Biological terrorism is the using of biological agents to wreak physical and psychological damage on an adversary's entire population.

Bioterrorism may be inflicted using bacteria such as Anthrax, viruses such as Smallpox, toxins such as Ricin, and others. Typically, these agents are deliberately made into weapons by converting them to an aerosol for airborne delivery. As the invisible biological agent is inhaled into the lungs, illness or death may follow, but this varies widely with the type of agent. Children may be at particular risk from biological terrorism.

A biological attack may be overt, with the terrorist announcing the release, such as happened in the Anthrax attack in the fall of 2001, or it may be covert, where the attack only becomes clear after people become ill and seek care from their doctors or emergency services.

A variety of factors affect the physical impact of a biological attack. Can the agent easily be "weaponized"? Is the agent highly lethal, with large numbers of individuals likely to die after contracting the illness? Can the illness spread rapidly or is it highly contagious? Has the population been - or could it quickly be - vaccinated against the agent? Are there effective treatments, and are they readily available? Currently the US Department of Health and Human Services has identified a limited number of biological agents on its "A List" of highest concern, based on ease of transmission, dissemination, and mortality. These are: Smallpox, Anthrax, Plague, Botulism, Tularemia, Filoviruses (Ebola, Marburg, etc.), and Arenaviruses (Lassa, Junin, RF).

In addition to inflicting injuries to victims, another goal of biological terrorism is to attack the basic sense of well being of a population. However, the goals of terrorists are only met if they succeed in undermining a nation's confidence in its ability to protect its citizens.

Our state, local, and federal agencies are making strides toward protecting us from the threat of biological terrorism. The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, Public Law 107-188 involves the largest investment in public health infrastructure in our history, giving over 2.5 billion dollars to states and hospitals to increase their capacity to be prepared for and respond to an act of biological terrorism.