Authored by Theodor Rosebury, the author of Experimental Air-Borne Infection. The purpose of the work is to inform the public about biological warfare in the face of a lack of government transparency.
The author provides an example scenario of a biological attack and discusses what makes various agents potentially effective candidates for biological warfare.
Description of transmission routes/pathways for grouping infectious diseases broadly (food- and water-borne, contact, air-borne, vector-borne, endogenous). Criteria for selection of infective agents that pose biological warfare risk. Rules out a list…
Evaluates possibility of BW in response to public interest/concern. Reviews practical limitations to development and use of biological weapons. Covers Intestinal Disease, Respiratory Disease, Insect-Transmitted Disease, Infective (Non-Communicable)…
Assessed whether engineering pathogens capable of "sustained, human-to-human transmission and causing mortality and morbidity" is possible/probable. Also considers how such pathogens would compare to naturally emergent pathogens in these regards, the…
This report assesses the utility of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and decision support framework (DSF) in assisting the US Department of Agriculture in its reviews of select agents. It uses the method to assess 41 pathogens against 21…
Author surveys bioweapons experts to roadmap the most important historical trends surrounding bioweapon risk and policy (motivators, inhibitors, drivers, wild cards) from the 1940s to present day. With this information, the author attempts to create…
This paper developed and applied decision support framework (DSF) approaches to assess toxins for inclusion on the select agents list and developed attack scenarios to determine the amount of toxin required to impact public health in order to…
US government charged NSABB with "evaluating and providing recommendations on the effectiveness of two major US biosecurity policy frameworks governing" research with enhanced potential pandemic pathogens (ePPP) and dual use research of concern.
Gives information on updates regarding the Division of Select Agents and Toxins' select agent scoring and ranking system. The review is contextualized by abundant criticism of the 2008 Bioterrorism Risk Assessment for overly complex modeling, lack of…
This article describes BioRAM, a tool to assist biorisk officers in the in the identification, the understanding, and the communication of biorisks present in a laboratory and how to mitigate those risks.
Gives information on updates regarding the Division of Select Agents and Toxins' select agent scoring and ranking system. The review is contextualized by abundant criticism of the 2008 Bioterrorism Risk Assessment for overly complex modeling, lack of…
The annual Ready or Not report series tracks states� readiness for public health emergencies based on 10 key indicators that collectively provide a checklist of top-priority issues and action items for states and localities.
Outlines the objectives of the Joint Force in response to any BW attack, especially those where physical and physiological protections cannot prevent infection. Provides details about roles and responsibilities within the Joint Force in the event of…