Volume 9, Number 5—May 2003
Perspective
Planning against Biological Terrorism: Lessons from Outbreak Investigations
Table 1
Epidemic Intelligence Service field investigations involving unknown agents and potential agents of bioterrorism, 1988–1999
Agent | Frequency | % of investigations (n = 1,099) |
---|---|---|
Unknown infectious agenta |
41 |
3.7 |
Vibrio choleresis |
18 |
1.6 |
Yersinia pestis |
11 |
1.0 |
Viral hemorrhagic fever virus |
7 |
0.6 |
Bacillus anthracis |
3 |
0.3 |
Clostridium botulinum |
3 |
0.3 |
Coxiella burnetii |
1 |
0.1 |
Francisella tularensis |
1 |
0.1 |
Total | 85 | 7.7 |
aIn these cases, the outbreak was considered to be caused by an infectious agent because of the characteristics of the illness and outbreak.
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