KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? The head of a national agency that investigated the 2001 anthrax scare says she’s convinced the attacker will be caught.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the FBI’s work into the attacks was still “extremely active.”

Sen. Sam Brownback, left, and Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, listen as Laura Holson, foreground, explains a computer screen displaying her research on brain imaging. Brownback and Gerberding toured the Hoglund Brain Imaging Center Wednesday at the Kansas University Medical Center. Also pictured are Donald Hagen, executive vice chancellor for the Medical Center, second from left, and William Brooke, director of the Hoglund center, right.

“There is certainly a great deal of activity going on in the investigative front as well as on the microbiology front,” Gerberding said. “I think we need to stay tuned on that whole investigation.”

Gerberding, with Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., on Wednesday toured several life sciences facilities in Kansas City.

Tour stops included Cerner Corp. in Kansas City, Mo., which is developing a system that collects biological information about disease outbreaks; the Kansas University Medical Center, where researchers discussed public health issues; and Bayer Health Care in Shawnee, which focuses on agroterrorism prevention.

While the anthrax attacker remains unidentified, Gerberding said the country was better prepared today for a biological attack than it was three years ago.

“There have been all kinds of examples of the strides forward since September 11, particularly in the human-to-human networking,” she said. “At 9-11 there was a lot of scurrying around, trying to figure out who did what and who was in charge.”

Gerberding said during the next year the CDC would be focusing on making sure local officials in metropolitan areas had systems in place for distributing vaccines if a bioterrorist attack occurred. Postal workers, polling places and drugstores all could be enlisted in the distribution process.

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Kansas City officials currently are working on their plan.

“Our job is to get the supplies here and then work with people to make sure they can deliver them at the last step,” Gerberding said.

Brownback said he invited Gerberding to Kansas City to highlight Kansas City’s effort in the life sciences field and for Gerberding to share information about the CDC’s efforts on bioterrorism.

“We’re on a heightened state of alert in the nation,” Brownback said. “We’re on orange level in some cities. As we approach the election and as we just saw the big terrorist bust in Pakistan, we can see they are still coming after us. … We’ve got to do a better job of protecting ourselves here, and that’s particularly where the CDC comes in, in providing that protective shield here at home.”