Bacteriological biological weapons. Biological weapons and their effects
Bacteriological weapons- these are special ammunition and military devices equipped with biological agents, intended to destroy people, animals, plants and contaminate food supplies and water sources, as well as the ammunition with which they are used.
Biological weapons, like chemical weapons, do not cause damage to buildings, structures and other material assets, but infect people, animals, plants, food and feed supplies, water and water sources.
Signs of the use of biological weapons can be the design features of biological munitions found at the site of their fall (round fragments), the dull sound of their explosions with the formation of a light, quickly dissipating cloud of aerosol (smoke, fog), or drops of liquid or powdery substances are observed on the soil at the sites where the munitions fell , vegetation and various objects; the appearance of a stripe behind a flying aircraft, which gradually settles and dissipates; a concentration of insects and rodents, the most dangerous carriers of bacterial agents, unusual for a given area and a given time of year; the emergence of mass diseases among people and animals, as well as the mass death of farm animals.
Its damaging effect is based on the use of pathogenic properties of microorganisms, as well as toxins produced by some bacteria - pathogens of diseases in humans, animals and agricultural plants. It is intended for mass destruction of people, farm animals and crops. Has a damaging effect for a long time. It has a latent period, determined using laboratory tests. Microbes and toxins are difficult to detect in the external environment; they can penetrate with the air into unsealed shelters and rooms and cause diseases in people and animals.
When affected by bacterial agents, the disease does not occur immediately; there is almost always a latent (incubation) period, during which the disease does not manifest itself by external signs, and the affected person does not lose combat capability. It is quite difficult to establish the fact of the use of bacterial agents and determine the type of pathogen, since neither microbes nor toxins have any color, smell, or taste, and the effect of their action can appear after a long period of time.
Detection of bacterial agents is possible only through special laboratory tests, which takes considerable time, and this complicates the timely implementation of measures to prevent epidemic diseases.
Causative agents of plague, smallpox, anthrax, cholera, and tularemia can be used as bacteriological agents. Dangerous animal diseases include foot and mouth disease, rinderpest, glanders, sheep and swine plague, etc. Dangerous plant diseases include potato late blight, cereal rust, etc.
Some microbes, such as botulism, tetanus, and diphtheria, produce potent poisonous toxins that cause severe poisoning. When dried, toxins remain poisonous (toxic) for many weeks.
Biological agents are a source of infectious (contagious) diseases that affect people, animals, and plants. Diseases common to humans and animals are called anthropozoonoses(zooanthroponoses).
Mass diseases that spread over large areas in a short time are called epidemic(if people are sick) epizootic(for animal diseases), epiphytoty(for plant diseases). A disease that has spread to entire continents is called pandemic.
Biological weapons have a number of features that distinguish them from nuclear and chemical weapons. It can cause mass diseases by entering the body in minute quantities (6-12 microbial cells of plague, 30-50 of tularemia). It can be transmitted from sick to healthy, i.e. is contagious (infectious). It is characterized by its ability to reproduce quickly: once it enters the body in minute quantities, it reproduces there and spreads further. It can persist for a long time in the external environment, maintaining a damaging effect, and subsequently cause an outbreak of infection. It has a hidden incubation period (the time from the moment of infection to the manifestation of the disease), during which carriers of the infection can leave the primary focus and widely spread the disease throughout the region, region, or country. Contaminated air penetrates into various rooms and causes diseases (damages) in people and animals. Determining the pathogen from the external environment can only be done using special laboratory methods, which is difficult and time-consuming.
Possible methods of using bacteriological weapons:
aerosol method - contamination of the ground layer of air with aerosol particles by spraying biological (bacteriological) formulations;
transmissible method - dispersal of artificially infected blood-sucking disease carriers - ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, etc.;
sabotage method - deliberate covert contamination with biological (bacteriological) means of closed spaces of air, water, and food in pre-selected areas.
The most likely method of spreading biological agents is aerosol, in which the “gates” of infection are the respiratory system, damaged skin, mucous membranes of the mouth, and eyes. Aerosols can be deposited on human clothing, animal fur, and contaminate food, feed and water. A sabotage method of distributing BS is also possible.
