Bioterrorism law and policy: Critical choices in public health

The emerging, imminent threat of bioterrorism in the United States requires public health authorities, law- and policymakers, and society to make a series of critical choices regarding the duty and limits of government during a public health emergency; the difference and similarities in the roles of federal, state, and local public health authorities; information-sharing by public health and law enforcement authorities; limiting (or not) civil liberties during the exercise of restrictive state public health powers; and allocation of fairly limited resources.