Atlantic Storm
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Atlantic Storm was a ministerial exercise simulating the top-level response to a bioterror incident. The simulation operated on January 14, 2005 in Washington, D.C. and was created in part to reveal the current international state of preparedness and possible political and public health issues that might evolve from such a crisis.[1] In the scenario, smallpox was released in the following major cities in a covert attack: Istanbul, Rotterdam, Warsaw, Frankfurt, New York, and Los Angeles. Cases were initially reported in Germany, Turkey, Sweden, and the Netherlands, but the pathogen was exported to other nations within hours. Specifically, the 51 cases confirmed in these four nations grew to 3,320 cases with transatlantic spread after no more than 4.5 hours. This rapid spread of disease forced the attending representatives to grapple with a quickly escalating crisis and revealed difficult tensions between domestic politics and international relations. The scenario was propelled by continual briefings by “Summit Staff”, breaking news segments from the “Global News Network”, and private updates for representatives from their “national advisors”.
The project was sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Organization efforts were provided by the Center for Biosecurity of UPMC, the Center for Transatlantic Relations of Johns Hopkins University, and the Transatlantic Biosecurity Network.
Key participants
| Role | Played by |
|---|---|
| Prime Minister of Canada | Barbara McDougall |
| President of the European Commission | Erika Mann |
| Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany | Werner Hoyer |
| President of France | Bernard Kouchner |
| Prime Minister of Italy | Stefano Silvestri |
| Prime Minister of the Netherlands | Klaas de Vries |
| Prime Minister of Poland | Jerzy Buzek |
| Prime Minister of Sweden | Jan Eliasson |
| President of the United States | Madeleine Albright |
| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | Sir Nigel Broomfield |
| Director General, WHO | Gro Harlem Brudtland |
| Executive Secretary of the Summit | Eric Chevallier |