People become infected through contact with contaminated objects, sick people and animals. Pathogens can be transmitted through animal products (milk, meat, wool, skins) obtained from sick animals.
Vectors transmit pathogens through specific and mechanical routes. In a specific pathway, the pathogen multiplies or undergoes part of its development in the body of the vector, which is its intermediate host. Mechanical transmission consists of the transfer of the pathogen on the legs or body of insects (rodents) that have visited the patient or his secretions.
a brief description of especially dangerous infections of animals and humans.
Causative agents of anthropozoonotic diseases can be used primarily as biological agents.
Anthrax. It is transmitted by contact with a patient, by spraying in the air, through contaminated food, feed, and household items. The incubation period is 1-7 days. The causative agent is a spore-forming microbe that remains viable in the external environment for several years. Mortality without treatment in humans is up to 100%, in animals up to 60-90%, in the cutaneous form 5-15%. Serums and vaccines are available against anthrax.
Botulism. A dangerous toxin that persists in powder form for a long time. It is used by spraying into the air, contaminating water and food. The incubation period is from 2 hours to 10 days. The patient is not dangerous to others. Mortality without treatment is up to 70-100%. Toxoids and serums have been developed against botulism.
Glanders. A contagious disease of single-hoofed animals, from which it can be transmitted to humans. The incubation period is 2-14 days. It spreads by spraying into the air, contaminating water, food, and household items. The pathogen is unstable in the external environment. Mortality 50-100%. All sick animals must be destroyed, since there are no treatments.
Melioidosis(false glanders). The pathogen is transmitted by spraying in the air, contaminating water and food, and is not resistant to sunlight. The incubation period is 1-5 days. Mortality up to 90-100%, decreases with treatment.
Tularemia. It is transmitted to humans from sick living or dead rodents and hares, through contaminated water, straw, food, as well as by insects and ticks that bite others. The mortality rate for people without treatment is 7-30%, for animals - 30%. There is a vaccine for protection; antibiotics are used for treatment.
Foot and mouth disease. Acute contagious disease. Cattle and pigs are sick. A person can get foot and mouth disease. The virus is resistant to cold. With the malignant form, the mortality rate of young cattle reaches 70%, and of pigs - 80%. In addition to anthropozoonoses, diseases that affect humans can spread.
Plague. Acute infectious disease. The incubation period is 2-6 days. Spread by fleas, airborne droplets, contamination of water and food. The pathogen is stable in the external environment. Mortality without treatment for the bubonic form is 30-90%, for pulmonary and septic forms - 100%. With treatment - less than 10%.
Cholera. Contagious disease. Latent period 1-5 days. Infection occurs through water, food, insects, and airborne spray. The pathogen is stable in water for up to 1 month, in food products for 4-20 days. Mortality without treatment is 30%.
Smallpox. Contagious disease. The incubation period is 5-21 days. The causative agent is a virus that is stable in the external environment. Mortality among vaccinated people is up to 10%, among unvaccinated people - up to 40%.
Typhus. The patient is dangerous to others. Infection by aerosol, through insects and household items. The causative agent is rickettsia, which persists in dried form for up to 3-4 weeks. Mortality without treatment is up to 40%, with treatment - 5%.
AIDS. Experts call this disease human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. In 1981, a new disease called AIDS was identified in the United States. Under the influence of the AIDS virus, the number of T-lymphocytes in the blood, which stimulate immune processes, decreases, and the body becomes defenseless against infection. As a result of secondary infection, a large number of deaths are observed (up to 50%). It has been noted that not all carriers of the virus become clinically ill.
It is possible to use biological agents of pathogens that only infect animals.
Pathogens can be used as biological weapons plant diseases and crop pests. The main blow may be directed against the main crops for our country - wheat, rye, potatoes, rice.
Diseases of cereals. Rust is a common disease caused by a fungus. The most dangerous is considered to be linear (stem) rust of cereals, affecting wheat, barley, and rye. Yield losses can reach 60-70%. Viral diseases are known dwarfism rye, barley and other diseases.
Potato diseases. The most harmful disease is late blight, or potato rot. The causative agent is a fungus. If the infection is severe, 70% of the crop can be lost.
