On an Otherwise Uneventful Sunny Sunday Afternoon,an Extremist Group Enters

Multiple Choice

On an otherwise uneventful sunny Sunday afternoon,an extremist group enters your city in a large van and drives to the front entrance of the Convention Center where the annual flower show is taking place.The occupants unload large crates resembling flats of assorted flowers,and then drive off.Within minutes the crates explode,showering the visitors with an opaque powder.Medical teams are called to the scene to care for the injured,and CDC officials wearing level 4 containment suits arrive in a few hours to test the contents of the powder for human pathogens using multiplex PCR methodology (a rapid method for identifying pathogens by their DNA) .Which of the following potential bioterrorism agents would pose the most serious threat to those exposed?

A) Bacillus anthracis (anthrax)
B) Corynebacterium diphtheriae toxin (diphtheria)
C) Yersinia pestis (plague)
D) variola major (smallpox)
E) Clostridium botulinum toxin (botulism) .