2010 Report: Public Health Preparedness Section 1: A National
Snapshot of Public Health Preparedness Activities - Continued
State and local health departments are first responders for
public health emergencies and CDC remains committed to
strengthening their preparedness. Since 1999, CDC’s Public
Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative agreement has
helped strengthen state and local public health functions that
are critical for preventing, responding to, and recovering from
health threats. Much progress has been made to build and
strengthen national public health preparedness and response
capabilities. Accomplishments highlighted in this report include
the following: - Biological laboratory capabilities and
capacities in place were strong in most states and localities.
Most laboratories in the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) could
be reached 24/7, rapidly identified certain disease-causing
bacteria and sent reports to CDC, and passed proficiency tests
for detecting other biological agents. (See Tab