Australia Could Be a Bioterror Target, Scientist Says

Australians should not consider themselves immune to the threats of bioterrorism, the director of the country’s new National Center for Biosecurity said yesterday (see GSN, Apr. 20, 2006).

The United Kingdom and United States are more likely targets.  However, “security in those countries is so strong that if you were a bioterrorist, you’d think it would be difficult to release something there and you may try other countries,” said immunologist Ian Ramshaw.

“We have to be concerned because a threat in England can easily spread to Australia if the plane arrives with passengers who are infected,” he said, according to The Canberra Times.

Biological weapons could be made reasonably easy and cheaply, Ramshaw said.

“It is easy to make Ebola virus in the laboratory and you can get the ingredients over the Internet,” he said.  “It’s probably a little bit difficult to make smallpox, but it is feasible, so I think we should be fully aware, not only now, but in the future, the chances of this occurring are going to increase” (see GSN, Jan. 30).

“It’d put it like this:  If there is a problem, I’m glad I’m immunized against smallpox for my work in the laboratory,” Ramshaw added (Ross Peake, The Canberra Times, Feb. 1).

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