US policy makers must have created awesome bioterrorism protection for us in the last decade, given how it’s a lurking Great Filter AND an insanely popular issue with voters.

Nope. Policy makers haven’t even implemented the ideas they were given 10 years ago, back when terrorists were mailing [the policy makers themselves] envelopes of anthrax.

2011 Bioterrorism Report Card: F F C F F F F

Detection & Diagnosis (F): “The United States does not yet have a nation-wide multi-source disease surveillance system, as mandated by the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. Large-scale events would overwhelm existing capabilities.”

Attribution (F): “Attribution capability does not yet exist for anthrax or virtually any other pathogen or toxin.”

Communication (C): “No suitable threat and risk assessment for bioterrorism is available for engaging and educating the public.”

Medical Countermeasure Availability (F): “Current stockpiles of medical countermeasures […] may not be adequate for large-scale attacks.”

Medical Countermeasure Distribution (F): “It is highly unlikely that antibiotics could be dispensed to a large population within 48 hours.”

Medical Management & Response (F): “A catastrophic biological event in the United States would quickly overwhelm the capacity of an already-stressed health care system.”

Environmental Cleanup (F): “An integrated, tested environmental remediation plan for wide-area anthrax cleanup [or any other agent] does not currently exist.”