Cotton diseases. The greatest harm is caused wilt- a fungal disease that manifests itself in the budding or early flowering phase, causing a loss of 20-50% of the yield.
Plant pests. In wartime conditions, a massive proliferation of pests is possible, which can destroy the crop remaining after the plants are damaged by RV or BS. The mass reproduction of pests will be facilitated by the high resistance of insects to ionizing radiation; death from gamma and neutron irradiation of birds, which under normal conditions destroy large numbers of insects; reducing stocks of pesticides used to control insects; an increase in the mass of weeds that are more resistant to unfavorable conditions for feeding insects.
Even in peacetime conditions, great damage is caused by the Colorado potato beetle, which destroys the leaves and stems of tomatoes, eggplants, and potatoes; locusts that destroy any green vegetation, especially cereals and cotton; Hessian fly is a pest of cereal crops; cotton bollworm, whose caterpillars damage more than 120 species of cultivated and wild plants; cotton moth, causing the death of 20-50% of the crop.
Diseases of humans and animals are shown in Fig. 1.
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Figure 1 - Human and animal diseases
In Fig. 2. types of biological agents for plant damage are given.
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Figure 2 - Biological agents for plant damage
The rapid development of molecular genetics, the deciphering of the human genome in 2000, makes it possible to create fundamentally new types of bacteriological weapons. Genetic engineering can produce potent toxins and, by incorporating genetic material with toxic properties into virulent bacteria or human viruses, it is possible to produce bacteriological agents capable of causing severe epidemics.
As a result of the use of biological weapons and the spread of pathogenic microorganisms and toxins in the area, zones of biological contamination and foci of biological damage can form (Fig. 3).
Zone of biological contamination refers to the territory directly affected by biological weapons and the territory to which biological formulations and infected blood-sucking vectors of infectious diseases have spread.
The source of bacteriological infection is an area that has been directly exposed to bacterial agents that create a source of spread of infectious diseases and poisonings that cause damage to people. The focus of bacteriological infection is characterized by the type of bacteriological agents used, the number of affected people, animals, plants, and the duration of preservation of the damaging properties of pathogens.
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Figure 3 - Diagram of the biological contamination zone with foci of biological damage: 1 - external border of the biological contamination zone; village N (k) - focus of biological damage
The source of biological damage It is customary to refer to the territory within which, as a result of the use of biological weapons, mass casualties of people and farm animals and plants occurred. It can form both in the zone of biological contamination and as a result of the spread of infectious diseases beyond the boundaries of the zone of infection.
To prevent the spread of infectious diseases, localize and eliminate zones and foci of bacteriological damage, quarantine and observation.
Quarantine is a system of measures taken to prevent the spread of infectious diseases from the source of infection and to eliminate the source itself. Security is installed around the outbreak; entry and exit, as well as the removal of property, are prohibited. In the territory where quarantine is introduced, the work of all enterprises and institutions ceases, except those that are of particular importance for the economy or for defense. The work of educational institutions, schools, childcare centers, markets, etc. is suspended.
Observation is special measures to prevent the spread of infection to other areas. These measures include: maximum restrictions on entry and exit, as well as removal of property from the outbreak without prior disinfection and permission from epidemiologists; strengthening medical control over food and water supply and other measures. At the source of bacterial infection, preventive and sanitary measures, sanitary treatment and disinfection are carried out.
TOPIC: Biological weapons, brief description of toxins and pathogens. Organization of sanitary-hygienic and anti-epidemic measures among the population during wartime.
Biological (bacteriological) weapons- these are special ammunition and devices with means of their delivery, equipped with biological formulations, intended for mass destruction of enemy personnel, farm animals, crops
agricultural crops, as well as some types of military materials and equipment and refers to weapons of mass destruction.
Site of bacteriological damage- this is an area contaminated with bacterial agents and a source of spread of infectious diseases.
Biological formulation is a culture of microorganisms (bacterial, viral, rickettsial, fungal, toxin, etc.) placed in a nutrient medium (saline solution) with the addition of suspending and stabilizing substances.
Thus, in order to increase stability, dry biological formulations can be microencapsulated. To do this, the smallest particles are enveloped in a thin protective shell of gelatin or other polymer.
