Anthrax (B. anthracis):
- Inhalation of anthrax spores is virtually 100% fatal
- Spores can remain infectious for decades
Botulism:
- Most lethal toxic agent known
- Toxin could be used to contaminate food supplies
- Can be aerosolized in enclosed areas
Pneumonic Plague (Y. pestis):
- Aerosolized in large amounts
- Short incubation period, usually in less than three days, and invariably fatal without early and effective antimicrobial therapy
- Untreated, fatality rate exceeds 90%
- Disease is spread from direct exposure to respiratory droplets of infected humans
Smallpox:
- Highly contagious and deliberate spread by aerosol is extremely infectious
- Mass panic would be created
Tularemia (F. tularensis):
- Highly contagious and easily spread
- An aerosol containing as few as 25 organisms can cause infection
- Easily penetrates the smallest breaks in the skin
Viral Hemorrhagic Fever:
- Causes internal and external bleeding and would likely cause great panic and easily spread by direct contact with body fluids or respiratory droplets
- Outbreak due to bioterrorist attack could lead to mass illness and death