ABSTRACT
In the best of all worlds , differences among peoples would be negotiated and conflict would be settled peacefully. Although there have been some periods of well-intentioned international reconciliation of differences during the last 100 years, on the whole the record is abysmally poor. Currently, a number of countries, spurred by national or ethnic aspirations on the one hand and intransigence and control on the other, are stimulating explosive situations that could have devastating results. One of the threats to the human and environmental well being of the planet is biological warfare (BW), the use of biological agents as weapons that could cause disease and deaths in sufficient numbers to greatly impact a city or region. These include agents that have high potential for person-to-person transmission, are highly infectious, are generally available, can be produced in large quantities, and do not have a vaccine or have a vaccine available in limited supply (Borio and others 2002).
