The Threat of Biological Warfare

by William C. Patrick, III
February 13, 2001

The breakup of the Soviet Union, the dispersal of its biowarfare scientists, and the disappearance of a bipolar international power structure, have made biowarfare and bioterrorism a greater threat than ever before. An increasing number of smaller states are known or suspected to have biological weapons, which offer a cheap and horrific means to threaten neighbors and foes.

William C. Patrick III has forty-nine years experience in the field of biological warfare: he was chief of the Product Development Division of the Biological Warfare Laboratories at Ft. Detrick, Maryland from 1965 to 1972 and currently consults with many government agencies on the use of biological weapons in terrorism. Mr. Patrick joined the United Nations weapons inspection team in Iraq after the Gulf War and is one of the few scientists still active who worked in America?s former bioweapons program. He will discuss the fundamentals of biowarfare and the nature of the current threat facing the United States.

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