A pandemic (from Greek πᾶν, pan, 'all' and δῆμος, demos, 'people') is an epidemic of disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents, or worldwide. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of infected people is not a pandemic.
.Biological warfare ( BW)—also known as germ warfare—is the use of or such as, and with the intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. (often termed 'bio-weapons', 'biological threat agents', or 'bio-agents') are living or replicating entities (, which are not universally considered 'alive'). Is a subtype of BW.Biological warfare is distinct from and, which together with biological warfare make up NBC, the military initialism for nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare using (WMDs). None of these are considered, which are deployed primarily for their, or potential.Biological weapons may be employed in various ways to gain a strategic or advantage over the enemy, either by threats or by actual deployments. Like some, biological weapons may also be useful as. These agents may be lethal or, and may be targeted against a single individual, a group of people, or even an entire population.
They may be developed, acquired, stockpiled or deployed by or by non-national groups. In the latter case, or if a nation-state uses it, it may also be considered.Biological warfare and chemical warfare overlap to an extent, as the use of produced by some living organisms is considered under the provisions of both the and the. Toxins and are often referred to as midspectrum agents. Unlike bioweapons, these midspectrum agents do not reproduce in their host and are typically characterized by shorter incubation periods.The use of biological weapons is prohibited under, as well as a variety of international.
The use of biological agents in armed conflict is a. Contents.Overview Offensive biological warfare, including, stockpiling, and use of biological weapons, was outlawed by the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). The behind this, which has been or acceded to by as of April 2013, is to prevent a biological attack which could conceivably result in large numbers of and cause severe disruption to and societal infrastructure. Many countries, including signatories of the BWC, currently pursue research into the defense or protection against BW, which is not prohibited by the BWC.A nation or group and that can pose a credible threat of mass casualty has the ability to alter the terms on which other nations or groups interact with it. Biological weapons allow for the potential to create a level of destruction and loss of life far in excess of nuclear, chemical or conventional weapons, relative to their mass and cost of development and storage. Therefore, biological agents may be useful as strategic deterrents in addition to their utility as offensive weapons on the battlefield.As a tactical weapon for military use, a significant problem with a BW attack is that it would take days to be effective, and therefore might not immediately stop an opposing force. Some biological agents (, ) have the capability of person-to-person via.
This feature can be undesirable, as the agent(s) may be transmitted by this mechanism to unintended populations, including neutral or even friendly forces. Worse still, such a weapon could 'escape' the laboratory where it was developed, even if there was no intent to use it - for example by infecting a researcher who then transmits it to the outside world before realizing that they were infected. Several cases are known of researchers becoming infected and dying of, which they had been working with in the lab (though nobody else was infected in those cases) - while there is no evidence that their work was directed towards BW, it demonstrates the potential for accidental infection even of careful researchers fully aware of the dangers.
While containment of BW is less of a concern for certain criminal or terrorist organizations, it remains a significant concern for the military and civilian populations of virtually all nations.History.Antiquity and Middle Ages Rudimentary forms of biological warfare have been practiced since antiquity. The earliest documented incident of the intention to use biological weapons is recorded in texts of 1500–1200 BC, in which victims of were driven into enemy lands, causing an epidemic. Although the Assyrians knew of, a parasitic fungus of rye which produces when ingested, there is no evidence that they poisoned enemy wells with the fungus, as has been claimed. Scythian archers dipped their arrows and Roman soldiers their swords into excrements and cadavers — victims were commonly infected by as result.
In 1346, the bodies of warriors of the who had died of were thrown over the walls of the besieged city of. Specialists disagree over whether this operation may have been responsible for the spread of the into Europe, Near East and North Africa, resulting in the killing of approximately 25 million Europeans. Modern history The attempted use of smallpox against during the in June 1763. A reported outbreak that began the spring before left as many as one hundred Native Americans dead in from 1763 to 1764. It is not clear, however, whether the smallpox was a result of the Fort Pitt incident or the virus was already present among the as outbreaks happened on their own every dozen or so years and the delegates were met again later and they seemingly hadn't contracted smallpox. It is likely that the used in, Australia, in 1789.
