As a potential criminal matter, the Florida anthrax case remains a puzzle. Authorities now believe the appearance of the deadly pathogen was not a natural occurrence, yet the means, motive and opportunity for an intentional act remain unknown.

Exposure seems to have been limited to three workers at a single Boca Raton office building; one has died. Whether that office, home to a supermarket tabloid, was singled out by terrorists for its recent strong anti-bin Laden positions, or by the disgruntled target of some prior reporting on another subject, or for personal reasons or merely at random is unknown. Also unknown is whether the computer keyboard of Robert Stevens, whose death set off this alarm, was an intentional target for the anthrax spores or a random hit.

A fourth case – this time, infection of the skin, rather than the respiratory tract – was discovered Friday at NBC in New York City. The employee is responding to treatment and law enforcement is investigating deliveries of suspicious mail to the network.

What is known is the response of Florida’s health care and law enforcement organizations was quick, decisive and very likely prevented an alarming situation from turning into widespread panic. Health care identified the disease and confirmed Mr. Stevens’ diagnosis within a day. The building was promptly sealed, leading to the discovery of the second case. More than 700 other workers were tested for exposure, given the proper preventative drugs. Local hospitals were canvassed immediately. In a situation in which things as benign as mail from an unknown sender or a case of the sniffles could strike fear, these actions did much to calm the public.

Preparing against biological and chemical attack is something experts have urged for years but about which little has been done. It is extremely fortunate that Florida was the site of a demonstration anti-bioterrorism program – the lessons of swift detection, analysis and containment were well learned and applied. Emergency response training exercises elsewhere, conducted without benefit of specialized training, have been failures, deteriorating into conditions that in a real emergency would have led to further spread of the pathogen and mayhem.

Bioterrorism now has the full attention of Congress – proposed spending on this issue could go as high as $1.65 billion. How this money should be spent, what the priorities should be, are made clear by the Florida experience.

Doctors and nurses, the front line against strange ailments, need the training to recognize them. Secure ways must be developed to quickly get information to public health authorities – existing medical confidentiality laws may have to be modified and computer security capabilities improved. Stores of vaccines and antibiotics must be increased and widely distributed. Labs, the training of medical staff and the ability of hospitals to handle a surge of infected people must be increased.

Enhanced public education is vital, as is the consolidation of the myriad local and state protocols into one comprehensive national policy. Completely preventing biological attack is an unattainable goal. As the Florida case demonstrates, handling it quickly and decisively is not.