Agents Of Bioterrorism

Compiled by two leading experts in the field, this volume provides a concise, timely, and authoritative review of some of the most problematic infections of the new century. It presents issues and new ideas for preventing and controlling infectious diseases.

This new work offers a clear and thorough account of the threats posed by bioterrorism from the perspective of biologists. The authors examine thirteen disease-causing agents, including those responsible for anthrax, the plague, smallpox, influenza, and SARS. Each chapter considers a particular pathogen from the standpoint of its history, molecular biology, pathology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, weaponization, and defenses. The book also examines strategies for making vaccines and protecting the population in a bioterror attack.

Handbook on Biological Warfare Preparedness provides detailed information on biological warfare agents and their mode of transmission and spread. In addition, it explains methods of detection and medical countermeasures, including vaccine and post-exposure therapeutics, with specific sections detailing diseases, their transmission, clinical signs and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, vaccines, prevention and management. This book is useful reading for researchers and advanced students in toxicology, but it will also prove helpful for medical students, civil administration, medical doctors, first responders and security forces. As the highly unpredictable nature of any event involving biological warfare agents has given rise to the need for the rapid development of accurate detection systems, this book is a timely resource on the topic. Introduces different bacterial and viral agents, including Ebola and other emerging threats and toxins Discusses medical countermeasures, including vaccines and post-exposure therapeutics Includes a comprehensive review of current methods of detection

The purpose of this book is to bring together, in a single volume, the most up-to-date information concerning microbes with potential as bioterrorist weapons. The primary audience includes microbiologists, including bacteriologists, virologists and mycologists, in academia, government laboratories and research institutes at the forefront of studies concerning microbes which have potential as bioterrorist weapons, public health physicians and researchers and scientists who must be trained to deal with bioterrorist attacks as well as laboratory investigators who must identify and characterize these microorganisms from the environment and from possibly infected patients.

The threat of domestic terrorism today looms larger than ever. Bombings at the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City's Federal Building, as well as nerve gas attacks in Japan, have made it tragically obvious that American civilians must be ready for terrorist attacks. What do we need to know to help emergency and medical personnel prepare for these attacks? Chemical and Biological Terrorism identifies the R&D efforts needed to implement recommendations in key areas: pre-incident intelligence, detection and identification of chemical and biological agents, protective clothing and equipment, early recognition that a population has been covertly exposed to a pathogen, mass casualty decontamination and triage, use of vaccines and pharmaceuticals, and the psychological effects of terror. Specific objectives for computer software development are also identified. The book addresses the differences between a biological and chemical attack, the distinct challenges to the military and civilian medical communities, and other broader issues. This book will be of critical interest to anyone involved in civilian preparedness for terrorist attack: planners, administrators, responders, medical professionals, public health and emergency personnel, and technology designers and engineers.

In this volume, a distinguished international group of contributors present the latest molecular, organismal, and epidemiological research on arenaviruses. Their work will broaden both the clinician's and the researcher's knowledge of basic mechanisms of immunological tolerance, viral immunosuppression, the nature of protective immune responses to vaccination, and viral effects on cell functions.

The use of and problems associated with biological weapons have been of concern to NATO and non-NATO military organizations for many years. Until recently, most of the readily available literature addressed the military issues associated with the possible use of biological weapons on the battlefield, the medical effects of the various agents, and what was known about medical prophylaxis and treatments. Information on other needed countermeasures, such as decontamination, or public health issues associated with exposure of civilian populations, were largely overlooked. This perspective changed dramatically after the contamination of the US Mail system with powdered anthrax spores. Among the significant problems and defensive weaknesses that the anthrax attack revealed was the importance, but lack of established industrial-scale decontamination methods for large volumes of heterogeneous objects or for complex physical environments. Ultimately, these two microbial decontamination problems were solved in very different ways. The contaminated mail was treated with ionizing radiation while the contaminated government buildings were treated with vapor / gas-phase chemicals. Both the decontamination of the mail and establishing a process for prophylactic treatment of the mail, were solved relatively quickly. This was in large part due to the robust radiation biology and technical base derived from the industrial use of ionizing radiation. Contributing to the speed of response was the fact that the attack occurred within the United States and in the 'home town' of many of the technical experts and decision makers, allowing official response to be coordinated rapidly.