Monmouth County prepares for bioterror threat

Monmouth County health and emergency agencies are in the advanced stages of creating a countywide system to protect the public in case of a terrorist attack, as disclosed by Monmouth County Health Officer Lester Jargowsky at a luncheon at Squire’s, West Long Branch.

He addressed approximately 100 government and business leaders and explained the county’s five hospitals, and all local, regional and county emergency management agencies have created a network to quickly alert, then protect, residents from biological warfare. The system was begun after Sept. 11 and includes state and federal agencies.

Jargowsky’s address was sponsored by the Monmouth County Department of Economic Development and Tourism.

According to Bea Duffy, Department director, "The situation in Iraq and the war against terrorism required us to tell the public what Monmouth County is doing to protect them," she said.

"We suffered tremendous losses on Sept. 11, 2001. Our geographical location means we must take special care to ensure our residents are safe," she continued.

According to Jargowsky, improved communications between county, state and federal agencies and health providers has created a large network of information providers who can almost instantly spot troublesome trends. Hospital laboratories, for instance, are trained to look for and report on a host of diseases or symptoms that might point to anthrax, small pox and rabbit fever.

More than 1,100 local, state and federal agencies, plus schools, municipal emergency and public safety agencies and media outlets have been coordinated for rapid responses. Towns would use sirens, public address systems and mass transit to make public the danger and take people to where medicines can be distributed.

Antibiotics could be flown in and distributed throughout the county within hours of an attack. They would be distributed at sites that could accommodate large numbers of people, such as Monmouth Park Racetrack, Oceanport, Freehold Raceway, or the PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel.

The county has created a 206-member volunteer committee to coordinate reactions to a crisis. More than 50 county and healthcare workers have volunteered to take the small pox vaccine this week so they are prepared to inoculate others if needed, according to Jargowsky.

For more information, call Bea Duffy at (732) 431-7470.