Table 1.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control classification of potential bioterror agents
| Disease (clinical forms) | Agent | Natural reservoir | Type of infection (route of transmission to humans) | Licensed vaccinea |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category A | ||||
| Anthrax (cutaneous, gastrointestinal, inhalational) | Bacillus anthracis | Soil, grass‐eating animals | Zoonotic (contact with infected materials, inhalation of aerosol; no human to human spread) | Yes |
| Plague (bubonic, septicaemic, pneumonic) | Yersinia pestis | Rodents | Zoonotic (flea bite, inhalation of droplets from a person with pneumonic plague) | Discontinued in 1999 |
| Smallpox (ordinary, modified, flat, haemorrhagic) | Variola major virus | Humans | Human (prolonged face‐to‐face contact with an infected person, contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated objects) | Yes |
| Ebola and Marburg haemorrhagic fevers | Filoviruses | Not identified | Zoonotic (bite of infected fruit bats or primates, contact with virus‐contaminated objects, contact with blood or body fluids from a sick person) | No |
| Dengue haemorrhagic fever | Flavivirus | Humans | Zoonotic (mosquito bite; no human to human spread) | No |
| Hanta haemorrhagic fever (renal syndrome, pulmonary syndrome) | Bunyavirus | Rodents | Zoonotic (contact with infected rodents or their urine and droppings) | No |
| Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever | Bunyavirus | Mammals, birds | Zoonotic, tick borne (contact with infected wild and domestic animals, contact with body fluids of an infected person) | No |
| Rift Valley haemorrhagic fever | Bunyavirus | Rodents | Zoonotic (mosquito and biting fly bites, contact with infected livestock animal tissues; no human to human spread) | No |
| Botulism (classical, infant, wound botulism) | Toxin of Clostridium botulinum | Soil and agricultural products | Food borne (ingestion of contaminated food, wound contamination; no human to human spread) | Discontinued in 2011 |
| Category B | ||||
| West Nile encephalitis | Flavivirus | Birds | Zoonotic (mosquito bite; no human to human spread) | No |
| Ricin poisoning | Toxin of Ricinus communis | Host plant | Inhalation, ingestion or injection of toxin | No |
| Category C | ||||
| Yellow fever | Flavivirus | Monkeys, humans | Zoonotic (mosquito bite; no human to human spread) | Yes |
| Japanese encephalitis | Flavivirus | Pigs, wild birds | Zoonotic (mosquito bite; no human to human spread) | Yes |
| Influenza | Orthomyxoviruses | Mammals including humans and birds (depending on virus strain) | Zoonotic, humans (inhalation or touch of droplets from an infected person or animal) | Yes |
| Severe acute respiratory syndrome, Middle East respiratory syndrome | Coronaviruses | Animals (species not identified) | Zoonotic, humans (inhalation or touch of droplets from an infected person) | No |
a
The U.S. FDA.
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