Dr Seth Carus (2015) states: 'Ultimately, we have a strong circumstantial case supporting the theory that someone deliberately introduced smallpox in the Aboriginal population.' By 1900 the and advances in brought a new level of sophistication to the techniques for possible use of in war. Biological sabotage in the form of and was undertaken on behalf of the government during (1914–1918), with indifferent results.
The of 1925 prohibited the use of chemical and biological weapons.With the onset of, the in the established a BW program at, headed by the microbiologist. The research was championed by and soon, and toxins had been effectively weaponized.
In particular, in Scotland, was contaminated with anthrax during a series of extensive tests for the next 56 years. Although the UK never offensively used the biological weapons it developed, its program was the first to successfully weaponize a variety of deadly pathogens and bring them into industrial production. Other nations, notably France and Japan, had begun their own biological weapons programs.When the United States entered the war, Allied resources were pooled at the request of the British and the U.S. Established a large research program and industrial complex at in 1942 under the direction of.
The biological and chemical weapons developed during that period were tested at the in. Soon there were facilities for the mass production of anthrax spores, and toxins, although the war was over before these weapons could be of much operational use. Commander of, which performed live human vivisections and other biological experimentation.The most notorious program of the period was run by the secret during the, based at in and commanded by Lieutenant General. This unit did research on BW, conducted often fatal on prisoners, and produced biological weapons for combat use.
Although the Japanese effort lacked the technological sophistication of the American or British programs, it far outstripped them in its widespread application and indiscriminate brutality. Biological weapons were used against both Chinese soldiers and civilians in several military campaigns. In 1940, the Japanese Army Air Force bombed with ceramic bombs full of fleas carrying the bubonic plague. Many of these operations were ineffective due to inefficient delivery systems, although up to 400,000 people may have died.
During the in 1942, around 1,700 Japanese troops died out of a total 10,000 Japanese soldiers who fell ill with disease when their own biological weapons attack rebounded on their own forces.During the final months of World War II, Japan planned to use plague as a biological weapon against U.S. Civilians in, during. The plan was set to launch on 22 September 1945, but it was not executed because of on 15 August 1945.In Britain, the 1950s saw the weaponization of, and later and, but the programme was unilaterally cancelled in 1956. The weaponized, and others.In 1969, the UK and the Warsaw Pact, separately, introduced proposals to the UN to ban biological weapons, and US President terminated production of biological weapons, allowing only scientific research for defensive measures. The was signed by the US, UK, USSR and other nations, as a ban on 'development, production and stockpiling of microbes or their poisonous products except in amounts necessary for protective and peaceful research' in 1972. However, the continued research and production of massive offensive biological weapons in a program called, despite having signed the convention. As of September 2018, 182 countries have ratified the treaty; and none are proven—though nine are still suspected —to possess offensive BW programs.
As a means of terrorism. Main article:Biological weapons are difficult to detect, economical and easy to use, making them appealing to terrorists. The cost of a biological weapon is estimated to be about 0.05 percent the cost of a conventional weapon in order to produce similar numbers of mass casualties per kilometer square. Moreover, their production is very easy as common technology can be used to produce biological warfare, like that used in production of vaccines, foods, spray devices, beverages and antibiotics. A major factor about biological warfare that attracts terrorists is that they can easily escape before the government agencies or secret agencies have even started their investigation. This is because the potential organism has incubation period of 3 to 7 days, after which the results begin to appear, thereby giving terrorists a lead.A technique called Clustered, Regularly Interspaced, Short Palindromic Repeat is now so cheap and widely available that scientists fear that the amateurs will start experimenting with them.
