We've been warned--especially about RDD's, aka "dirty bombs."

The always sober and authoritative Global Security Newswire blared an ominous headline this morning: "CDC Warns of Program Cuts."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautioned Friday that funding cuts could force the agency, and its state and local counterparts, to reduce programs designed to prepare the nation to respond to terrorist WMD attacks (see GSN, Dec. 10, 2008).

The warning was issued in the first report from the CDC's Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response, which reviewed progress made in fiscal 2007.

"Building a strong platform for public health preparedness and response is not an easy endeavor," TPER Director Richard Besser said in a press release. “Much work remains to be done to improve our internal and external response capabilities, and to reduce our vulnerabilities to all types of public health threats.”

The new report cited progress in establishing national drug and vaccine stockpiles, multiplying the number of laboratories capable of testing for potential bioterrorism materials, improving disease surveillance capabilities and creating information sharing systems.

This progress, however, is threatened by prospects of reduced funding, the report says.

The federal public health agency might "have to make difficult decisions about what the highest priority activities are and what must be postponed," the report says. "Public health departments at state and local levels may have to make similar choices"

The report, Public Health Preparedness: Strengthening CDC's Emergency Response, outlines CDC′s future preparedness priorities, including enhancing biosurveillance systems to support rapid detection of and response to emerging public health threats, increasing nationwide laboratory capacity to respond effectively after a radiological incident (such as a dirty bomb), and helping state and local health departments strengthen their emergency response capabilities.

Here's the link to the CDC report, which goes even further.

We all realize that many urgent priorities--and many non-urgent priorities--are going to have to be sacrificed in the current fiscal climate. But if I were an elected official, I would not want to vote to cut the muscle of homeland security after reading this report. And of course, ignorance of the report is no excuse, because others, including potential political opponents, will surely be reading it. 9-11 was a genuine surprise. The next attack, whatever it is, will not be.

We've been warned, yet again, by the GSN and CDC.