Understanding The Bioterrorist Threat: Facts & Figures

The September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon made starkly clear how vulnerable Americans are to terrorism at home. But as devastating as those attacks were, the likelihood is growing that terrorists may soon decide to use biological agents as weapons to extract even higher death tolls. Evidence of this includes the startling fact that the number of criminal investigations in the United States related to the use of biological materials as weapons of mass destruction more than doubled between 1997 and 1998:

•     In 1997, 22 of the 74 criminal investigations- or 30 percent - involved biological materials.

•     In 1998, 112 of the 181 criminal investigations - or 62 percent - involved biological materials.