Page "Bioterrorism" Paragraph 6

Over time, biological warfare became more complex.

Countries began to develop weapons which were much more effective, and much less likely to cause infection to the wrong party.

One significant enhancement in biological weapon development was the first use of anthrax.

Anthrax effectiveness was initially limited to victims of large dosages.

This became a weapon of choice because it is easily transferred, has a high mortality rate, and could be easily obtained.

Also, variants of the anthrax bacterium can be found all around the world making it the biological weapon of choice in the early 19th century.

Another property of anthrax that helped fuel its use as a biological weapon is its poor ability to spread far beyond the targeted population.

Anthrax could not be spread from person to person.