PNNL

Abstract

Biological weapons are within reach of individuals, small groups, terrorist organizations, as well as nations. With pervasive integration of civilian and military populations worldwide, the ill winds of biological warfare stand to affect military troops and civilians alike. A variety of technologies are emerging - such as pathogen detection devices, streaming internet characterization tools, information exploitation techniques, automated feature extraction, and ubiquitous wireless communication - that can help. These technologies, if taken together within an integrated analytical framework, could make possible the monitoring of diverse parameters that may indicate a change in the state of health of a given population - either the emergence of a naturally occurring disease or the outbreak of a disease as a result of hostile intent. This presentation will discuss the application of new information surveillance tools and technologies as they apply to health and disease monitoring, particularly within the context of potential terrorist or hostile nation use of biological warfare. Although discussed within the specific context of health surveillance, the tools and processes described here are generally applicable within other domains of subject matter expertise.