Specifically, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention design

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http://www.asm.org/microbe/index.asp?bid=14484

Two Trichothecene Toxins Considered Possible Bioterrorism Agents

The terrorist attacks in 2001 in the United States followed by the

deadly anthrax incidents reawakened concern about the potential use

of trichothecenes or other biological toxins as agents of biowarfare

or terrorism. As a follow-up to antiterrorism legislation enacted

during 2002, two trichothecene toxins were placed on the " Select

Agents List " specifying who may possess or study 36 particular

biological agents and toxins. Specifically, officials at the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention designated T-2 toxin and

diacetoxyscirpenol as each having the potential to pose a severe

threat to public health and safety.

If chemical analyses indicate that these or other trichothecenes are

in an environmental sample, identifying the source of those

materials can prove extremely difficult-as can proving that they

were used deliberately as agents of biowarfare or bioterrorism. For

one thing, trichothecene-producing fungi are common in soil and

decaying plant matter, and also can occur in house dust. For

another, trichothecene-producing fungi are distributed worldwide on

a wide variety of host plants, especially cereals and grasses, and

as pathogens of trees.

Moreover, in several regions of the world, particularly throughout

Asia and Africa, there is scant information on natural occurrences

of trichothecenes and on the diversity of Fusarium species and other

fungi that produce them. Meanwhile, conducting surveys of

trichothecenes and of trichothecene-producing Fusarium species that

contaminate agricultural commodities or appear in natural

environments would facilitate efforts to determine whether detecting

them is due to their accidental or deliberate introduction.

Moreover, further studies of global Fusarium populations would

facilitate efforts to assess their impact on agriculture,

particularly if strains from foreign populations of trichothecene-

producing species were introduced into the United States.