ATLANTA - Federal health officials are responding to the West Nile virus with improved emergency efforts that were designed for a bioterrorism attack. <br>
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Doctor Stephen Ostroff, who monitors the virus for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says West Nile is the basis for overall preparedness. <br>
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While the spread of West Nile is nothing like the potential disaster of a terrorist release of germs, CDC officials say they are relying on what they learned last fall with anthrax to cope this time. <br>
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The West Nile response is being run out of the CDC's new full-time Emergency Operations Center, which is used to manage hundreds of investigators in the field and thousands of specimens. <br>
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Among the CDC's goals are faster and smoother identification of infectious outbreaks, whether they are intentional or natural. <br>
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The CDC was criticized for its response to the anthrax attack, including slowness to communicate with the public about what it knows. The agency eventually began regular briefings last fall, and it has resumed the practice in recent weeks to discuss West Nile developments.