Conducting hostilities using biological weapons is commonly called bacteriological (biological) warfare.
The basis of the destructive effect of biological weapons is biological agents- these are biological agents specially selected for combat use, capable of causing severe diseases upon penetration into the body of people (animals, plants).
These include:
Certain types of pathogenic microbes that cause the most dangerous infectious diseases;
Microbial toxins are waste products of certain microbes (in particular bacteria) that are extremely toxic to the human body.
DAMATING EFFECT OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
The damaging effect depends on the virulence (degree of pathogenicity) of biological agents, the infectious dose, as well as on the anatomical and physiological properties of the affected object.
Routes of entry of biological agents into humans:
1st way (main) - through the respiratory system (inhalation),
2nd way - through the mucous membrane of the mouth, nose, eyes, as well as the skin (skin),
3rd way - through the digestive tract (alimentary).
General signs infectious disease:
headache, malaise, chills, fever, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting. During the development of the disease, these signs intensify, fever, adynamia begin, and clinical signs characteristic of this disease appear.
COMBAT PROPERTIES OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
- presence of incubation period- the period from the moment of infection until the appearance of the first clinical symptoms of the lesion;
- high combat effectiveness- the ability of biological agents to injure living forces, provided they are poorly protected in small quantities. This property is associated with the high pathogenicity (mortality) of microbes;
- contagiousness bacterial agents - the ability of a number of diseases to be transmitted from sick to healthy;
- high selectivity of action- determined by the ability of biological agents to infect only humans, plants or farm animals;
- ability to inflict damage over large areas- characterized by the technical capabilities of the means of use, and the complexity of organizing events related to the forced limitation or even cessation of combat and daily activities of troops (observation and quarantine);
Observation- a system of isolation, restrictive and anti-epidemic measures aimed at preventing the spread of infectious diseases among military personnel and the population without stopping the execution of the combat mission. It is established for units and units by order of the unit commander when the fact of the use of biological weapons is revealed.
Quarantine- this is a system of anti-epidemic and regime measures aimed at completely isolating the source of bacteriological infection or the area of the new deployment of troops under attack, and eliminating infectious diseases in it. Introduced and removed by order of the commander of the front (army) troops with the cessation of the combat mission for the entire quarantine period. Introduced when it is established that a bacteriological weapon has been used.
Disinfection, disinsection, and deratization are organized in quarantine and observation zones.
- relatively high resistance to environmental factors- determined by the ability of pathogenic microorganisms to maintain their pathogenic properties for a long period of time under unfavorable environmental conditions;
The stability of biological aerosols in the atmosphere is favorably influenced by: the maximum degree of fragmentation of particles (from 5 to 1 microns); wind speed from 1 to 4 m/s; cloudy weather without precipitation, relative humidity from 30 to 85%; air temperature below +10°C; degree of vertical air stability - isothermia or inversion.
- difficulty in establishing the fact and type of pathogen used- is explained primarily by the secrecy of the use of biological weapons, the difficulty of identifying biological agents in the field and the length of time it takes to determine the type of pathogen even with express laboratory analysis (up to 4 - 5 hours).
- ability to penetrate unsealed structures- characterized by the aerodynamic properties of biological aerosols resulting from the transfer of a biological formulation to a combat state;
Biological aerosols are dispersed systems consisting of droplets or solid particles carrying viable microorganisms or toxins.
According to the origin and mechanism of formation, they distinguish natural and artificial aerosols.
Favorable climatic conditions and a high degree of dispersion significantly increase the likelihood of aerosol entering unsealed structures.
- possibility of producing pathogenic microorganisms in mass quantities;
- high psychological impact on a person- is determined by the influence that the severity of the external picture of the disease manifested in the affected person, the lack of knowledge of the properties of biological weapons, the lack of skills in using personal protective equipment, and violations of anti-epidemic discipline have on a person;
The emerging sanitary and epidemiological situation when using biological weapons is due to the following characteristics:
Destruction of residential and public buildings and facilities;
Failure of water supply, sewerage and treatment facilities, chemical, oil refining and other industrial enterprises;
The presence of human and animal corpses, rotting products of animal and plant origin;
Mass reproduction of rodents, activation of natural foci of zoonotic infections;
Intensive migration of organized and unorganized contingents of people;
Changes in people's susceptibility to infections;
Failure of sanitary-epidemiological and health care facilities located in the disaster zone;
The need to accommodate the population and provide drinking water, food and public services.
