$10.4 million set for fighting bioterrorism

Tuesday, April 16, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn signed Nevada's bioterrorism plan on Monday -- earmarking $10.4 million in federal funds to improve the state's emergency preparedness level.

The plan says the state is a prime target for a bioterrorist attack and calls for improvements to Nevada's telecommunications infrastructure, emergency personnel training, and health laboratories.

The federal government is expected to review the plan for approval within 30 days.

"Las Vegas hosts approximately 38 million visitors per year who are often concentrated in a relatively small geographic area, has a nearby hydroelectric power plant at Hoover Dam, has a nearby military operation at Nellis Air force Base and has been selected to house the nations nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain about 90 miles away," the plan said.

"These factors make this area a potential 'bull's eye' for potential domestic or foreign terrorist activity and underscore the need to locate laboratory services in closer proximity to this important population center ...

"The hospital communications and surveillance capabilities in Nevada need to be expanded substantially."

Under Guinn's plan, more than $300,000 would be used to link acute care hospitals with law enforcement, rescue teams, disaster relief coordinators and emergency personnel by communications.

The University and Community College System of Nevada would receive $500,000 to install eight miles of fiber-optic cable from Salt Lake City to Wendover in northeastern Nevada on the Utah border as a backup in case telecommunications in Nevada went down.

The city of Las Vegas would receive $124,470 to develop a statewide plan to handle shipments of emergency drugs from the federal government if there was an outbreak of a disease.

The plan also calls for the state to hire a Director of Homeland Security with a salary of $102,400 per year.

The recent anthrax scare in Nevada pointed out some of the inadequacies in the health system. The plan calls for upgrading the Nevada State Health Laboratory in Reno and creating a branch lab in Las Vegas.

These labs must have the ability to "correctly diagnose agents similar to those proposed as agents of bioterrorism through proficiency testing," the plan said.

"Las Vegas is the only city in the nation of greater than 1 million population that is without a public health laboratory within approximately 100 miles," the plan said.