Which of the following is a Category C agent?

• A. Hantavirus
• B. Q Fever
• C. Tularemia
• D. Botulism

Answer: (A)

Category C covers emerging pathogens that could be engineered or spread more widely in the future, even though they aren’t currently the classic high-priority, easily disseminated threats. Hantavirus fits this category because it’s an emerging rodent-borne virus with meaningful disease risk, but it isn’t spread easily from person to person like the highest-priority agents. It’s seen as a potential future threat that warrants attention and monitoring, rather than an already established, highly disseminated agent. By contrast, the other agents listed are classified as higher-priority categories: toxins or organisms that are already recognized as readily disseminated and highly dangerous fall into the top tier, while certain others are placed in Category B for being moderately easy to disseminate and causing significant illness.