Bioterrorism
Background
- An attack using various biological agents, such as viruses, bacteria, or toxins to cause injury and death.[1]
- Can affect humans, anmials/livestock, and/or plant life.
- These disease still exist globally in many countries, but may be modified for increased effect as a weapon.
- Smallpox last naturally occurred in 1977[2]
Classification
- Agents are divided into three categories, based on risk.[1]
- Category A: (highest risk) Easy to spread or transmit from person to person, and/or cause high morbidity/mortality rates.
- Category B: Moderately easy to spread, moderate morbidity and usually low death rates.
- Category C: Emerging agents that may be developed into weapons 2/2 ease of access or production, or have potential for high morbidity/mortality.
Specific Agents
Bioterrorism Agents[3]
Category A
Category B
- Ricin
- Brucellosis
- Epsilon toxin
- Psittacosis
- Q Fever
- Staph enterotoxin B
- Typhus
- Glanders
- Melioidosis
- Food safety threats
- Water safety threats
- Viral encephalitis
Category C
- Influenza
- Yellow fever
- Tickborne hemorrhagic fever
- Tickborne encephalitis
Differential Diagnosis
Mass casualty incident
- Radiation exposure (disaster)
- Dirty bomb
- Bioterrorism
- Chemical weapons
- Mass shooting
- Natural Disaster (e.g. Hurricane, Earthquake, Tornado, Tsunami, etc)
- Unintentional large-scale incident (e.g. building collapse, train derailment, etc)
- Major pandemic
- Explosions
See Also
External Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://emergency.cdc.gov/bioterrorism/overview.asp Accessed 02/26/16
- ↑ WHO Factsheet http://web.archive.org/web/20070921235036/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/smallpox/en/
- ↑ https://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/biodefenserelated/biodefense/pages/cata.aspx Accessed 02/26/16