The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, while it is primarily a security treaty, does contain provisions for the promotion of technical co-operation and development. There is clearly a direct relationship between technical co-operation in regard to disease surveillance and reporting and the capability to distinguish between natural and deliberate outbreaks of disease. This book provides contributions related to this key linkage between security and development in the rapidly growing biotechnology field. The book's 31 chapters are all written by experts who attended two NATO Advanced Research Workshops on "BTWC Security Implications of Human, Animal and Plant Epidemiology" and "Maximising the Security Benefits from International Cooperation in Microbiology and Biotechnology" held in Romania at the turn of the 21st century.