In this technique, a DNA sequence is cut off and replaced with a new sequence or code that codes for a particular protein or characteristic, which could potentially show up in the required organism. Though this technique is a breakthrough and is commendable, it can cause serious issues and potential danger if used by people with wrong intentions. Concerns have emerged regarding do-it-yourself biology research organizations due to their associated risk that a rogue amateur DIY researcher could attempt to develop dangerous bioweapons using genome editing technology.In 2002, when CNN went through Al-Qaeda's (AQ's) experiments with crude poisons, they found out that AQ had begun planning ricin and cyanide attacks with the help of a loose association of terrorist cells. The associates had infiltrated many countries like Turkey, Italy, Spain, France and others. In 2015, to combat the threat of bioterrorism, a National Blueprint for Biodefense was issued by the Blue-Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense. Also, 233 potential exposures of select biological agents outside of the primary barriers of the biocontainment in the US were described by the annual report of the Federal Select Agent Program.Though a verification system can reduce bioterrorism, an employee, or a lone terrorist having adequate knowledge of the company facilities, can cause potential danger by injecting a deadly or harmful substance into the facility. Moreover, it has been found that about 95% of accidents that have occurred due to low security have been done by employees or those who had security clearance.
Entomological warfare. Main article:Entomological warfare (EW) is a type of biological warfare that uses insects to attack the enemy. The concept has existed for centuries and research and development have continued into the modern era. EW has been used in battle by Japan and several other nations have developed and been accused of using an entomological warfare program. EW may employ insects in a direct attack or as vectors to deliver a, such as. Essentially, EW exists in three varieties. One type of EW involves infecting insects with a and then dispersing the insects over target areas.
The insects then act as a, infecting any person or animal they might bite. Another type of EW is a direct insect attack against crops; the insect may not be infected with any pathogen but instead represents a threat to agriculture. The final method uses uninfected insects, such as bees, wasps, etc., to directly attack the enemy. The international symbolIdeal characteristics of a biological agent to be used as a weapon against humans are high, high, non-availability of, and availability of an effective and efficient.
Stability of the weaponized agent (ability of the agent to retain its infectivity and virulence after a prolonged period of storage) may also be desirable, particularly for military applications, and the ease of creating one is often considered. Control of the spread of the agent may be another desired characteristic.The primary difficulty is not the production of the biological agent, as many biological agents used in weapons can be manufactured relatively quickly, cheaply and easily. Rather, it is the weaponization, storage and delivery in an effective vehicle to a vulnerable target that pose significant problems.For example, is considered an effective agent for several reasons. First, it forms hardy, perfect for dispersal aerosols.
Second, this organism is not considered transmissible from person to person, and thus rarely if ever causes secondary infections. A pulmonary anthrax infection starts with ordinary -like symptoms and progresses to a lethal within 3–7 days, with a fatality rate that is 90% or higher in untreated patients. Finally, friendly personnel and civilians can be protected with suitable.Agents considered for weaponization, or known to be weaponized, include bacteria such as Bacillus anthracis, spp., some of the (especially and ), spp.,. Many viral agents have been studied and/or weaponized, including some of the (especially ), many of the (especially ), Variola virus,. Fungal agents that have been studied include spp.Toxins that can be used as weapons include, and many.
These toxins and the organisms that produce them are sometimes referred to as. In the United States, their possession, use, and transfer are regulated by the 's Select Agent Program.The former categorized its weaponized anti-personnel bio-agents as either Lethal Agents ( Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis, Botulinum toxin) or Incapacitating Agents ( Brucella suis, Coxiella burnetii, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, Staphylococcal enterotoxin B).Anti-agriculture Anti-crop/anti-vegetation/anti-fisheries. See also:The United States developed an anti-crop capability during the that used plant diseases (, or ) for destroying enemy agriculture. Biological weapons also target fisheries as well as water-based vegetation.
