In this report, Merik Patel analyzes the Rajneeshpuram Salmonella outbreak of 1984 in Dalles, Oregon. Although investigations eventually clarified that the event was indeed a bioterrorist attack, it was initially handled as a food-borne outbreak. This mis-identification of the outbreak’s cause and a lack of inter-departmental cooperation significantly delayed effective public health response to the disaster.
Patel comments on the inadequacies in the public health response to this disaster and considers modifications that could have improved response efforts in retrospect.