A TEST OF MEDICAL READINESS
possible without investment in a bio- logical defense program. Te response to the Ebola outbreak demonstrates that medical countermeasures for biological warfare defense under field conditions are adaptable to the inevitable and dynamic challenges of naturally occurring epi- demics in austere settings.
MAPPING THE STARTING POINT
U.S. Navy Lt. Andrea McCoy tests a patient sample for the Ebola virus at a Naval Medical Research Center mobile laboratory in Liberia. DOD provided diagnostic test kits that confirmed the first cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone, and subsequently delivered more than 4,000 additional tests to the coordinated response. (Photo by U.S. Army Africa/CDC)
JPM-MCS is sponsoring the Joint Mobile Emerging Disease Intervention Clinical Capability, in partnership with Ugandan medical authorities, to build a research capacity that can deploy to remote treat- ment units during an outbreak. A study of severe infections in austere settings, scheduled to begin in August, will pro- vide a baseline activity to enable staff recruitment, training and maintenance of medical and research skills.
LOOKING AHEAD Operation Desert Storm and the ongo- ing civil war in Syria underscore the threats posed by chemical and biological weapons. JPM-MCS delivers products to strengthen medical readiness against the entire spectrum of chemical, bio- logical, radiation and nuclear weapons. Successes include a diagnostic device that identifies six biological weapon agents, an auto injector to deliver chemi- cal agent antidotes, a smallpox vaccine
78 Army AL&T Magazine
mass-produced using state-of-the-art methods, and a capability to expand the manufacturing of medical products.
Ongoing projects include four next- generation antidotes for chemical agents and vaccines and treatments for 12 bio- logical weapon threats. Countermeasures for radiation and nuclear threats are coor- dinated in partnership with BARDA. Tese enhance the ability of
the U.S.
military to fight and win in chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear the- aters of operation.
CONCLUSION JPM-MCS is a defense management orga- nization dedicated to the development of medical products to counter biological warfare threats, producing diagnostic tests, a vaccine candidate and treatments that supported humanitarian relief efforts during a catastrophic disease outbreak. Tese capabilities would not have been
It also underscores the versatility and value of DOD’s biological defense pro- gram and the products it generates. For example, having three treatment options ready to deploy against Ebola, each with a different mechanism of action, was a result of DOD’s balanced port- folio. Tis is by design and benefits the global medical community. Te coordi- nation of biological defense and public health response is essential to optimize outcomes and ensure efficient use of resources, because the challenges posed by both biological weapons and natural epidemics are open-ended. Tough this particular outbreak has ended, continued funding and study will be needed to pre- vent and manage future outbreaks.
For more information on the DOD response to the Ebola epidemic, go to http: //
archive.defense.gov/home/ features/2014/1014_ebola/.
DR. GEORGE W. CHRISTOPHER, LT. COL., USAF, MC (RET.), is the chief medical officer of JPM-MCS. He holds a doctor of medicine degree from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in preprofessional studies from the University of Notre Dame. He is board-certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases, and has supported DOD biological defense programs in provider education, operations and medical countermeasure development since 1996.
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