Assessing the Threat of Biological Terrorism

摘要

As part of its national security mission, Lawrence Livermore conducts research directed at protecting against a broad range of methods terrorists might use in an attack against the U.S. Among the most potentially devastating scenarios is the dispersion of pathogenic biological organisms in densely populated areas. Biological warfare agents might be attractive to terrorists because the microbes can inflict high mortality rates, yet exposure cannot be detected by our physical senses. The organisms' ease of dissemination combined with the often delayed onset of symptoms after exposure would allow a terrorist to cause a high-consequence event with minimal risk of being detected.