be enrolled at no cost and can be removed from the listserv by asking to be deleted.
For more information, visit the MSMS Biodefense Resource Center. Or contact Sheri Greenhoe at MSMS at 517-336-7603 or sgreenhoe@msms.org .
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