On September 18 , 2001 , and for a few days thereafter , several letters were received by members of the U.S. Congress and American media outlets which contained intentionally prepared anthrax spores ; the attack sickened at least 22 people of whom five died . The identity of the bioterrorist remained unknown until 2008 , when an official suspect , who had committed suicide , was named . ( See 2001 anthrax attacks . ) Suspicions of an ongoing Iraqi biological warfare program were not substantiated in the wake of the March 2003 invasion of that country . Later that year , however , Muammar Gaddafi was persuaded to terminate Libya 's biological warfare program . In 2008 , according to a U.S. Congressional Research Service report , China , Cuba , Egypt , Iran , Israel , North Korea , Russia , Syria and Taiwan are considered , with varying degrees of certainty , to have some BW capability . By 2011 , 165 countries had officially joined the BWC and pledged to disavow biological weapons
2001 anthrax attacks
2001 anthrax attacks
History of biological warfare