1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Military Biodefense Readiness and Protection Act of 2018 . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The 2014 Ebola crisis demonstrated the need for the Department of Defense to provide a prompt and efficient response to an outbreak of a highly infectious disease. (2) A future outbreak of an infectious disease is all but certain and the lessons learned from the 2014 Ebola crisis are directly applicable to the next crisis. (3) It is critical that the Department of Defense take immediate action to ensure the joint force is protected from emerging infectious diseases and the potential deliberate use of infectious diseases threats, while also being prepared to conduct military operations in areas of increased risk as part of an international response to a future public health emergency. (4) To ensure mission effectiveness and force protection, the Department of Defense should work closely with the Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services before, during, and after an infectious disease outbreak. 3. Plan for countering emerging and deliberate infectious disease threats (a) Plan The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Preparedness and Response, and in consultation with the Director of the Defense Advanced Research Program Agency, the Director of the Office of Net Assessment, and the head of the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, shall develop a plan for countering emerging and deliberate infectious disease threats to ensure joint force health protection and the ability of the Armed Forces to conduct operations in an area subject to an emerging infectious disease threat. (b) Matters included (1) Focus areas The plan developed under subsection (a) shall address the following: (A) Detection and management of patients with emerging and high-consequence infections identified in the R&D Blueprint Priority Disease List of the World Health Organization,