ArticleThe American journal of emergency medicine2022
Bioterrorism: An analysis of biological agents used in terrorist events.
Article in The American journal of emergency medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with bioterrorism preparedness in healthcare workers: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- From Sequence to Solution: Computational Design of a Multi-Epitope Vaccine Candidate Against Francisella tularensis.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Article
- Infectious bacteria as biological warfare agents: mechanisms, epidemiological threats, and defense strategies.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Review
- Advancements and Applications of Lateral Flow Assays (LFAs): A Comprehensive Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The 1984 Rajneeshee Bioterrorism Attack: An Example of Biological Warfare by Violent Non-state Actors.Cureus · 2025Review
- Preparedness of Emergency Room Nurses for Bioterrorism Based on the Health Belief Model: A Multicenter Qualitative Study.International nursing review · 2025Article
- Transition of EMS workflow from radio to bell signals to shorten activation time in multiple casualty incident.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- From pandemics to preparedness: harnessing AI, CRISPR, and synthetic biology to counter biosecurity threats.Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
- Multiprobe Amplification (MPA) with Melting Curve Analysis: A Highly Stable and Cost-Effective Platform for the Simultaneous Detection of Eight Potential Bacterial Bioterrorism Agents in Complex Samples.Analytical chemistry · 2024Article
- Trauma-toxicology: concepts, causes, complications.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2024Review
- A Descriptive Analysis of the Use of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Weapons by Violent Non-State Actors and the Modern-Day Environment of Threat.Prehospital and disaster medicine · 2023Article
- Biodefense: Expanding Nursing Strategies After the SARS-CoV-2 Threat.Journal of radiology nursing · 2023Article
- Democratization of terrorism: an analysis of vehicle-based terrorist events.Trauma surgery & acute care open · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe Covid19 pandemic has reignited debates and discussions around healthcare systems' biosecurity vulnerabilities and cast a spotlight on the potential weaponization of biological agents. Terrorist and violent extremist groups have already attempted to incite the intentional spread of Covid19 and to use it as an improvised form of a biological weapon. This study aims to provide an epidemiological description of all terrorism-related attacks using biological agents sustained between 1970 and 2019.
methodsData collection was performed using a retrospective database search through the Global Terrorism Database (GTD). The GTD was searched using the internal database search functions for all events using biological weapons between January 1, 1970 - December 31, 2019.
results33 terrorist attacks involving biological agents were recorded between 1970 and 2019, registering 9 deaths and 806 injuries. 21 events occurred in the United States, 3 in Kenya, 2 each in both the United Kingdom and Pakistan and a single event in Japan, Columbia, Israel, Russia and Tunisia.
conclusionThe reported use of biological agents as a terrorist weapon is extremely rare and accounts for 0.02% of all historic terrorist attacks. Despite its apparent rarity, however, bioterrorism has the ability to inflict mass injuries unmatched by conventional weapons. Anthrax has been the most commonly used in previous bioterrorism events with the vast majority of reported attacks occurring in the United States by a single suspected perpetrator. Counter-Terrorism Medicine (CTM) and Disaster Medicine (DM) specialists need to be proactive in delivering ongoing educational sessions on biological events to first responder communities, and anticipate emerging novel biotechnology threats.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.