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Appendix: PHEMCE High-Priority Threats

Public Health and Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise Strategy and Implementation Plan 2024 

The U.S. continues to face a range of serious threats to its health security from naturally occurring, accidental, and deliberate use of CBRN agents, as well as naturally occurring EIDs, including pandemic influenza.

PHEMCE High-Priority Threats

The PHEMCE will continue to address MCM needs to protect against high-priority threats. These may be determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security to pose a sufficient material threat to affect national security or determined by PHEMCE leadership to have the potential to threaten national health security. The PHEMCE high-priority threats are (in alphabetical order by threat area):

Biological Threats

  • Bacillus anthracis (anthrax)* and multidrug resistant B. anthracis (MDR anthrax)*

  • Burkholderia mallei (glanders)* and Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis)*

  • Clostridium botulinum toxin (botulism)*

  • Ebolavirus (Ebola hemorrhagic fever)*

  • Emerging infectious diseases

  • Francisella tularensis (tularemia)*

  • Marburgvirus (Marburg hemorrhagic fever)*

  • Pandemic influenza virus

  • Rickettsia prowazekii (typhus)*

  • Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV) (including SARS-CoV-1 and -2)*

  • Variola virus (smallpox)*

  • Yersinia pestis (plague)* 
     

Chemical Threats

  • Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor nerve agents*

  • Chlorine

  • Cyanide salts (potassium and sodium cyanide)*

  • Hydrogen cyanide*

  • Pharmaceutical based agents (including opioids)*

  • Phosgene

  • Vesicants* 
     

Radiological and Nuclear* Threats

  • Radiological and nuclear agents* 
     

(*) Indicates an identified material threat under section 319F-2(c)(2)(A)(ii) of the Public Health Service Act. 
 

 

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