Category Origin Agents Main Characteristics Diseases A Bacterial Bacillus anthracis Gram +; spore forming Anthrax Clostridium botulinum toxins Gram +; spore forming; toxins Botulism Yersinia pestis Gram - Plague Francisella tularensis Gram - Tularemia Viral Variola major dsDNA genome; Smallpox Filoviruses ss(-)RNA genome Viral hemorrhagic fevers Arenaviruses segmented ss(-)RNA genome   B Bacterial Brucella spp. Gram - Brucellosis Clostridium perfringens Gram +; spore forming; toxins Epsilon toxin Salmonella spp. Gram - Food safety threats E. coli O157:H7 Gram -   Shigella Gram -   Vibrio cholerae Gram - Water safety threats Burkholderia mallei Gram - Glanders Burkholderia pseudomallei Gram - Melioidosis Coxiella burnetii Gram - Q fever Chlamydia psittaci Gram - Psittacosis Staphylococcus spp. Gram +; toxins Food poisoning by Staphylococcal enterotoxin B Rickettsia prowazekii Gram - Typhus fever Protozoa Cryptosporidium parvum sporulated oocysts production Water safety threats Viral Alphaviruses ss(+)RNA genome Viral encephalitis Plant Ricinus communis Toxins Ricin poisoning by ricin toxin C Viral Nipahvirus ss(-)RNA genome Emerging infectious diseases Hantavirus ss(-)RNA genome

Table 1: Biological agents suitable as bioweapons [20]. Main characteristics and the caused diseases are also reported.