"In contrast to nuclear and chemical weapons for which both the short- and long-term consequences, how tragic they might be, could be rather well estimated, the consequences of the use of biological, and in particular virus-based, weapons are hardly foreseeable. The spread of viruses, unlike that of nuclear or chemical weapons, can go unnoticed, and, when noticed, they may have infected a major portion of the population. The potential use of viral weapons in biowarfare and bioterrorism is therefore of utmost concern. In this volume, the first that has ever been assembled on viruses as biological weapons, the world's leading experts share their expertise on those viruses that could lend themselves to a biowarfare or -terrorism scenario."--Jacket.