Table.
A comparison of properties of agents of bioterrorism and SARS.
| Characteristic | SARS | Bioterrorism Agent |
|---|---|---|
| The ability to cause serious illness or death | Yes | Yes |
| Person-to-person transmission | Yes | Yes |
| Prevented or treated with antibiotics, vaccines, or toxin antagonists if promptly diagnosed | Not as yet | Yes |
| A rapid or unusual increase (hours to days) in the number of previously healthy persons with similar symptoms (eg, fever, respiratory, gastrointestinal, rash complaint) seeking care | Not as yet | Yes |
| A cluster of previously healthy persons with similar symptoms who live, work, or recreate in a common geographic area | Yes | Yes |
| Lower incident rates in those persons who are protected (eg, confined to home, no exposure to large crowds) | Yes | Yes |
| High infectivity rate | Yes | Some agents |
| Any patient arriving with known bioterrorism agent not present by natural dissemination (eg, smallpox, anthrax) | No | Yes |
| An increase in reports of dead animals | Not as yet | Some agents |
| Ease of cultivation, storage, and dissemination | No | Some agents |
| An increased number of patients who die within 72 hours after admission to the hospital | Yes | Yes |