The consequences of ignoring the bioterrorist threat could be dire. For example, one recent study from the intelligence community projected that a two-to-four pound release of anthrax spores from a crop duster plane could kill more Americans than died in World War II. Clean-up and other economic costs could exceed $1.8 trillion. A large public investment today will greatly mitigate the risk posed by pandemic disease and terrorist attack alike.

The video takes a light approach to a serious issue, added Senator Jim Talent, Commission vice chairman. We want the public to know there are better options, and encourage policymakers to have the foresight to invest in them.

Last week, the Commission provided an assessment of U.S. government progress in preventing WMD proliferation and terrorism, and concluded that the United States is failing to address the urgent biosecurity threat. The Commission ™s original report, World at Risk, released in December 2008, found that unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013 ”and that a biological attack is more likely than nuclear.

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