The scary arsenal of the biological war (Le Monde)

Variola, Pest, Anthrax. Are all these plagues we thought they had been eradicated going to reappear as terror weapons of a biological war ? The question is set all the more seriously since a few days as the United-States are confronted to the re-emergence of Antharx with three illness cases discovered in Boca Raton (Florida) and a fourth case in New-York. Le Monde also reviews these new weapons of terrorism in "L'effrayant arsenal de la guerre biologique".

Thus, the audience discovers the reality of a threat that industrialised countries, the potential targets of terrorist commandos, seem a bit unequipped to deal with, Le Monde writes. Although many pathogenic agents could be used to criminal purposes, the specialists of the fight against the biological war are giving more credits to those – very toxic and very contagious – which can make many victims in one single time: variola, pest, anthrax and botulinum toxin. These three threats, variola virus, pest germ and botilinum toxin are reviewed. Pretty scary…