Two crucial facts are apparent to those of us who work on preparation for a possible attack by biological weapons: 1) The diseases considered the most likely in this setting are rarely if ever seen in medical practice; and 2) Time to identification and characterization of the agent is vital to marshalling the appropriate resources to defend the population at risk. Defensive measures in the form of antibiotics, vaccines, and various public health measures are useless unless we know how and when to deploy them.
