In Oregon in 1984 , followers of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh attempted to control a local election by incapacitating the local population . This was done by infecting salad bars in 11 restaurants , produce in grocery stores , doorknobs , and other public domains with '' Salmonella typhimurium '' bacteria in the city of The Dalles , Oregon . The attack infected 751 people with severe food poisoning . There were no fatalities . This incident was the first known bioterrorist attack in the United States in the 20th century . It was also the single largest bioterrorism attack on U.S. soil . In June 1993 , the religious group Aum Shinrikyo released anthrax in Tokyo . Eyewitnesses reported a foul odor . The attack was a total failure , infecting not a single person . The reason for this is that the group used the vaccine strain of the bacterium . The spores recovered from the attack showed that they were identical to an anthrax vaccine strain given to animals at the time . These vaccine strains are missing the genes that cause a symptomatic response
incapacitating the local population
1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack
Bioterrorism