**Meet the editor**

Dr Stephen A. Morse received his M.S.P.H. in environmental chemistry and biology in 1966, and a PhD in microbiology in 1969 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has developed his academic career at: Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, 1971-74; Oregon Health Sciences University, 1974-84; Centers for Disease Control and Preven-

tion (CDC): Director, Sexually Transmitted Diseases Research Program, 1984-95; Associate Director for Science, Division of Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response, 1999-2008; Associate Director for Environmental Microbiology, 2008 - present. He has published over 290 articles, books and chapters and has received numerous awards, including: the McLaughlin Award from the University of Texas Medical School at Galveston; the Harriet Hylton Barr Outstanding Alumnus Award from the School of Public Health of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and the Joseph E. McDade Citation for Lifetime Scientific Achievement, CDC. Currently, he works as Adjunct Professor at Emory University School of Medicine. He is a past member of the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Microbiology and the FBI Scientific Working Group for the forensic analysis of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism.

Contents

**Preface VII**

Chapter 1 **Current Methods for Detecting** 

Chapter 2 **Detection of Bacillus Spores** 

Chapter 3 **Staphylococcal Enterotoxins,** 

Martha L. Hale

Rickard Knutsson

Riyasat Ali and D.N. Rao

Chapter 7 **Ricin Perspective in Bioterrorism 133** 

Chapter 8 **Spatio-Temporal Disease Surveillance 159** 

Chapter 9 **Rickettsia and Rickettsial Diseases 179**  Xue-jie Yu and David H. Walker

Chapter 6 **Botulinum Neurotoxins 107** 

**the Presence of Botulinum Neurotoxins in Food and Other Biological Samples 1**

Chapter 4 **Diagnostic Bioterrorism Response Strategies 65** 

Chapter 5 **Recent Advancement in the Development of Vaccines** 

Virginia I. Roxas-Duncan and Leonard A. Smith

Ross Sparks, Sarah Bolt and Chris Okugami

Luisa W. Cheng, Kirkwood M. Land and Larry H. Stanker

**Stayphylococcal Enterotoxin B and Bioterrorism 41** 

Stuart Farquharson, Chetan Shende, Alan Gift and Frank Inscore

**Against** *Y. pestis* **– A Potential Agent of Bioterrorism 83** 

Robert P. Webb, Virginia I. Roxas-Duncan and Leonard A. Smith

**by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy 17** 

## Contents

#### **Preface XI**


Preface

care.

Pathogenic microorganisms and their toxins have always posed a significant threat to humans, animals, and plants that become exposed and infected naturally. But now there is a newly recognized threat – the deliberate use of pathogenic microorganisms and toxins as weapons in acts of bioterrorism or in the commission of biocrimes. Long before the germ theory of disease was understood, man knew that pathogenic microorganisms and toxins were useful as weapons. However, as the twentieth century came to a close, the perceived difficulties in production, weaponization, and deployment of these biological weapons as well as a belief that moral restraints would preclude the use of these weapons gave many a false sense of security. Recently, a number of events have served to focus attention on the threat of terrorism and the potential for the use of biological weapons against the military, civilian populations, or agriculture for the purpose of causing illness, death, or economic loss. This threat is a

Bioterrorist attacks occur as one of two scenarios: overt and covert. In either scenario, biologic agents could be introduced into populations by several routes, including aerosol; contamination of food, water, or medical products; fomites; or the release of infected arthropod vectors. The deliberate nature of such dissemination will often be obvious, as in the case of multiple mailed letters containing anthrax spores (ie overt). Because we currently lack the ability to conduct extensive real-time monitoring for the release of a biologic agent, a covert release of a microorganism of toxin in a population would be likely to go unnoticed for some time, with individuals exposed leaving the attack area before the act of terrorism became evident. Because of the incubation period, the first signs that a microorganism or toxin has been released may not become apparent until hours or weeks later, when individuals become ill and seek medical

Bioterrorism presents many challenges, particularly when compared to chemical, radiological, or nuclear terrorism. These challenges reflect the dual-use nature of many technologies that can be used for either beneficial purposes or bioterrorism; intentional threats that can coexist with similar and naturally occurring threats; the complexity of the interaction of the threat with the environment, the human immune system, the society/social structure; and rapid advances in biotechnology. Preparing for and responding to bioterrorism in the twenty-first century has brought together diverse

significant concern in the United States as well as internationally.
