Bioterrorism

Development and Use of Bioterrorist Agents

In 1984, members of the Rajneeshees, a religious cult, sprayed Salmonella typhimurium onsaladbarsinThe Dalles, Oregon, causing 750 cases of food poisoning, though no deaths occurred. In the 1990s, the Aum Shinrikyo extremist cult in Japan attempted to use bioterrorism agents but were unsuccessful because they could not overcome the technical hurdle of dissemination. They later released sarin gas in the Tokyo subway. During the anthrax attacks of September 2001, Bacillus anthracis spores sent through the U.S. Postal Service resulted in 22 cases of the disease and five deaths.

Russia, the United States, and Iraq ran biological weapons programs during the 20th century, but these were dismantled by the end of the century. Before closing, these programs employed thousands of scientists, and concern remains among experts that some of the scientists might have taken their bioweapons knowledge and possibly samples of biological agents to sell to the highest bidder.

Rationale for Using Biological Weapons

While concern over the likelihood of bioterrorist attacks has risen in light of recent attacks that indicate an erosion of taboos against mass killings, there are still some barriers to obtaining and using the necessary agents. For example, bioterrorist agents are difficult to produce in large quantities, and they can be difficult to aerosolize for maximum spread. But while bombs and guns may still be favored by terrorist organizations because of their ease of use and accessibility, advances in biotechnology, access to information on the Internet, and the availability of dual-use equipment and technologies increase the probability that biological weapons will be used in the future.

At present, terrorist organizations can obtain small amounts of biological agents from hundreds of germ banks worldwide and use them to produce large quantities of potential bioweapons. Agents could also be stolen from research laboratories—a possible explanation for the anthrax letters of 2001. They might be purchased from a former bioweapons scientist or a rogue nation. With the proper information, terrorists could isolate and grow agents from natural sources; anthrax can be found in animal hides and soil, while tularemia is found in soil. Of special concern, the developing field of genetic engineering makes it possible to create new or genetically modified biological agents that are more deadly than those presently available, and for which there are no cures. This was the goal of the scientists in the bioweapons program in the former Soviet Union.

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