Citation[]
Government Accountability Office, Biosurveillance: Nonfederal Capabilities Should Be Considered in Creating a National Biosurveillance Strategy (GAO-12-55) (Oct. 31, 2011) (full-text).
Overview[]
The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (9/11 Commission Act) directed the GAO to examine the state of federal, state, local, and tribal biosurveillance efforts and the use of resources to implement and execute biosurveillance systems. This report, which focuses on nonfederal, governmental — state, tribal, local, and insular — biosurveillance capabilities, is the third in a series designed to respond to that mandate. The previous reports are:
- Biosurveillance: Developing a Collaboration Strategy Is Essential to Fostering Interagency Data and Resource Sharing.
- Biosurveillance: Efforts to Develop a National Biosurveillance Capability Need a National Strategy and a Designated Leader.
This report focuses on nonfederal jurisdictions, which own many of the resources that support a national capability for biosurveillance — to help detect and respond to a catastrophic biological event. It discusses (1) federal support for state and local biosurveillance; (2) state and local challenges; (3) federal support and challenges for tribal and insular areas and (4) federal assessments of non-federal capabilities.