It was believed that destruction of enemy agriculture on a strategic scale could thwart aggression in a general war. Diseases such as and were weaponized in aerial spray tanks and cluster bombs for delivery to enemy watersheds in agricultural regions to initiate epiphytotics (epidemics among plants). When the United States renounced its offensive biological warfare program in 1969 and 1970, the vast majority of its biological arsenal was composed of these plant diseases. Enterotoxins and Mycotoxins were not affected by Nixon's order.Though herbicides are chemicals, they are often grouped with biological warfare and chemical warfare because they may work in a similar manner as or bioregulators.
The Army Biological Laboratory tested each agent and the Army's Technical Escort Unit was responsible for transport of all chemical, biological, radiological (nuclear) materials. Scorched earth tactics or destroying livestock and farmland were carried out in the Vietnam war (cf. Agent Orange) and in Sri Lanka.Biological warfare can also specifically target plants to destroy crops or defoliate vegetation. The United States and Britain discovered plant growth regulators (i.e., ) during the Second World War, and initiated a program that was eventually used in and in operations.Anti-livestock During World War I, German saboteurs used and to sicken cavalry horses in U.S. And France, sheep in Romania, and livestock in Argentina intended for the.
One of these German saboteurs was. Also, Germany itself became a victim of similar attacks — horses bound for Germany were infected with by French operatives in Switzerland.During World War II, the U.S. And Canada secretly investigated the use of, a highly lethal disease of cattle, as a bioweapon.In 1980s Soviet Ministry of Agriculture had successfully developed variants of, and against cows, for pigs, and to kill chicken. These agents were prepared to spray them down from tanks attached to airplanes over hundreds of miles. The secret program was code-named 'Ecology'.During the in 1952, the poisonous of the was used to kill cattle. Defensive BW operations. This section needs expansion.
You can help. ( December 2011)In 2010 at The Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and Their Destruction inthe was suggested as well-tested means for enhancing the monitoring of infections and parasitic agents, for practical implementation of the (2005). Alibek K, Handelman S (2000).
Delta. (July 2009). 'Is all fair in biological warfare? The controversy over genetically engineered biological weapons'. Journal of Medical Ethics. 35 (7): 429–32. Carus WS (2017).
A Short History of Biological Warfare: From Pre-History to the 21st Century. US Defense Dept., National Defense University, Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Chevrier MI, Chomiczewski K, Garrigue H, eds. Volume 150 of NATO science series: Mathematics, physics, and chemistry (illustrated ed.). Springer.
Croddy E, Wirtz JJ, eds. ABC-CLIO. Crosby AW (1986). Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe 900–1900. New York. Cross G (2017). Dirty War: Rhodesia and Chemical Biological Warfare, 1975–1980.
Helion & Company. Davis JA, Schneider B (April 2002). USAF Counterproliferation Center. Archived from on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018. Dembek Z, ed. Washington, DC: Borden Institute.
Archived from on 27 August 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
Endicott S, Hagerman E (1998). Indiana University Press. Fenn EA (2000).
'Biological Warfare in Eighteenth-Century North America: Beyond Jeffery Amherst'. Journal of American History.
86 (4): 1552–1580. Hersh S (1968).
Chemical and biological warfare; America's hidden arsenal. (1999). Biowarfare In America. Illuminet Press. Knollenberg B (1954). 'General Amherst and Germ Warfare'.
Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 41 (3): 489–494. British war against Indians in 1763. Leitenberg, Milton; Zilinskas, Raymond A. The Soviet Biological Weapons Program: A History. Harvard University Press.
P. 921. Mangold T, Goldberg J (1999). Macmillan, London. Maskiell M, Mayor A (January 2001). 112 (1): 23–45. Maskiell M, Mayor A (January 2001).
'Killer Khilats Part 2: Imperial collecting of poison dress legends in India'. 112 (2): 163–82. Mayor A (2009). Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World (revised ed.). Overlook.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology. National Academies Press. CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list. Orent W (2004). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc. Pala C (12 January 2003).
The New York Times. (2002). New York: Random House.
Warner J, Ramsbotham J, Tunia E, Vadez JJ (May 2011). Washington, DC: National Defense University. Retrieved 8 March 2015. Woods JB, ed. (April 2005). (PDF) (6th ed.). Fort Detrick, Maryland: U.S.
