Opinion: I worked on the CDC investigation of the anthrax letters. 25 years later, are we ready for the next biothreat?

Twenty-five years ago, as the country still reeled from Sept. 11, the first of two batches of anthrax-laden envelopes were mailed from New Jersey to news media and congressional offices. All told, the letters caused 22 cases of anthrax disease, leading to five deaths; prompted considerable fear in the U.S.; and cost billions of dollars in response and recovery.

Remembering how public health responded to the anthrax letters can help inform how we might meet the challenge of something similar today, whether intentional or inadvertent, and whether human or artificially generated.

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