Bioterrorism and Infectious Agents

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

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2. Anthrax: A Disease and a Weapon

   • Kenneth Alibek, Catherine Lobanova, Serguei Popov

   Pages 1-35

3. Plague as a Biological Weapon

   • David T. Dennis

   Pages 37-70

4. Tularemia and Bioterrorism

   • Lisa Hodges, Robert L. Penn

   Pages 71-98

5. Melioidosis and Glanders as Possible Biological Weapons

   • David Allan Brett Dance

   Pages 99-145

6. Smallpox as a Weapon for Bioterrorism

   • J. Michael Lane, Lila Summer

   Pages 147-167

7. Hemorrhagic Fever Viruses as Biological Weapons

   • Allison Groseth, Steven Jones, Harvey Artsob, Heinz Feldmann

   Pages 169-191

8. Botulism as a Potential Agent of Bioterrorism

   • Thomas P. Bleck

   Pages 193-204

9. Ricin: A Possible, Noninfectious Biological Weapon

   • Maor Maman, Yoav Yehezkelli

   Pages 205-216

10. Bioterrorism Alert for Health Care Workers

    • Theodore J. Cieslak, George W. Christopher, Edward M. Eitzen Jr.

    Pages 217-236

11. The Economics of Planning and Preparing for Bioterrorism

    • Martin I. Meltzer

    Pages 237-257

12. Back Matter

    Pages 259-273

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Since the terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001 and subsequent cases of anthrax in Florida and New York City, attention has been focused on the threat of b- logical warfare and bioterrorism. Biological warfare agents are de?ned as “living org- isms, whatever their nature, or infected material derived from them, which are used for h- tile purposes and intended to cause disease or death in man, animals and plants, and depend for their efforts on the ability to multiply in person, animal or plant attacked.” Biological warfare agents may be well suited for bioterrorism to create havoc and terror in a civilian population, because they are cheap and easy to obtain and dispense. Infectious or contagious diseases have played a major part in the history of warfare – deliberately or inadvertently – in restricting or assisting invading armies over the centuries. In 1346, the Tartars catapulted plaque-infected bodies into Kaffa in the Crimea to end a 3-year siege. Blankets contaminated with smallpox to infect North American Indians were used by British forces in the 18th century. More recently, the Japanese released ?eas infected with plaque in Chinese cities in the 1930s and 1940s. Biological research programs for both offensive and defensive strategies have been developed by the United States, Britain, the former Soviet Union, and Canada; several other nations are thought to have such programs.

• infection
• infections
• infectious
• infectious disease
• infectious diseases
• virus

• St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

  I. W. Fong

• The National Center for Biodefense, George Mason University, Manassas

  Kenneth Alibek

Policies and ethics