Biological weapons (BW) are weapons of mass destruction, the action of which is based on the use of pathogenic properties of microorganisms and toxins that can cause various mass diseases and deaths of people, animals and plants.
Biological weapons can be used by the enemy both for the purpose of directly destroying military personnel and the population, and creating a threat of their destruction through prolonged contamination of the area.
Features of the destructive effect of BO are:
selectivity of action (only on humans, on a certain species of animals, plants, or on humans and animals);
the ability to cause a damaging effect with a small amount of biological substances;
variability of action (the ability to vary the combat effect by choosing different biological agents);
damage to people, animals or plants over large areas;
manifestation of the damaging effect of biological weapons after a certain period of time - the so-called incubation (hidden) period - after which the reproduction and accumulation of microorganisms and their metabolic products occurs in the body;
contagiousness, i.e. the ability of some biological agents to spread epidemically;
inability to respond with the senses to contact with biological agents;
complexity of display;
dependence of the destructive effect on meteorological and topographic conditions;
strong psychological effect on people.
The basis of the destructive effect of bacteriological weapons is biological agents (BS) - pathogenic microorganisms and their metabolic products.
Pathogenic microorganisms are the causative agents of infectious diseases, extremely small in size, have no color, smell, taste and therefore are not detected by human senses.
Methods of combat use of biological weapons are based on the ability of biological weapons to penetrate the human or animal body in natural conditions in the following main ways:
with air through the respiratory system;
with food and water through the digestive tract;
as a result of the bite of infected blood-sucking insects through the skin;
through the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, eyes, as well as damaged skin.
The damaging effect of BO does not appear immediately, but after a certain time (incubation period), depending both on the type and quantity of pathogenic microbes or their toxins that have entered the body, and on the physical state of the body. Most often, the incubation period lasts from 2 to 5 days (less often 1 day). Throughout almost the entire period, the personnel remain combat-ready, sometimes without even suspecting that the infection has occurred.
Diseases may be:
contagious (plague, smallpox, cholera, typhus, etc.), i.e. are transmitted from the affected to surrounding healthy people through the air, bites of blood-sucking insects and other ways;
non-contagious , those. they are practically not transmitted from sick to healthy people (anthrax, tularemia, Q fever, histoplasmosis, brucellosis, etc.).
In total, according to foreign press materials, it is considered possible to use for military purposes 20 types of biological agents to kill humans, more than 10 for animals and 5 for the destruction of plants. The most effective way to use BO is considered to be contamination of the earth's air layer with an aerosol.
It is especially worth emphasizing the strong mental impact that BO has on a person. The presence of a real threat of the enemy using weapons, the emergence of large outbreaks and epidemics of dangerous infectious diseases among the troops and among the population can cause fear, panic, reduce the combat effectiveness of troops, and disorganize the work of the rear.
To use biological agents, the enemy can use aircraft bombs, aerosol generators, VAPs, artillery shells and mines, as well as missiles filled with dry and liquid formulations. In addition, they can use bombs and containers with infected insects, as well as special equipment for sabotage methods of infection.
The basis of BO consists of BS (bacteria, viruses, rickettsia, fungi and highly toxic products of their vital activity - toxins) specially selected for combat use, capable of causing severe illness and death when entering the body.
Bacteria are the smallest single-celled microorganisms of plant origin, size from 0.5 to 8-10 microns. They reproduce by simple transverse division in 28-30 minutes.
Pathogenic bacteria can cause diseases such as plague, tularemia, cholera, glanders, anthrax, etc.
Some bacteria, being in the external environment under favorable conditions for their development, actively form waste products that are extremely toxic to the human body (animals) and cause severe, often fatal, damage. These bacterial waste products are called toxins. Botulinum toxins and diphtheria toxins attract the greatest attention from specialists.
