COLUMBIA --- If you're a resident of Louisiana, North Carolina or Virginia, your state is likely better prepared to protect you from disease outbreaks, natural disasters and bioterrorism than other southern states, according to a report released Tuesday.

Those three southern states -- along with New Hampshire and Wisconsin -- were among only five nationwide that scored a perfect 10 in the "Ready or Not? 2008" assessment by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust Fund for America's Health. The sixth annual report measures whether states are well-prepared in 10 different categories, including food safety and the ability to detect disease outbreaks.

In the southern region, eight states scored an eight or higher in the analysis -- considered good. All 12 states in the region and the District of Columbia were lauded for having plans to distribute emergency vaccines, a lab to meet expectations for the state's pandemic flu plan and someone to coordinate Medical Reserve Corps volunteers who have agreed to help their communities during emergencies.

But officials warned that economic turmoil in states already facing dramatic cuts could erase progress made in a number of states, where federal funding has been cut by more than a quarter since the 2005 fiscal year, erasing supplemental funding for pandemic flu preparedness.

More than half of the states and the District of Columbia achieved a score of seven or less out of the report's 10 indicators, including four southern states: Florida, Maryland, Mississippi and West Virginia. Mississippi, which scored a six out of 10, was one of only six states without a disease surveillance program that is compatible with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's national system.

Three southern states -- Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina -- got nearly perfect scores of nine out of ten.

The report also rated states for their preparedness for a food-borne disease outbreak. Alabama was cited for below-average ability to identify what's responsible for food-borne disease outbreaks. Six other southern states -- Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, and West Virginia -- and the District of Columbia also fell short in that category.