Biological Weapons, the Threat Posed by Terrorists; Hearing Before the Subcommittee

Item Details

Title

Biological Weapons, the Threat Posed by Terrorists; Hearing Before the Subcommittee

Topics

Hearing on the threat of BW attack on the United States, contextualized by recent events in Las Vegas.

Date

1998

Conclusions

Experts believe that only a small group of agents could be used for BW (10-15 agents) and these may be ineffective. However, BW has the advantage of being cheap, difficult to detect, and easy to use in a crude way. "The use, or attempted use, of biological agents and toxins for terrorism... is a growing but still relatively new phenomenon".

Files

Source

United States Senate Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, & Government Information of the Committee on the Judiciary. Biological Weapons: The Threat Posed by Terrorists; Hearing Before the Subcommittee. United States Government Printing Office. 1998.

Citation

“Biological Weapons, the Threat Posed by Terrorists; Hearing Before the Subcommittee,” Collection of Biothreat Risk Assessments (COBRA), accessed January 15, 2025, https://cobrabiosecurity.org/items/show/457.