CANBERRA, Australia, May 1 (UPI) -- Australia is planning for the possibility of terrorists infecting themselves with deadly germs and then spreading the disease through the population.
This new concept of suicide bioterrorism will be discussed during a closed-door Monday workshop in Canberra by the director of terrorism studies at the Australian National University, Clive Williams, the Australian reported Saturday.
A spokesman for the country's attorney general said he knew of no such specific threat.
Although intelligence agencies say they know of no specific threat to launch a bioterror attack, the possibility has been treated seriously enough to trigger planning within government and emergency services.
Some diseases, such as anthrax, are not contagious. Others offer the prospect of an epidemic through "secondary transmission."
Williams said bio-terrorists could infect themselves with a contagious disease, such as smallpox or ebola. Between the time the person became contagious and the time he or she became too ill to move about, the terrorist could go into crowded public areas and try to spread the disease by close contact.
