Medical Safety & Global Health
Open Access

Bio Threat

Infectious diseases kill more than 17 million people each year, yet the biological agents responsible only make headlines during horrifying epidemics, like the Ebola outbreak of 2014, or following a terrorist attack like the 2001 anthrax letter attacks.ndia of late has been vulnerable to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) threat, on account of its unique geographic position. Biological threat is an imminent threat in the hands of a terrorist. The public health system of our country is overburdened due to its present role and bio-attack response is not a priority area. This paper suggests that as the prime focus is on the CR and N threats in the integrated CBRN preparedness strategy and that specialized and technical forces are needed to deal with a bio-threat; hence there is a need for a paradigm shift in policy. The emerging field of bio-threat needs to be delinked from the joint family of ‘CBRN’, with consequent structural and functional changes.