Henderson D A
Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Suite 850, Candler Building, 111 Market Place, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA.
Science. 1999 Feb 26;283(5406):1279-82. doi: 10.1126/science.283.5406.1279.
Biological weapons have recently attracted the attention and the resources of the nation. Discerning the nature of the threat of bioweapons as well as appropriate responses to them requires greater attention to the biological characteristics of these instruments of war and terror. The dominant paradigm of a weapon as a nuclear device that explodes or a chemical cloud that is set adrift leaves us ill-equipped conceptually and practically to assess and thus to prevent the potentially devastating effects of bioterrorism. Strengthening the public health and infectious disease infrastructure is an effective step toward averting the suffering that could be wrought by a terrorist's use of a biological agent.
生物武器最近已引起该国的关注并投入资源。认清生物武器威胁的本质以及对其采取适当应对措施，需要更加关注这些战争与恐怖工具的生物学特性。将武器主要视为会爆炸的核装置或四处飘散的化学云这种主流范式，使我们在概念和实际操作上都难以评估并进而预防生物恐怖主义可能造成的毁灭性影响。加强公共卫生和传染病基础设施是避免恐怖分子使用生物制剂可能带来的痛苦的有效举措。
