BioWatch
BioWatch is a United States federal government program to detect the release of pathogens into the air as part of a terrorist attack on major American cities. Reportedly operating in Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, DC, San Diego, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, St. Louis, Houston, Los Angeles and 21 other cities, the BioWatch program was created in 2001 in response to the increased threat of bioterrorism sparked by the 2001 anthrax attacks, and was announced in President George W. Bush's State of the Union Address of 2003.

The program, described as "the nation's first early warning network of sensors to detect biological attack" operates via a system of filters located within existing Environmental Protection Agency air filters that monitor air quality. Results from these filters are analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who pass any significant results to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

As of mid-2012, the system had generated a large number of false positives (alerts that are determined to be naturally occurring and not terrorist releases), with more than 50 such cases documented between 2003 and 2008. State and local health officials have never ordered evacuations or distributed emergency medicines in response to a positive reading from the system.
Q48525
United States federal government
Concept
Q170065
pathogens
Concept
Q7283
terrorist
Concept
Q30
American
LOC
Q1345
Philadelphia
LOC
Q60
New York City
LOC
Q61
Washington, DC
LOC
Q16552
San Diego
LOC
Q100
Boston
LOC
Q1297
Chicago
LOC
Q62
San Francisco
LOC
Q23556
Atlanta
LOC
Q38022
St. Louis
LOC
Q16555
Houston
LOC
Q65
Los Angeles
LOC
Q574341
2001 anthrax attacks
Concept
Q11696
President
Concept
Q207
George W. Bush
PER
Q554211
State of the Union Address
EVE
Q460173
Environmental Protection Agency
Concept
Q583725
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Concept
Q8333
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Concept
Q4914673
BioWatch
PER
Q4914673
BioWatch
PER
2001-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2001
DATE
2001-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2001
DATE
2003-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2003
DATE
2003-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2003
DATE
2008-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2008
DATE
+21^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
21
NUMBER
-2012^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
-2012
NUMBER
+50^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
50
NUMBER
country
executive body
location
location