[Medical control of bioterrorism]

Against the recently accrued risk of bioterrorism, the Biotox plan has been set up in order to take in charge any person that could be facing a potential terrorist contamination. It has to take into consideration the components of bioterrorism, i.e. the incubation period, the function of bacterial or viral agents, the variable number of concerned people, the difficulty of alert launching, and the diagnosis of the responsible agent. This plan relies on hospitals comprising departments of infectious diseases. Those are specifically in charge of informing, organising, and coordinating the reception of people having been in contact or infected by infectious agents, in order to isolate and treat them properly. The recent experience has allowed to test this plan, to precise and correct some of its features.