Bioterrorism and the Legal Ramifications of Preventative and Containment Measures
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Bioterrorism and the Legal Ramifications of
Preventative and Containment Measures
Kelly S. Culpepper1
I. Introduction
As terrorists seek to expand their capabilities and methods
of attack, weapons of mass destruction are a growing threat. Bio-
logical agents in the hands of terrorists are of mounting concern
in the realm of weapons of mass destruction.2 A December 2008
report released by the Commission on the Prevention of Weap-
ons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism (the Com-
mission) states, [t] he Commission believes that unless the world
community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more
likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in
a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013.
The Commission further believes that terrorists are more likely
to be able to obtain and use a biological weapon than a nuclear
weapon.' The stark and frightening truth is that biological
agents used against civilian populations are no longer the stuff
of science-fiction thrillers and Hollywood blockbusters; they are
reality.
Although the United States has fortunately never suffered a
large scale biological terrorist attack, experts caution against a
false sense of security and urge officials to concentrate their ef-
forts on improving preventative and containment measures.4 It
I Kelly S. Culpepper is a member of the Georgia State Bar and is a lawyer at
Alston & Bird, LLP in Atlanta, Georgia. Kelly received herJ.D. from the University of
Georgia School of Law in 2008.
2 Edward M. Eitzen,Jr., Historical Overview of Biological Warfare in MEDICAL ASPECTS
OF CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE 416 (Russ Zajtchuk & Ronald F. Bellamy eds.,
Office of the Surgeon General 1997). The possibility that biological weapons will be
used against us is no longer unthinkable .... [B]iological agents have been used as
weapons since antiquity, and the threat that modern weapons will be used is real. Id. at
416.
3 BOB GRAHAM &JIM TALENT, WORLD AT RISK: THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON
THE PREVENTION OF WMD PROLIFERATION AND TERRORISM, XV (Vintage Books 2008)
[hereinafter WORLD AT RISK].
4 Id. at 27. The Commission urges the United States to react. The United States
should undertake a series of mutually reinforcing domestic measures to prevent bioter-
rorism: (1) conduct a comprehensive review of the domestic program to secure danger-](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/qhlj12&div=13&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Bioterrorism and the Legal Ramifications of Preventative and Containment Measures
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