Synonyms

• Aerosolized bioagents, alphavirus, amoxicillin, ampicillin, anthrax, anthrax vaccine, anthrax vaccine adsorbed (AVA), Arenaviridae, arenavirus, azocillin, aztreonam, Bacillus anthracis, bio arms, biodefense, biological agents, biological attack, biological terrorism, biological warfare, biological weapon (BW), biological weapons, biosurveillance, bioterrorist, BioThrax^TM, bioweapon (BW), botulinum toxin, botulism, Brucella abortus, Brucella melitensis, Brucella ovis, Brucella spp., Brucella suis, brucellosis, buboes, bubonic plague, Bunyaviridae, Burkholderia mallei, Burkholderia pseudomallei, castor beans, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, Chlamydia psittaci, cholera, ciprofloxacin, clavulanic acid, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium botulinum toxin, Clostridium perfringens, Coxiella burnetii, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), cryptosporidiosis, Cryptosporidium parvum, cutaneous anthrax, deerfly fever, dengue virus, doxycycline, Dryvax®, Dukoral®, eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), Ebola fever, Ebola virus, Escherichia coli O157:H7, filovirus, Flaviviridae, Floriviridae, food botulism, food poisoning, Francisella tularensis, gastrointestinal anthrax, gentamicin, glanders, handheld advanced nucleic acid analyzer (HANAA), hantavirus, hemorrhagic fever viruses (HFVs), infant botulism, inhalation anthrax, intestinal botulism, Lassa fever, Lassa virus, LC16m8 vaccine, levofloxacin, Machupo virus, Malta fever, Marburg virus, melioidosis, Nipah virus (NiV), novobiocin, Omsk hemorrhagic fever, penicillin, plague, pneumonic plague, procaine penicillin G, Q fever, rabbit fever, real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), ribavirin, ricin toxin, Ricinus communis, Ricinus communis toxin, Rickettsia prowazekii, rifampin, Rift Valley fever virus, rock fever, Salmonella, Salmonella species, Salmonella typhimurium, salmonellosis, septicemia plague, Shigella, shigellosis, smallpox, Staphylococcal enterotoxin B, streptomycin, sulfadiazine, sulfamethoxazole, terrorism, terrorist, tetracycline, trimethoprim, tularemia, Ty2la vaccine, typhus fever, undulant fever, Variola major, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), Vi capsular polysaccharide vaccine (ViCPS), Vibrio cholerae, viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF), western equine encephalitis (WEE), wound botulism, yellow fever virus, Yersinia pestis.

Background

• Terrorism is the use of threats or violence to achieve political, social, or religious goals. Terrorism may be created by individuals or organizations, and may target civilians, political groups, or other organizations. Bioterrorism, also known as biological warfare or biological attack, is described by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a type of terrorism involving the intentional release of biological agents, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, or toxins (poisonous substances) from living organisms that brings about illness or death in human beings, animals, or plants. Viruses, bacteria, and fungi are tiny, disease-causing, microscopic organisms that can spread from person to person through air, water, food, or soil. Biological toxins are poisonous substances produced by living cells or organisms, which are capable of causing disease or death.
• The biological agents used for bioterrorism are known as bioweapons (BW) or bio arms. These agents may be in their natural form, or may be genetically manipulated to increase their disease-causing ability (virulence), resistance to the currently available drugs, or to increase their ability to disperse easily into the environment.
• Biological agents may cause serious harm if used as bioweapons, especially if they are highly contagious (spread easily from person to person). Other characteristics, such as environmental stability, easy dispersion, and resistance to currently available drugs, may increase the risk of damage caused by a particular agent. Bioweapons have the potential to cause high morbidity (incidence of disease) and mortality (number of deaths), and even panic in public and health care workers.
• The onset of illness from these agents is often late and takes several hours or days to show disease-specific symptoms. This may make it difficult to identify the timing and location of the bioterror attack. For instance, Francisella tularensis (tularemia-causing bacterium) causes acute, non-specific feverish illness after three to five days of exposure, and the actual disease symptoms, such as pneumonia, develop later.
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