A TEST OF MEDICAL READINESS


of its program to counter biological weap- ons. Tus, DOD was positioned to offer vaccines, diagnostic tests and treatments that only a biological defense program would generate.


Te first step in responding to a bio- logical attack—or a naturally occurring epidemic—is to identify the cause. JPM- MCS provided the diagnostic test that confirmed the first cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone, and provided test kits that enabled DOD personnel in seven mobile laboratories to process 4,709 samples dur- ing 2014 and 2015. Te U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorizations to two diagnostic tests that


JPM-MCS spon-


sored for Ebola: EZ-1 and BT-E. EZ-1 was used in Africa, the Ebola treatment centers in the United States and at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).


+ THE EBOLA VIRUS


An electron micrograph shows Ebola virus, in red, emerging from infected cells. As a highly contagious viral disease with an average fatality rate of 50 percent, Ebola poses a possible biological warfare threat. DOD has spent more than a decade developing a variety of vaccines, tests and treatments to counter this threat. (Photo courtesy of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)


In 2014, kits to run more than 20,000 patient tests were placed in DOD medi- cal


treatment facilities and the U.S.


LITTLE NOTICE BEFORE 2014 Because Ebola is a biological warfare threat, DOD’s biological defense pro- gram has been developing medical countermeasures for over a decade. As a result, DOD has a portfolio of prod- ucts and capabilities, unmatched by any other organization in the world, to counter a historically rare tropical dis- ease that, before the 2014-16 outbreak, had received little in the way of finan- cial investments from civilian investors, or privately funded efforts for medical


76 Army AL&T Magazine


countermeasure development by the pharmaceutical industry.


An organization within DOD’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense, called the Joint Project Manager for Medical Coun- termeasure Systems (JPM-MCS), gave crucial support to the U.S. government and international responses to the Ebola outbreak. DOD sponsored the develop- ment of vaccines, diagnostic tests and treatments against the Ebola virus as part


October-December 2017


Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention (CDC) Laboratory Response Network. BT-E, as part of JPM-MCS’s Next Generation Diagnostic Systems Increment 1, runs on a device used daily in the clinical labs of military and civilian hospitals to diagnose common infections. It is ready for use at USAMRIID and 16 DOD medical facilities. Te EZ-1 inven- tory available at DOD medical treatment facilities is being phased out by BT-E, which received full FDA clearance for clinical use in February 2017.


VACCINES, READY TO GO Te approach of choice for any disease is prevention. For more than 10 years, JPM- MCS has partnered with the Defense Treat Reduction Agency’s Joint Sci- ence and Technology Office (JSTO), the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research,


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