Kenya should step up her bioterrorism surveillance

Earlier last week, Kenyan security agencies announced that they had successfully foiled a plan by a group of medical interns to unleash a biological terror attack using anthrax bacteria as a weapon against Kenyans. The details made public are scanty. Other than the indication that the suspected terrorists have medical training, there is little to suggest whether or not they had access to the bacteria.

Or whether they had the capacity, facilities or specialised knowledge of growing the bacteria. Nor is it known how they planned to release the anthrax or who would have been their target. Anthrax can be stored as a powder made up of anthrax spores that can be spread through air and that is what makes it an attractive bioweapon for mass attacks.