Rajneeshee salmonella attack: 751 sickened; Alford pleas; largest US bioterror attack

Cited record

Sources

Wikipedia (2026) '1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack' [summarizing the federal and Oregon state prosecutions]. Available at: en.wikipedia.org (Accessed: 14 July 2026).

'In 1984, 751 people suffered food poisoning in The Dalles, Oregon, United States, due to the deliberate contamination of salad bars at ten local restaurants with Salmonella' — carried out by followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh to suppress local voter turnout. 'The incident was the first and largest bioterrorist attack in U.S. history.' Ma Anand Sheela and Ma Anand Puja 'entered Alford pleas for the Salmonella attack and the other charges, and received sentences ranging from three to twenty years' (an Alford plea is a conviction in which the defendant does not admit factual guilt). Rajneesh himself 'pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements to immigration officials' and was deported.

government analysis · historical case review Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Biological Warfare at the 1984 Rajneeshpuram Commune” (Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1999).

The CDC review documents the deliberate Salmonella contamination, 751 illnesses, the commune leadership’s role, and the resulting criminal proceedings.