In Europe, besides the threat of terrorist attacks involving conventional methods such as explosive devices and automatic weapons, there is also a potential threat of terrorist groups using non-conventional material like biological agents in the scope of future attacks. Consequently, rapid and reliable detection systems for biological agents are being developed and tested continuously to inform crisis management. For environmental detection, a broad spectrum of different laboratory-based techniques has been developed for relevant biological agents. However for environmental samples, fast and reliable on-site detection methods are desired by first responders for rapid assessment.Based on different functional principles, generic, immunological and nucleic-acid-based on-site detection methods can be distinguished. Those should be facile, fast, sensitive, and specific. However, commercially available kits usually have limited sensitivity and often have not been validated independently. Furthermore in this context, the multitude of relevant biological agents that potentially have to be considered present in complex environmental matrices poses a serious challenge for reliable detection. Therefore, detailed knowledge of the specific scope of applications and the limitations of different analytical systems is necessary to evaluate the results obtained purposefully.The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the analytical principles, benefits and limitations of prevailing on-site environmental detection systems for bioterrorism-relevant viruses, bacteria and toxins. Despite promising developments the informative value of currently available on-site tests is still limited. Thus, expert laboratories have to conduct confirmatory testing.
Keywords: Bacteria; On-site detection; Rapid detection; Toxins; Viruses.