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- Dec. 13 ΓÇö As always for a presidential inaugural, security and surveillance were
- extremely tight in Washington, DC, last January. But as George W. Bush prepared to
- take the oath of office, security planners installed an extra layer of protection: a
- prototype software system to detect a biological attack. The U.S. Department of
- Defense, together with regional health and emergency-planning agencies, distributed
- a special patient-query sheet to military clinics, civilian hospitals and even aid
- stations along the parade route and at the inaugural balls. Software quickly
- analyzed complaints of seven key symptoms ΓÇö from rashes to sore throats ΓÇö for
- patterns that might indicate the early stages of a bio-attack. There was a brief
- scare: the system noticed a surge in flulike symptoms at military clinics.
- Thankfully, tests confirmed it was just that ΓÇö the flu.
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