In addition, vancomycin is an expensive compound and it would be prohibitive to produce industrial quantities of resistant organisms. Thus vancomycin should be considered the gold standard of empirical therapy in a biowar environment. Similarly, developing and producing a strain resistant to both erythromycin and penicillin would more than double the cost and difficulty of producing the bugs unless fairly sophisticated molecular techniques were employed. If I were running things for the Iraqis, I'd be using a penicillin-resistant strain without any other modifications, since each piece of genetic baggage the organism has to carry will have unpredictable effects on virulence, and it's a very effective weapon already. Early warning is possible to biological attacks.
Radar can detect aircraft flying suspicious attack patterns.
There are descriptions in the literature of air-sampling arrangements which can be combined with microculture or immunoassays to provide rapid identification of an attacking organism. Anthrax vaccines are available and have been given to high-risk groups such as textile workers. Health Aspects of Chemical and Biological Weapons, Report of a WHO Group of Consultants, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 1970. Provided for general information purposes only.