The information on terrorism has been there for a long time. I’ve been worried about small pox for years, not excessively so, but worried enough to ask my pediatrition about it. Like how long it would take Kaiser to come up to speed on small pox vacinations. I suggested that she take it up with her supervisor. She didn’t take me seriously, not even when I told her that I work in the area of national security. I wonder what she would say today.
Anyway, the information is there, but you have to look for it. It’s not classified or even sensitive. It’s a complicated subject that can’t be spoon fed in the evening news. It still can’t, and that is why there are so many people who are hysterical about anthrax. That and the fact that most people have never been taught to critically think. It’s so stupid because as we already know, when we over use antibiotics, they lose their effectiveness. Perhaps that is the actual intention of the anthrax terrorists.
FYI: Chemical weapons are cheap, costing single dollars, and biological weapons are even cheaper costing pennies. And with terrorists who have demonstrated that they are willing to die to deliver the weapon, the delivery system for a biological weapon becomes very simple, a human body. The delivery system for chemical weapons is still problematic. And of course, there are still conventional explosives and nuclear weapons, but they are not particulary cheap, require expertise to arm, are not that easy to deliver, and are easier to detect.
On the plus side, small pox is not easily accessible. There are 2 labs in the world that have it. It hasn’t been spread around the world like anthrax, and you can’t harvest it from a dead animal or from soil.
But keep in mind, statistically speaking, the greatest threat to your physical safety is a car accident, and the greatest threat to your health, even if you don’t smoke, is smoking. We, USA, continue to be one of the safest places on earth because we, mostly, follow our laws and building codes (e.g. to protect us from earthquakes). We haven’t had to worry about famine for a very long time, and we have an excellent warning system for weather related natural disaters.