Sheri K. Bunn. . .

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Anthrax Terrorism: Analysis of
United States Preparedness and Response

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    The study addresses the state of the United States preparedness for an anthrax terrorist attack prior to the September 2001 anthrax-laden letter attacks and the preparedness measures taken following those attacks.  According to the Bible, the use of anthrax to harm a population extends back before the time of Christ.  In ca. 1500 BC, God placed a plague of anthrax on Egypt’s livestock to starve the Egyptians.  It was not until the twentieth-century that  anthrax became a weapon of   war. Utilizing both primary and secondary sources, the study concludes that the last anthrax infection in the United States was in 1976, and this hiatus contributed to it being unprepared for the 2001 attacks and dilatory in discovering they were terrorist related.  It was negligent in failing to discover that the anthrax-laden letters were aerosolized, dispersing lethal spores into the air.  Following September 2001, the nation became energized and undertook protective measures.  Most notable was passage of the Bioterror Act.  Bioterrorism preparation has now taken a backseat and a backslide, and for the most part the nation is apathetic and performing prevention with ineptness.  Heightened preparedness must be made mundane.  An educated citizenry and first responders are seventy-five percent of preparedness.  The study urges the creation of an Internet database to disseminate preparedness knowledge and provide expertise directly to all citizenry and to the first responder stage—providing as a mundane matter maximum early detection by all citizenry and at every level of government, and updated in real-time for gaps in preparedness.  Congress must fully fund the Bioterror Act and the Homeland Security Act of 2002—facilitating and maximizing performance, coordination, communication, and research enabling terrorist prevention, detection and response to be routine, mundane governmental business.

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