American Association: Bio-terrorism Warning

A senior scientist has warned that the consequences of bio-terrorism are so dire that governments must build up stockpiles of antibiotics, vaccines and anti-viral drugs to combat the threat.

Frank Young, an expert on biological weapons, said that public discussions of bio-terrorism were likely to generate hysteria, but this was no excuse to do nothing. "I would emphasise that ... bio-terrorism is a low probability event. But the consequences are so grave it would be unthinkable not to be prepared," he said.

One of the main areas of concern is being able to distinguish quickly between a natural outbreak of a contagious disease and an epidemic generated by a biological weapon.