Biological agents attack indicators

Emergency Response to Biological Agents or Weapons Attack Indicators/Biological and Chemical... 

Until October 2001, no deaths from bioterrorism were reported in the U.S. On September 11, 2001, after the attacks on New York City and Washington, the Centers for Disease Control recommended that the nation increase its surveillance for unusual disease occurrences or clusters, asserting that they could be sentinel indicators of bioterrorist attacks. As predicted, cases of anthrax were reported in Florida, New York City, the District of Columbia, and New Jersey. Over the years, it has become evident that not only is biological warfare attractive to governments, it is equally attractive to terrorist cells because the agents are relatively inexpensive and easy to make. 

In the dormant spore state, endospores are resistant to a wide variety of chemical and physical stresses such as UV and gamma radiation, desiccation, temperature and pressure extremes, and attack by toxic agents (67-70). As they are resilient to most sterilization procedures, bacterial spores are used in several industries as biological indicators (71,72). Certain species can even survive the vacuum, extreme temperatures, and radiation of space (73,74), making them the focus of research concerning planetary protection, panspermia (transfer of life from one... 

A chemical or biological attack or incident won t always be immediately apparent given the fact that many agents are odorless and colorless and some cause no immediately noticeable effects or symptoms. Be alert to the possible presence of agent. Indicators of such an attack include ... 

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