Terrorism: the Epidemiology of Fear R onald LaPorte, PhD., F rancois Sauer, M.D., C arlos Gamboa, M.D., T ony Villasenor, BS, R ania Saad, MD., and E ugene Shubnikov, M.D.

Shock Disbelief Depression Anger Fear Helplessness

Where did our children and community receive Terrorism Information Sept

Global Health Network Sept. 1, 2001 Towards an Internet Civil Defence against Bioterrorism Lancet

Germans

Sept 10 Rules of Engagement

Approaches to Homeland Defense Sept. 10  Sensors  Better Laboratories  Public Health Surveillance  Data Mining Surveillance

Approaches to Homeland Defense Sept. 11

Approaches to Homeland Defense Now  Sensors  Better Laboratories  Public Health Surveillance  Data Mining Surveillance

Anatomy of a Terrorist Attack Preparation 5 years Execution 1 day Diagnosed case 3 days First Death Multiple deaths Sensors Better Laboratories Public Health Surveillance Data Mining Surveillance Maximum 1-2 day Improvement

Approaches to Homeland Defense Now “A universal theme of the revolutionaries is that America spends entirely too much money buying slightly better versions of weapons it already has, at the expense of serious improvement” NYTimes, 3/10/02 Can these systems transform homeland defense?

Sensors Better Laboratories Public Health Surveillance Data Mining Surveillance Weapons of Mass Destruction

Using Sept. 10 technology Maximum Improvement, 1-2 days Risk Reduction = <5% Can these systems transform homeland defense?

Bioterrorism is not an Emerging Disease Who is Mr. H?

“…warfare seeks to conquer territories and capture cities; terrorism seeks to hurt a few people and to scare a lot of people in order to make a point” NYTimes, 1/6/2000 “Putting the horror in the minds of the audience, and not necessarily on the screen” Click on Horror

Hitchcock’s mission in life: “to simply scare the hell out of people”

Old PH view of Bioterrorism Pathogen = Infectious Agent Damage = Morbidity and Mortality Model = Emerging Disease Epidemiology New PH view of Bioterrorism Pathogen = Hate Damage = Fear Model = Epidemiology of Fear and Hate

New Models  Internet Civil Defense  CSI epidemiologists  Educational Deterrent against terrorism I-I-