Army Medical Institute of Infectious Diseases. Archived from (PDF) on 9 June 2007. Zelicoff A, Bellomo M (2005). AMACOM Books, New York, NY.External links. Wheelis, Mark (2002). Historical Review. Cite journal requires journal=., ICRC.
National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 28 May 2013. U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Joel O.
Almosara, Lt Col, BSC, USAF (1 June 2010). Retrieved 2 December 2017. CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list Counterproliferation Paper No. 53, USAF Counterproliferation Center, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, USA. Chaturvedi, Alok. Misrc.umn.edu Purdue Homeland Security Institute.
Retrieved 28 February 2018.
TularemiaTularemia, or rabbit fever, is caused by the infectious bacterial agent Francisella tularensis. The disease is characterized by fever, localized skin or mucous membrane ulceration, regional lymphadenopathy, and occasionally pneumonia. The Gram-negative, non-motile, enveloped coccobacillus exists in two different forms: Francisella tularensis tularensis (Jellison type A) and Francisella tularensis holarctica (Jellison type B). The most common isolate in the United States, the Jellison type A tularemia is more virulent in rabbits and humans than Jellison type B, which is typically found in water, mosquitoes, and aquatic mammals. Type B is more common outside the United States. The bacteria are extremely infectious: 10-50 organisms are enough for transmit the disease and 90-100% of the exposed population will develop symptoms.History of TularemiaEvidence of tularemia infection in human populations first surfaced in the late 19th Century in the United States, Norway, Russia and Japan.
In the early 20th Century, Japanese physician Hachiro Ohara wrote of a disease that affected rabbits and those who ate rabbits. In Japanese, the disease was called Yato-Byo or rabbit fever. According to reports, Doctor Ohara took blood from an infected rabbit and rubbed it on his wife's skin. A large ulcer appeared and Doctor Ohara's wife developed the characteristic symptoms of tularemia.
Further, Doctor Ohara saw the connections between Yato-Byo in Japan and cases of tularemia described by physicians in the United States.In 1911, George McCoy and Charles Chapin of the US Public Health Service were studying rats and ground squirrels they believed to have been infected with plague. They discovered an entirely separate disease and isolated the bacteria that caused the disease in California ground squirrels.
McCoy and Chapin named the bacteria Bacterium tularense after the location, Tulare County, California, where their investigation took place. Edward Francis of the US Health Service linked the causal bacteria agent of deer-fly fever to the bacteria discovered by McCoy and Chapin.
The bacteria was renamed Francisella tularensis in Dr. Francis' honor. Further, Francis described seven types of the disease and examined different cases including meningeal, oropharyngeal, and pulmonary forms of tularemia. In addition to insect vectors that facilitated transmission, large waterborne outbreaks occurred in the 1930s and 1940s.In 1959, the existence of two subspecies of Francisella tularensis were discovered by Russian scientists. The first, type A, isolated in humans and cottontail rabbits in North America, was more virulent.
Type B, found primarily in Europe and Asia, was not particularly virulent to humans but causes mass deaths in the water and vole rat populations. A third proposed subspecies Francisella tularensis japonica was not adopted as few differences existed between the Japanese strain and other tularemia bacteria. Scientists differentiated two other subspecies of Francisella tularensis, the mediasiatica found in Central Asia and the novicida associated with the waterborne transmission of tularemia. As of 2007, investigations regarding other possible subspecies with the tularensis 16S rRNA sequence are ongoing.In 1966-7, a large pneumonic outbreak, the largest recorded outbreak of tularemia, took place in Sweden.
More than 2,700 cases of infection from Francisella tularensis type B bacteria were reported during the outbreak. Farm work activities such as the tossing of hay (which were contaminated by dead, diseased voles) during the winter aerosolized the bacteria and facilitated human infection. The outbreak resulted in at least 140 cases of inhalation tularemia. In late summer and early autumn, mosquitoes also rapidly transmitted the disease.
