11/2/01

AUBURN TO HOST FORUM ON BIOTERRORISM FOR CAMPUS, COMMUNITY

AUBURN -- Auburn University will sponsor a public forum on bioterrorism, including the potential threats of anthrax, smallpox and the plague, on Wednesday (Nov. 7).

The forum, which will feature experts on each of the three diseases as well as an expert on the treatment of biological diseases, will be at 5 p.m., at the Lowder Business Building, Room 113-A.

"What we want to do is provide folks the basic information about these potential forms of bioterrorism -- their characteristics, presentation, prevention and treatment -- in an easily understood manner," said Lee Evans, dean of AU's Harrison School of Pharmacy and one of the coordinators of the forum.

The forum will feature a panel that includes Dr. Charles Woernle, assistant state health officer for disease control and prevention; Dr. Stuart Price, an associate professor of pathobiology in AU's College of Veterinary Medicine; Stewart Schneller, dean of AU's College of Sciences and Mathematics; and Michael Reinke, an associate professor of clinical pharmacy practice in the AU Harrison School of Pharmacy.

Woernle will give an overview of the potential bioterrorist threats and discuss anthrax. He has been state health officer for disease control and prevention since 1993 after seven years as the state's epidemiologist. Additional experience includes a stint at the Centers for Disease Control's Mississippi office and faculty positions at the medical schools of both the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of South Alabama.

Price will discuss the microorganism that causes plague. As a postdoctoral student, Price trained in a plague laboratory at the University of Kentucky Medical Center and has continued his work on the organism that causes plague since coming to Auburn in 1990.

In 2000, Schneller, who will discuss smallpox, was awarded a $2.3 million grant by the National Institues of Health to research the family of viruses that includes the deadly smallpox virus.

In granting Schneller the funding, NIH cited the concern over the need for better understanding of orthopoxviruses (of which smallpox is one) and the re-emergence of smallpox as a bioterrorist threat in a time of waning immunity. Schneller's work is aimed at the eventual production of an effective treatment for the smallpox virus.

Reinke, an expert in infectious diseases, will discuss issues of treatment and/or prevention of each of these diseases.

"This is a very distinguished and knowledgeable panel that we feel can offer the types of information both to our campus and our community that can be useful and, in some instances, help people sort out the myths and the facts about the potential effects of bioterrorism," Evans said.

Afte opening statements from the panel members, the audience will be encouraged to ask questions.

The forum is being sponsored by the AU colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Sciences and Mathematics, the AU Harrison School of Pharmacy and the offices of Student Affairs and the Provost.

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CONTACT: Evans and Reinke, 334/844-8348; Woernle, 334/205-5325; Price, 334/844-2673; Schneller, 334/844-5737.