Countering Bioterrorism Threat to India: Employing Global Best Practices and Technology as Force Multiplier

The threat of bioterrorism is the most plausible when compared to other weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), considering the riotous advances in biotechnology. It is a threat for which India is not well prepared as was once again highlighted by the recent H1N1 epidemic, which claimed over 2,300 lives. The precarious security environment in South Asia, rapid rise in fundamentalism and extremist implosion of Pakistan, the cloud of civil war in Afghanistan and the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) further accentuate this threat. This article analyses the bioterrorism threat to India and explores strategies, approaches, technological tools and best practices required for surveillance, prevention, response, recovery, decontamination and its attribution. It concludes that bioterrorism is a low-probability, high-impact event. Biological agents are a threat to human, livestock and crop health, as well as to the Indian economy, and their understanding must be considerably improved. Political awareness and public participation are essential for threat mitigation. The preparedness against biological attacks will also prepare our population against natural occurrence of diseases, thus transforming India into a resilient society.