The US government has revised its strategy for responding to biological threats.

For the first time, the US biodefence strategy will include not only deliberate bioterror threats, but also naturally occurring outbreaks and infectious diseases that escape the lab accidentally. Alex Azar, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced the plan on 18 September. The strategy will also evaluate threats posed by advances in gene editing that could make it easier for terrorists to engineer dangerous pathogens.

The White House has created a steering committee to coordinate operations in the event of a biological attack or a major disease outbreak, Azar said. His department will lead the panel, whose members will include representatives of the Department of Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture.

The committee's first tasks will include an immediate review of agencies’ biodefence strategies and capabilities in order to identify any gaps.

Azar also said that President Donald Trump’s administration will continue the Global Health Security Agenda — an international initiative started by former president Barack Obama in 2014 to create an early-warning system for outbreaks by improving disease surveillance and response in developing countries. Trump proposed cutting about two-thirds of the programme’s funding in his 2019 budget request.

“The best way of stopping a disease outbreak in the US is stopping it before it ever comes to our borders,” Azar said.