Book excerpt: The second edition of the Encyclopedia of Bioterrorism Defense provides complete coverage of bioterrorism and defense against it, spanning scientific, technological, clinical, legal, historical, and political aspects. The topics cover the most recent developments and thinking on biodefense, biosecurity, terrorism, science, and policy. In addition, the Encyclopedia of Bioterrorism Defense provides an up-to-date overview of U.S. federal biodefense efforts, including explanations of all of the relevant agencies and missions, research agendas, legislation, and regulations. This edition revises and updates the original Encyclopedia, making it the single authoritative resource for students, scientists, policymakers, and journalists. Key features: Comprehensively covers the field of bioterrorism, including related science, technology, medicine, politics, law, and history Topics include entries on bioterrorism agents, detection, clinical presentation of disease, defense efforts, risk assessments, treaties, past incidents of bioterrorism, and pertinent people and organizations engaged in terrorist activities User friendly, with biological agents covered consistently across entries Includes important case studies, with discussion of lessons learned