Federal Manager's Daily Report

The President’s fiscal 2005 budget request includes $274

million to develop bio-terror surveillance and to strengthen

the public health infrastructure, Homeland Security

Secretary Tom Ridge and Health and Human Services Secretary

Tommy G. Thompson have announced.

The bio-surveillance initiative is intended to develop

current surveillance programs in areas such as human and

animal health, hospital preparedness, vaccine research and

procurement, food and agriculture safety and environmental

monitoring, eventually integrating those programs, according

to DHS.

Bush’s program initiative directs DHS to spend $129 million

to upgrade and expand BioWatch and create a system to

integrate a range of government surveillance information.

Additionally, HHS would spend $135 million on labs, human

health monitoring and food inspection, and the Department

of Agriculture would spend $10 million on food inspection.

Since 9/11 the Administration has spent or budgeted $12.9

billion on bio-terror defense, says DHS.