Bioterrorism

Past efforts at biowarfare are also presented, notably the Japanese program, which ran from 1932 to 1945 (Drexler, 2002, p. 244ff). The following are listed by Drexler as having been studied plague, typhoid, paratyphoid A and B, typhus. 

More on anthrax, the Ebola virus, and especially the smallpox virus, are presented in firsthand accounts in Richard Preston s The Demon in the Freezer A True Story, published in 2002. Following the format of his previous book The Hot Zone A Terrifying True Story, Preston interviewed many of the principals involved in the CDC and, in particular, in the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Dedrick, Maryland. He gives particulars about the highly successful program to eradicate smallpox, and about still-remaining sources of the stored virus. Included is the fact that genetic modification has produced a new strain that is not affected by conventional vaccinations. 

There are also food concerns, as per Marion Nestle s Safe Food Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Terrorism (2003). Nestle, chair of New York University s 

Department of Food Studies and Nutrition, has also written Food Politics How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (2002), and What to Eat (2006). She is coeditor with L. Beth Dixon of Taking Sides Clashing Vtewes on Controversial Issues in Food and Nutrition (2004). In this regard, there is also Russell L. Blaylock s Excitotoxins The Taste That Kills (1997) and Carol Simontacchi s The Crazy Makers How the Food Industry is Destroying Our Minds and Harming Our Children 

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US legislation on food additives consists of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD C Act), the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, and other applicable laws including the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act. The FD C Act states that foods are adulterated if they contain color additives that have not been approved as safe to the satisfaction of the Food Drug Administration (FDA) for a particular use. ... 

The most common criticism of whole-cell MALDI is that the method requires a relatively large number of cells, usually obtained directly from culture media. In principle, an analysis of even a few unknown bacteria (a colony-forming unit) is possible after a culture step. More important is the number of bacteria needed in a sample or on the sample probe for successful analysis. Detection of a very small number of bacteria could eliminate the need for a preliminary culture step. This would be a considerable asset for environmental analysis (unless to many bacteria were detected) and for the detection of a bioterrorism-related release of bacteria. 

Events involving deliberate or accidental distribution of bacterial pathogens into our everyday environment have clearly defined the need for a sensitive, specific, and rapid method of bacterial detection. Bioterrorism was first introduced in the United States in 1984 with the Salmonella typhimurium attack in The Dalles, Oregon, by a cult group attempting to affect a local election.1 As a result of this act 751 people contracted salmonellosis, which totally overwhelmed the hospitals and medical clinics with patients. Later our society became keenly aware of the potential of bioterrorism during the last four months of 2001 when Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) spores were sent through the US mail in an envelope to several locations. These events had... 

Bacillus anthracis Not published yet Anthrax first use of proven bioterrorism in the United States... 

Emanuel P.A., Biosecurity and bioterrorism. Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science, 2003,1 131-137. 

Henderson, Donald A., Thomas V. Inglesby, and Tara O Toole, eds. Bioterrorism Guidelines for Medial and Public Health Management. Chicago, IL AMA Press, 2002. 

Bioterrorism is the intentional use of pathogenic microorganisms or toxins to cause disease or death in plants, animals, and humans. Deliberate bioterrorism attacks are often perpetuated by individuals, groups, or hostile governments for financial, political, or ideological purposes. 

M. B. Phillips. 2005. Bioterrorism A Brief History. Focus on Bioterrorism. Northeast Florida Medicine (www.DCMSonline.org). 

J. B. Tucker. Historical Trends Related to Bioterrorism An Empirical Analysis. Emerg. infect. Dis., 5(1999) 498-504. 

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