Additionally, cat ownership correlated with tularemia spread. Despite the large number of infections, no deaths resulted. In 2000 another outbreak occurred in Sweden where more than 400 cases were reported. Outbreaks have also been reported in Finland, and in 2002, an outbreak of more than 700 cases was reported in Kosovo.In the United States, tularemia remains endemic. Imported rabbits to Martha's Vineyard for recreational purposes brought the Francisella tularensis bacteria, and an outbreak occurred in 1978.
In the summer of 2000, 15 cases of tularemia were reported at Martha's Vineyard, 11 were pneumonic tularemia, and there was one fatality. Landscapers were noted to be especially susceptible to the disease.History of Tularemia as a Biological AgentDuring World War II, the Japanese biological weapons operation Unit 731 expressed interest in tularemia. Ken Alibek, formerly Kanatjan Alibekov, who secretly immigrated to the United States in 1992, revealed information about Soviet experimentation with tularemia as a biological weapons agent prior to World War II.
In his 1999 book Biohazard, Alibek reported the possible use of tularemia against German troops shortly before the Battle of Stalingrad. Alibek based his claims on evidence of highly infectious tularemia outbreaks among the soldiers during that time.
Some scientists argued that an outbreak from natural causes was the more likely explanation. The former deputy director of the Soviet biological weapons program, Biopreparat, Alibek himself may have been accidentally infected by tularemia bacteria due to a leaky fermentor.
In 1982, it was reported that Biopreparat developed a vaccine-resistant strain of tularemia.Fort Detrick in Maryland, the center of the US biological weapons program, was built in 1942. In the 1950s and 1960s, the United States biological weapons program also developed the potential of using Francisella tularensis bacteria as a biological agent. Volunteers were infected with the bacteria through direct an aerosol delivery system and in the aerosol chamber known at Fort Detrick as the 8 ball, the largest aerosol testing facility in the world.
Most of the volunteers were Seventh Day Adventists, army recruits whose religious beliefs did not allow them to participate in combat. The program developed a vaccine that partially protected against the virulent Schu S-4 strain of the tularemia bacteria. The Schu S-4 strain was labeled Agent UL and standardized for use in E120 bursting spherical bomblet. By the 1960s, the US program was able to freeze droplets of tularemia bacteria in a concentrated liquid culture that could be stored up to 3 years at -18 degrees Celsius.In 1965, near Hawaii, the US biological weapons program tested aerosolized tularemia bacteria on barges populated with monkeys in the deck and in the hold. A military aircraft sprayed a 32 mile line of Agent UL. Over the Pacific, the bacteria were infectious for 60 miles. After a few days of incubation, half the monkeys developed symptoms and most of the sick monkeys died.
Since the end of the US biological weapons program, the US Army Research Institute continued to conduct defensive medical research on the Francisella tularensis agent.A World Health Organization (WHO) expert committee in 1969 estimated that 50 kilograms of Francisella tularensis sprayed in aerosol form over a city of 5 million inhabitants would result in 250,000 incapacitating casualties and 19,000 fatalities. Such an aerosol attack would result in acute symptoms of pleuropneumonic tularemia 3-5 days following the exposure.
Tularemia is difficult to diagnose and often under-diagnosed in natural infections. Proper laboratory isolation of the bacterial agent and diagnosis could take weeks. The victims would be incapacitated for a few weeks and relapses would be expected months after the attack. The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that a tularemia attack would cost society $5.4 million in damages for every 100,000 persons exposed. Vaccinated individuals would only be partially protected. Although inhalation tularemia would be less virulent than inhalation anthrax or plague, tularemia bacteria is distinguished by its superior infectiousness.Francisella tularensis bacteria can be found in nature and can be purchased for legitimate scientific research purposes. Due to its impressive infectiousness, the Center for Disease Control labels tularemia as a Category A biological weapons agent.
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2023
Categories |