Category C bioterrorism agents include which of the following?

Category C bioterrorism agents include which of the following?

• A. Hantavirus and Nipah
• B. Anthrax and botulism
• C. Salmonella and brucellosis
• D. Smallpox and plague

Answer: (A)

Category C agents are emerging threats that could be engineered for dissemination in the future; they are not as readily weaponizable as the classic high-priority agents, but they pose potential outbreak risks and may lack widely available countermeasures. Hantavirus and Nipah fit this category because they are relatively recently recognized, zoonotic viruses with outbreak potential. Nipah has demonstrated capacity for person-to-person transmission in some outbreaks, increasing concern about spread, while hantaviruses can cause severe disease and have the potential to emerge in new areas when rodent populations or human exposures change. The other options involve agents that are already well established as higher-priority threats: anthrax and botulism (high-mortality, easily disseminated, classic high-priority), Salmonella and brucellosis (typical of a middle tier with moderate dissemination potential), and smallpox and plague (historically devastating but classified as Category A, the highest level). So hantavirus and Nipah are the ones that best illustrate Category C.

Category C agents are emerging threats that could be engineered for dissemination in the future; they are not as readily weaponizable as the classic high-priority agents, but they pose potential outbreak risks and may lack widely available countermeasures. Hantavirus and Nipah fit this category because they are relatively recently recognized, zoonotic viruses with outbreak potential. Nipah has demonstrated capacity for person-to-person transmission in some outbreaks, increasing concern about spread, while hantaviruses can cause severe disease and have the potential to emerge in new areas when rodent populations or human exposures change. The other options involve agents that are already well established as higher-priority threats: anthrax and botulism (high-mortality, easily disseminated, classic high-priority), Salmonella and brucellosis (typical of a middle tier with moderate dissemination potential), and smallpox and plague (historically devastating but classified as Category A, the highest level). So hantavirus and Nipah are the ones that best illustrate Category C.