Bioterror Threat

Although I appreciate the note of caution sounded by Brian Halweil in “The Threat Extends to Our Burgers” (Commentary, Nov. 2), I strongly object to his mentioning specific pathogens that could be used to contaminate food products and the methods to carry this out. The dangers to our food supply, as I have pointed out myself in lectures to medical and paramedical personnel, come more frequently from individual dissidents throughout the entire political spectrum than from organized foreign terrorists. There is no need to provide them with new ideas on what to do and how to do it.

In addition, as a specialist in infectious diseases, I must point out that Halweil vastly overstates the lethality of these food-borne illnesses. They cause disease, certainly, but rarely are fatal. Cautionary warnings are good, but engendering panic is not.

William O. Harrison MD

Las Vegas