Risk Assessment and Risk Communication Strategies in Bioterrorism Preparedness

The anthrax envelopes incident in the United States in 2001 created the impetus for a substantial increase in preparedness for bioterrorist threats among both public health and law enforcement professionals, worldwide. Ever increasing resources are now being allocated for dealing with a wide variety of potential threats, from the reintroduction of eradicated viruses such as smallpox to the possibility of genetically engineered novel pathogens. Despite the potentially devastating consequences of