Bioterrorism

Terrorism using biological agents or toxins. Actual incidences of bioterrorism or warfare involving biological agents have been extremely rare. The only documented case occurred during World War II, when Japan used plague bacteria against Chinese troops in Manchuria. During the Cold War (1945–90), several nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union, developed biological weapons programs. Suspicions that Iraq had secretly developed biological and chemical weapons, and might possibly pass related technology, material, or weapons to terrorist groups, was one of the stated reasons why the United States invaded Iraq in May 2003 and removed its dictator, Saddam Hussein, from power.

Biological agents and toxins have been used by terrorist groups four times in the last 25 years. In 1984, a religious cult in Oregon added salmonella bacteria to a local water supply and several restaurant salad bars, sickening more than 700 people in an attempt to depress voter turnout for an upcoming election. In the spring and summer of 1990, Aum Shinrikyo, a religious cult in Japan, made as many as 10 attempts to disperse biological agents in downtown Tokyo. Using an aerosol device, the group tried first to spread botulinum toxin, [Page 80]and later, anthrax. No injuries or illnesses were reported. In the fall of 2001, cases of anthrax broke out at several locations in the United States. Nineteen people who were exposed to anthrax spores sent through the mail became infected, and five died. In the wake of this anthrax scare, as many as 10,000 people in the United States began a two-month course of treatment with the antibiotic Cipro. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is still investigating the attacks, although the source of the anthrax has been identified as the U.S. biodefense program.

In what looked like another wave of mail-related attacks, powder later identified as the toxin ricin was found in a mailroom at the office of Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist (Republican from Tennessee) in February 2004. At the time, the White House disclosed to the public that ricin had also been found in one of its off-site mail-sorting facilities in November 2003. No further information about this incident has been released to date.

Top Threats

Biological agents can come in one of two forms. Pathogens are disease-causing microorganisms, including bacteria, microplasmas, and viruses. They are living and can reproduce. Toxins, such as ricin, on the other hand, are poisons of biological origin. They are not living organisms and cannot reproduce.

U.S. health officials have categorized almost all known types of disease-producing biological agents and toxins. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Category A agents (which include anthrax, botulism, plague, smallpox, and viral hemorrhagic fevers) are of highest priority because they can be easily disseminated or transmitted from person to person and result in high mortality rates. These agents have the potential for major public health impact, and they might cause public panic and severe social disruption. Category B agents, such as ricin and Q fever, are also dangerous but not as potentially lethal or disruptive as Category A agents.

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