The threat of bioterrorism has become a major challenge for the
twenty-?rst century. However, the potentials of infectious agents as
bioweapons have been recognized for centuries. Throughout history there
have been attempts to i- tiate infectious disease outbreaks and
epidemics during warfare. In the last decade the attention of the
biomedical community, as well as governments and the United Nations, has
increasingly focused on the threat of bioterr- ism, especially the use
of biological and/or chemical weapons against military and civilian
populations. As an example, there is now much interest conce- ing
microbial infection and bioterrorism in the medical microbiology and -
munologycommunities. Thisvolumeaddressessuchconcernsandemphasizes
bothbasicandclinicalconcepts, aswellasproblematicimplicationsofinfection
by various microbes now recognized as potential bioterrorism agents. The
?rst chapter by Drs. Andrew Canons, Philip Amuso, and Burt And- son from
the University of South Florida is an overview of the biotechnology of
bioterrorismbothinthepublichealthresponsetopossibleactsofbioterrorism,
aswellasfortheconcernsaboutthemisuseofbiotechnology. Thesecondch- ter is
a historical perspective of microbial bioterrorism by Dr. Steven Morse,
Director of the Bioterrorism Division at the Center for Disease Control
and Prevention in Atlanta, GA. This chapter describes in detail
historical aspects concerning the early use of biological agents in
warfare, development and international conventions to prohibit the use
of such weapons, and a brief - scription of important incidents of
infectious agents as bioterrorist agents and use during the last few
centuries. The next chapter by Dr. Sandra Gompf from the University of
South Florida discusses the role of public health physicians and
infectious diseases specialists in the control of microbial
bioterrorism.
