Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Attack In 1984

In 1984, a guru named Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, led a community of followers known as the Rajineeshees to what would be a significant terrorist attack on United States soil. Researchers Kortpeter and Parker (1999) write that in The Dalles, Oregon, The Rajhneeshees attempted to change local elections by placing Salmonella Typhimurium into salad bars in restaurants (para. 4). Due to their low key status, they were able to carry out this biological attack with pathogens that were ready available, while staying underground.

On September 17, 1984 the health department in Wasco County, Oregon was beginning to be flooded with calls of suspected food poisoning. While at first these seemed like routine calls, the health department started to notice a trend; all of these reported cases came from a select few restaurants. Within a week, the total number of reported cases was approximately 750 people to which the CDC became involved. After initial testing, the CDC made the determination that this was a deliberate attack with the use

This would allow the Rajihneeshees to enter their candidates with the hope of winning some seats. Journalist Mara Bovson (2013) writes that a later investigation showed that this attack was a "scheme was a practice run for a massive attempt to incapacitate Oregon voters by slipping bacteria into the water supply (para. 17)".

So were the Rajihneeshees successful in their endeavor? If one were to look at it from a mission point of view, then the answer would be no. They did not secure any seats in the election so therefore the mission was a failure. However, as stated in the initial post, sometimes a biological attack is aimed to cause death or disease which brings about widespread panic. When that angle is presented then the answer to the question is yes, they were successful in causing widespread disease and