Terrorist Events are Real

by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Terrorist Events are Real

Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, or Explosive (CBRNE) Events

Terrorist Events are Real

Terrorism is not new. It’s been around as long as people have been willing to use violence as a political weapon. Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f(d), defines terrorism as the “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.

The types of terrorist attacks discussed in this section are rare and usually relatively limited in scope. For example, in 1984, a small religious cult in The Dalles, Oregon, led by self-professed guru the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, tried to influence the outcome of a local election by infecting the local population with Salmonella.

The organism was spread through restaurant salad bars, grocery produce, and doorknobs. Although no one was killed, about 750 people became ill.

This was the first known bioterrorism attack during the 20th century in the U.S.

On September 11, 2001, several thousand people died from the air attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on the plane near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Thousands more, including first responders, area residents, and workers, were exposed to potentially dangerous chemicals in the dust and ash clouds in Manhattan. Even more suffered issues of stress, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health challenges.

The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon demonstrated today’s role of public health workers in terrorist attacks. Later in 2001, the well-known anthrax attacks took place.

This involved the intentional contamination of letters with this dangerous bacterium. Seventeen people were infected and five of them died. The attacks also created widespread social and economic disruption. The attacks demonstrated to the public how an infectious disease could be used in a terrorist attack. Public health professionals became central to the response. Since that time, CDC has paid even closer attention to reports involving viruses, bacteria, and toxins that might be used by terrorists to cause harm.

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