Botulism toxin, for example, 30 mg contains 10 billion lethal doses for humans, i.e. 10 billion times more toxic than hydrocyanic acid.
Of the 27,000 British soldiers who participated in the conquest campaigns in Mexico and Peru in 1771, 20,000 died of yellow fever.
From 1733 to 1865 About 8 million people died in wars in Europe. Of them:
combat losses - 1.5 million;
losses from infectious diseases - 6.5 million.
Pathogenic bacteria cause great damage to humanity. History shows that infectious diseases have claimed far more lives than the most devastating wars.
Sunlight, humidity fluctuations, temperature changes and the action of disinfectants and solutions have a detrimental effect on bacteria.
In order to prevent the spread of epidemic diseases in foci of biological contamination, isolation and restrictive measures are carried out, which include observation and quarantine.
The observation includes:
Restrictions on communication between employees and the local population and movement through the source of infection;
Prohibition of the removal of property without prior disinfection and the departure of employees from the source of infection without emergency prevention and complete sanitization;
Medical observation of employees, timely isolation and hospitalization of identified patients;
Carrying out emergency prophylaxis of all employees with antibiotics and other medications;
Carrying out preventive vaccinations against the identified pathogen;
Strengthening medical control over sanitary and hygienic measures in the source of infection;
Establishment of an anti-epidemic regime for the operation of medical centers and medical institutions;
If it is discovered that the enemy has used pathogens of plague, cholera, smallpox and other especially dangerous diseases that threaten personnel, a quarantine is established.
Quarantine, in addition to activities carried out during observation, additionally provides for:
Complete isolation of personnel and local population;
Armed security (cordonation) of the source of infection;
Accommodation of affected personnel in small groups with the establishment of a strict regime of behavior, nutrition and compliance with quarantine rules;
Organization of a commandant service to ensure compliance with quarantine rules;
Organizing supplies for troops quarantined under a special regime.
The duration of observation and quarantine is determined depending on the incubation period of the disease, the causative agent of which was used by the enemy (observation - from the day of completion of disinfection measures, quarantine - from the moment of isolation of the last patient and completion of disinfection measures in the source of infection).
In the absence of diseases, observation and quarantine are reduced after the expiration of the established period by order of the commander who established them.
Considering the danger of using chemical, biological, and incendiary weapons in modern warfare, as well as the high probability of accidents associated with the storage, transportation and industrial use of hazardous chemicals, it is necessary for managers at various levels to improve their knowledge and skills in organizing and implementing radiation, chemical, and biological protection measures .
It is one of the most important factors influencing the development of the modern world. The danger posed by this type of weapons of mass destruction forces state leaders to make serious adjustments to security concepts and allocate funds for protection against this type of weapon.
Concept and main characteristics of biological weapons
Biological weapons, according to the international classification, are a modern means of destruction that have a negative impact both directly on humans and on the surrounding flora and fauna. The use of these weapons is based on the use of animal and plant toxins secreted by microorganisms, fungi or plants. In addition, biological weapons include the main devices by which these substances are delivered to the intended target. This should include aerial bombs, special missiles, containers, as well as projectiles and aerosols.
Damaging factors of bacteriological weapons
The main danger when using this type of weapons of mass destruction is the impact of pathogenic bacteria. As you know, there are quite a lot of varieties of a wide variety of microorganisms that can cause diseases in humans, plants and animals in the shortest possible time. This includes plague, anthrax, and cholera, which often result in death.
Main features of biological weapons
Like any other type of weapon, biological weapons have certain characteristics. Firstly, it is capable of having a negative impact on all living things within a radius of several tens of kilometers in the shortest possible time. Secondly, this type of weapon has a toxicity that significantly exceeds that of any toxic substances obtained synthetically. Thirdly, it is almost impossible to detect the onset of action of this weapon of mass destruction, since both shells and bombs emit only a muffled pop upon explosion, and the microorganisms themselves have an incubation period that can last up to several days. Finally, fourthly, the onset of an epidemic is usually accompanied by severe psychological stress among the population, which panics and often does not know how to behave.
