The epidemiological concerns are identification and characterization of specific disease-causing pathogens or their toxins, their modes of transmission, and any manipulations that may have been performed intentionally to increase their effects against human, animal, or plant targets ( Morse and Budowle, 2006 Morse and Khan, 2005). A forensics investigation initially will attempt to determine the identity of the causal agent and/or source of the bioweapon in much the same manner as in an epidemiological investigation. Another goal can be to support analysis of potential bioweapons capabilities for counter-proliferation, treaty verification, and/or interdiction. Microbial forensics is the scientific discipline dedicated to analyzing evidence from a bioterrorism act, biocrime, hoax, or inadvertent microorganism/toxin release for attribution purposes ( Budowle et al., 2003, 2005a Köser et al., 2012 Morse and Budowle, 2006). In response to the need to determine the nature of the threat and the source of the weapon and to identify those who perpetrated the crime, the scientific community rose to the occasion beginning in 1996 and developed the field of microbial forensics. Attempts to resolve the crime will require advanced methods for characterizing microbial agents, as well as a combination of traditional investigation and intelligence gathering activities.

Even if evidence strongly supports the hypothesis of a deliberate attack, it may still be very difficult to attribute the attack with certainty to those responsible (i.e., attribution). At the onset of an event, it may be difficult to distinguish between a deliberate attack and a naturally occurring outbreak of an infectious disease ( Morse and Budowle, 2006 Morse and Khan, 2005). The task is difficult for several reasons: (1) the relative ease of access to a variety of effective source materials ( Srivatsan et al., 2008) and options for the delivery of a bioweapon, (2) the minute quantities of materials that can be transferred and yet still be effective, (3) the difficulties in detection and analysis of microbiological evidence, and (4) the lack of well-defined approaches regarding credible inferences that can be made from microbial forensic evidence given extant data. Eliminating the threat of terrorist or criminal attacks with microorganisms or toxin weapons is a continual challenge for biodefense and biosecurity programs.

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