Disease and security : natural plagues and biological weapons in East Asia / by Christian Enermark.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Infectious diseases as a security challenge -- Natural plagues -- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome -- H5N1 Avian influenza: pandemic pending? -- Outbreak response: rallying around the state -- Biological weapons -- The science and history of deliberate disease -- Biological attacks and the non-state perpetrator -- Responses to the biological weapons problem -- Pathogen research -- Beyond biosafety: the security consciousness of scientists -- Biodefence: lessons from the United States -- Conclusion.

1 Infectious diseases as a security challenge -- Pt. I Natural plagues -- 2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome -- 3 H5N1 avian influenza : pandemic pending? -- 4 Outbreak response : rallying around the state -- Pt. II Biological weapons -- 5 The science and history of deliberate disease -- 6 Biological attacks and the non-state perpetrator -- 7 Responses to the biological weapons problem -- Pt. III Pathogen research -- 8 Beyond biosafety : the security consciousness of scientists -- 9 Biodefence : lessons from the United States -- 10 Conclusion.

"Focusing on East Asia, this book sets out a framework for analysing infectious disease threats in security terms. It covers the security significance of naturally occurring disease outbreak events such as SARS and avian influenza, the development and use of biological weapons by state and non-state actors and the security risks associated with laboratory research on pathogenic micro-organisms. The book's main aim is to devise a conceptual framework for securitization that is useful for policy-makers, by using the overlaps and synergies between different infectious disease threats. The book draws heavily on material from public health and scientific literature to illustrate the cross-disciplinary requirements for addressing infectious-disease challenges in security terms."--BOOK JACKET.