Ebola – its possibility of bioterrorism and biocrime

The problem on 2014 Ebola virus outbreak in Africa lead a great concern to the medical society. This disease is believed to be one of the most serious infection in the medical history. The high virulence of Ebola virus is observed and the medical society fears for its possible worldwide pandemic. In addition to the natural spreading, the possibility of artificial outbreak due to bioterrorism and biocrime should be mentioned. In fact, the new emerging disease is an important focus in biological welfare. Werner noted that “an infectious cause has been demonstrated (or strongly suspected) for various diseases and the scope of infectiology keeps widening, while the threat of bioterrorism cannot be neglected.” For the case of Ebola, the concern on the illegal use of the virus as the new bioterrorism agent by the terrorist is widely discussed. Ebola virus can cause hemorrhagic fever that is easy for using as potential agents for biologic warfare due to “capability of aerosol transmission, high morbidity,and mortality associated with infection, and ability to replicate in cell culture in high concentrations