The use of rapid diagnostic kits for the rapid presumptive identification of bioterrorist agents

Abstract

The events of 11 September 2001 and the subsequent US anthrax mail attacks placed enormous pressure on emergency response agencies to be able to rapidly assess the potential risk of an incident as a possible case of bioterrorism. In response to this perceived need to rapidly identify bioterrorist agents in the field, a number of hand-held ?tickets? appeared in the market and were promoted heavily to emergency response personnel. These included products from Tetracore (Guardian Bio-Threat Alert System), Alexis, Sigma-Aldrich (BADD ? Biowarfare Agent Detection Device) and RAMP. This brief discussion will examine the current knowledge on such devices and their applications for the detection of bioterrorist agents.