Main routes of transmission of bacteriological weapons
The main ways in which biological weapons affect people, plants and animals are contact with microorganisms on the skin, as well as consumption of contaminated foods. In addition, various insects, which are excellent carriers for most diseases, as well as direct contact between sick and healthy people, pose a great danger.
Methods of protection against biological weapons
Protection against biological weapons includes a whole range of measures, the main goal of which is to protect people, as well as representatives of flora and fauna, from the effects of pathogenic bacteria. The main means of protection include a variety of vaccines and serums, antibiotics and other drugs. Biological weapons are powerless against means of collective and individual defense, as well as against the influence of special chemicals that destroy all pathogens over vast territories.
Biological weapons are weapons of mass destruction; their destructive effect is based on the use of a variety of pathogenic microorganisms that can cause mass diseases and lead to the death of people, plants and animals. Some classifications include biological weapons and insect pests that can cause serious harm to the agricultural crops of the enemy state (locusts, Colorado potato beetles, etc.).
Previously, the term “bacteriological weapon” could very often be found, but it did not fully reflect the entire essence of this type of weapon, since bacteria themselves constituted only one of the groups of living beings that could be used to wage biological warfare.
Ban
Biological weapons were prohibited by a document that came into force on March 26, 1975. As of January 2012, 165 states are parties to the Biological Weapons Convention.
The main prohibiting document: “Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) Weapons, as well as Toxins and Their Destruction (Geneva, 1972). The first attempt at a ban was made back in 1925, we are talking about the “Geneva Protocol”, which came into force on February 8, 1928.
Subject of the prohibition: microbes and other biological agents, as well as toxins, regardless of their origin or production methods, types and quantities that are not intended for prevention, protection or other peaceful purposes, as well as ammunition that is intended to deliver these agents or toxins to to the enemy during armed conflicts.
Biological weapons
Biological weapons pose a danger to people, animals and plants. Bacteria, viruses, fungi, rickettsiae, and bacterial toxins can be used as pathogenic microorganisms or toxins. There is the possibility of using prions (as genetic weapons). At the same time, if we consider war as a set of actions aimed at suppressing the enemy’s economy, then insects that are able to effectively and quickly destroy agricultural crops can also be classified as types of biological weapons.
Biological weapons are inextricably linked with technical means of application and means of delivery. Technical means of use include such means that allow for the safe transportation, storage and transfer into combat status of biological agents (destroyable containers, capsules, cassettes, aerial bombs, sprayers and airborne dispensers).
Biological weapons delivery vehicles include combat vehicles that ensure the delivery of technical means to enemy targets (ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft, shells). This also includes groups of saboteurs who can deliver containers with biological weapons to the area of use.
Biological weapons have the following destructive properties:
High efficiency of the use of biological agents;
- difficulty in timely detection of biological contamination;
- the presence of a hidden (incubation) period of action, which leads to an increase in the secrecy of the use of biological weapons, but at the same time reduces its tactical effectiveness, since it does not allow for immediate disabling;
- a wide variety of biological agents (BS);
- the duration of the damaging effect, which is due to the resistance of some types of BS to the external environment;
- flexibility of damaging effect (presence of pathogens that temporarily disable and have lethal effects);
- the ability of some types of BS to spread epidemically, which appears as a result of the use of pathogens that can be transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person;
- selectivity of action, which is manifested in the fact that some types of BS affect exclusively people, others - animals, and still others - both people and animals (glanders, anthrax, brucellosis);
- the ability of biological weapons in the form of aerosols to penetrate unsealed premises, engineering structures and military equipment.
The advantages of biological weapons, experts usually include the availability and low cost of production, as well as the possibility of large-scale epidemics of dangerous infectious diseases appearing in the enemy army and among its civilian population, which can spread panic and fear everywhere, as well as reduce the combat effectiveness of army units and disorganize the work of the rear.
The beginning of the use of biological weapons is usually attributed to the ancient world. So, in 1500 BC. e. The Hittites in Asia Minor appreciated the power of the contagious disease and began to send plague to enemy lands. In those years, the infection scheme was very simple: they took sick people and sent them to the enemy’s camp. The Hittites used people who were sick with tularemia for these purposes.
