The Government is to establish the country's first National Bio-terrorism Unit to deal with casualties arising from any terrorist attack involving chemical or biological agents such as smallpox, writes Martin Wall.
The unit, which was recommended by the Government's expert group on bio-terrorism, will be established in one of the main hospitals in Dublin.
A number of Dublin hospitals with expertise in treating infectious diseases have been approached by the Department of Health and asked to submit proposals to establish such a facility.
Staff in the hospital designated as the national bio-terrorism centre will receive specific training and will also be provided with appropriate equipment and the necessary isolation facilities to deal with any casualties arising from a major terrorist attack.
Some Dublin hospitals are believed to have told the Department of Health that the establishment of such a unit would cost in the region of €2 million.
Department of Health sources said last night that a decision on the establishment of the national bio-terrorism unit was "imminent" and that it could come as early as next week.
The Government expert group on bio-terrorism was established by the Government in the wake of the September 11th attacks in the US to develop a contingency plan to be implemented in the event of a chemical or biological attack here.
However, the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, told the Dáil last year that the expert group believed the most likely threat to Ireland would come from dealing with the secondary consequences of an attack on another country.
In October 2002 a special sub- committee of the Government's expert group was established to look specifically at the designation of hospital centres for dealing with smallpox cases as well as developing protocols for the transportation of infected patients and samples.
Based on the recommendations of the expert group the Department of Health last year agreed to purchase some 2.4 million doses of oral and 16,000 doses of intravenous antibiotics as well as 600,000 doses of vaccines for use in the event of confirmed cases of anthrax or smallpox.
The smallpox vaccine can be diluted by a factor of five or six.
The National Virus Reference Laboratory has also developed a high-level containment facility to allow for the secure storage of a range of infectious agents including smallpox.
The Government policy on smallpox opposes the mass vaccination of the population, which is in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation.