COUNTY FORMS BIOTERRORISM TASK FORCE.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer In light of the recent anthrax anthrax (ăn`thrăks), acute infectious disease of animals that can be secondarily transmitted to humans. It is caused by a bacterium (Bacillus anthracis exposures in Florida, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is the five member governing board of Los Angeles County, California. Members of the board of supervisors are elected by district, the current members as of April 2006 are:
The move is an effort that could bring in outside experts to help the county prepare for a potential attack, officials said. ``We have some of the best experts and greatest minds on the issue of biological and chemical terrorism Noun 1. chemical terrorism - terrorism using the chemical agents of chemical warfare; can undermine the personal security of citizens; "a good agent for chemical terrorism should be colorless and odorless and inexpensive and readily available and not detectable until here in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, ,'' Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. ``My objective is to get as much cross-pollination and input from outside the county family as we can, so we don't have just the inbred in·bred adj. 1. Produced by inbreeding. 2. Fixed in the character or disposition as if inherited; deep-seated. inbred said of offspring produced by inbreeding. information that tends to come from old, established bureaucracies.'' Also on Tuesday, county Health Officer Dr. Jonathan E. Fielding sent an alert to all hospital emergency rooms in the county with information on symptoms of various biological agents, and on anthrax. ``We have sent out information on this in the past, but we wanted to reinforce it,'' Fielding said. ``It's important to remember that most physicians, including me, have never seen most of the diseases we are concerned about here.'' Fielding said the county doesn't have devices that could detect the release of biological agents, although those instruments are under development. He said the county has a computerized surveillance system in place that would alert officials to an outbreak. The county has access to federal stockpiles of antibiotics and medicines in the event of a biological attack, he said. The Los Angeles County Task Force on Health Services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract Preparedness for Bio-terrorism is to report back in one week on the county's preparedness. The supervisors' vote also asked officials to recommend actions or funding necessary to enhance bioterrorism surveillance, such as school absenteeism, veterinary surveillance, private hospital emergency and private physician visits, and pharmaceutical stocks. Yaroslavsky said the Department of Health Services Department of Health Services may refer to:
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