Anthrax spawned a fresh wave of terror in the US and the world after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Letters that contained the deadly spores were sent to media organizations and government officials in the US shortly after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.
One letter was addressed to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in Washington and read: "You cannot stop us. We have this anthrax. You die now. Are you afraid?"
There were other similar letters and US investigators uncovered traces of anthrax in rooms in US Senate office buildings.
Since then five people have died because of anthrax, though the authorities have not as yet directly identified the perpetrators.
There were also baffling cases, such as a 94-year-old woman who lived alone in a rural area and died of anthrax.
The US government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention speculated that perhaps naturally occurring anthrax was more common than previously thought.
But most people were of the opinion that this was bioterrorism and suspected al-Qaeda.
Whatever, the threat of bioterrorism and an invisible enemy combined to instill fear in the US.
This was magnified by the number of hoax letters that were sent and anthrax vaccine -- which is said to be 93 percent effective -- was rapidly bought up.
The world went on alert and countries from Chile to Germany, from Kenya to Pakistan, reported anthrax scares.
Some of these reports of anthrax turned out to be hoaxes and some were natural occurrences, but as the war in Afghanistan took effect the number of cases diminished.
The realization also dawned on a shocked public that anthrax could be treated relatively easily, by antibiotics such as Cipro, if caught early.
Now that al-Qaeda is in retreat the world looks to be a safer place, but the fear of bioweapons will be with us for a long time.
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