PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTCDC Bioterrorism • May 23rd, 2002
This cooperative agreement is a clear opportunity to strengthen preparedness and response capacity of West Virginia’s public health system and to develop a Public Health Threat Response Plan with our many partners. Threat Preparedness and Response is not a new topic to public health in WV. The Bureau for Public Health (BPH), in conjunction with the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, Office of Emergency Services, regularly responds to natural disasters (primarily floods) affecting much of our population. However, many factors need to be considered in addressing these issues. West Virginia is the only state entirely within Appalachia and communities are widely disparate both geographically and culturally across the state. West Virginia encompasses 24,282.45 square miles and has a population of approximately 1.8 million people living within its 55 counties. Both county size and rurality of locales vary widely.
