Abstract
Management of a terrorist or criminal attack with biological agents depends on the number of primarily contaminated cases, on the numbers of persons who need medical treatment, on the possibility of human-to-human transmission, and on the tenacity of the germs.In the event of a high rate of human-to-human transmission, the strategy of transmission control depends on the kind of transmission and the effectiveness of measurements implemented by public health authorities. In this respect, it does not differ from the management of the natural emergence of an infectious disease (for example SARS). At all times it is necessary to establish precautions for the clinical management of severely ill persons. The possibility of professional clinical management depends on the number of affected people at one time and the necessary precautions for the medical personnel and the community. Kind, time, and region of the deliberate release of new or manipulated microorganisms or the natural emergence of an infectious disease are not predictable—the risk of human transmission is of course higher in regions with high population density. It is recommended that single cases of a highly contagious, lifethreatening disease be treated in central institutions with special technical support and facilities for staff protection (isolation unit). However, in terms of an epidemic situation, every single region must establish precautions for its own management of such cases.