1. The viability of biological threat agents in the environment has been documented for more than a century. For example, it has been over 100 years since Y.

pestis

was found in soil outside a home where inhabitants were diagnosed with plague. Seventy years since it was found to survive in soil for more than 40 weeks; and, more

recently, it was found to survive in bottled water for 100 days. Other organisms, e.g. Vibrio cholera, formerly believed to become non-viable after a short time in the

environment have been recently discovered to enter a state of statis during which they remain viable yet not easily cultured until the proper growth conditions appear.

While detecting an attack is of paramount concern for biodefense national security advisors.

Another concern for them is identifying the conditions under which a

dispersed agent remains viable. Read the EPA technical brief ?Results from Persistence Testing of Biological Agents Under Various Conditions” and “Persistence of

Category A Agents in the Environment? from Environmental Microbiology. Then in 2 succinct paragraphs discuss the conditions tested, those conditions that are most

conducive to agent survival and the conditions that might be implemented to decrease viability.

Link to Persistence of Category A Agents – http://aem.asm.org/content/74/3/555

See attachement – Results from Persistence Testing of Biological Agents Under Various Conditions

2. Terrorists are aware of and have access to the same information that we have in developing (an) effective method(s) of delivering a biological agent for a

widespread dissemination and impact.

Do a bit of research*, review the articles and your informal list of organisms and their characteristics in order to discuss what

aspects of agent stability and virulence maintenance might be exploited from the threat preparedness perspective.

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*Consider vetting your source. Here are some things to think about:

Where’s the author from, what is their background?
Is this a peer review article, official government website, or a general public webarticle
How old is the information? Does it predate 9/11?