In the Middle Ages, the technology received some improvement: the corpses of people or animals who died from some terrible disease (usually the plague) were thrown over the walls into the besieged city using a variety of throwing weapons. An epidemic could break out inside the city, with the defenders dying in droves, and the survivors seized by real panic.
One fairly well-known case, which occurred in 1763, remains controversial. According to one version, the British gave the American Indian tribe scarves and blankets that had previously been used by smallpox patients. It is unknown whether this attack was planned in advance (then this is a real case of using BO), or whether it happened by accident. In any case, according to one version, a real epidemic arose among the Indians, which claimed hundreds of lives and almost completely undermined the combat capability of the tribe.
Some historians even believe that the famous 10 plagues of the Bible that Moses "called" against the Egyptians may have been campaigns of some sort of biological warfare, rather than divine attacks at all. Many years have passed since then, and human advances in the field of medicine have led to a significant improvement in our understanding of the actions of harmful pathogens and how the human immune system is able to fight them. However, this was a double-edged sword. Science has given us modern treatments and vaccinations, but has also led to the further militarization of some of the most destructive biological "agents" on Earth.
The first half of the 20th century was marked by the use of biological weapons by both the Germans and the Japanese, and both countries used anthrax. Subsequently, it began to be used in the USA, Russia and Great Britain. Even during the First World War, the Germans tried to provoke an anthrax epizootic among the horses of their opponents' countries, but they failed to do so. After the signing of the so-called Geneva Protocol in 1925, the development of biological weapons became more difficult.
However, the protocol did not stop everyone. Thus, in Japan, during the Second World War, an entire special unit, the secret detachment 731, experimented with biological weapons. It is reliably known that during the war, specialists from this unit purposefully and quite successfully infected the population of China with bubonic plague, which killed a total of about 400 thousand Human. And Nazi Germany was engaged in the massive spread of malaria vectors in the Pontine Marshes in Italy; the Allied losses from malaria reached about 100 thousand people.
From all this it follows that biological weapons are a simple, effective and ancient way of exterminating large masses of people. However, such weapons also have very serious disadvantages that significantly limit the possibilities of combat use. A very big disadvantage of such weapons is that the pathogens of dangerous diseases cannot be “trained”.
Bacteria and viruses cannot be forced to distinguish friend from foe. Having broken free, they harm all living things in their path indiscriminately. Moreover, they can trigger the process of mutation, and predicting these changes is very difficult, and sometimes simply impossible. Therefore, even antidotes prepared in advance may become ineffective against mutated samples. Viruses are the most susceptible to mutations; it is enough to remember that vaccines against HIV infection have not yet been created, not to mention the fact that from time to time humanity experiences problems with treating the common flu.
Currently, protection against biological weapons is reduced to two large groups of special measures. The first of them are preventive in nature. Preventive actions include vaccinations of military personnel, the population and farm animals, the development of means for early detection of biological weapons, and sanitary and epidemiological surveillance. The second measures are therapeutic. These include emergency prevention after the discovery of the use of biological weapons, specialized care for sick people and their isolation.
Simulations of situations and exercises have repeatedly proven the fact that states with more or less developed medicine can cope with the consequences of currently known types of biological weapons. But the story of the same flu proves to us the opposite every year. If someone manages to create a weapon based on this very common virus, the end of the world could become a much more real event than many people think.
Today the following can be used as biological weapons:
- bacteria - causative agents of anthrax, plague, cholera, brucellosis, tularemia, etc.;
- viruses - causative agents of tick-borne encephalitis, smallpox, Ebola and Marburg fever, etc.;
- rickettsia - causative agents of Rocky Mountain fever, typhus, Q fever, etc.;
- fungi - causative agents of histoplasmosis and nocardiosis;
- botulinum toxin and other bacterial toxins.
To successfully spread biological weapons, the following can be used:
Artillery shells and mines, aircraft bombs and aerosol generators, long- and short-range missiles, as well as any unmanned attack weapons carrying biological weapons;
- aircraft bombs or special containers filled with infected arthropods;
- various ground vehicles and equipment for air contamination;
- special equipment and various devices for sabotage contamination of air, indoor water, food, as well as for the spread of infected rodents and arthropods.
It is the use of mosquitoes, flies, fleas, ticks, and lice artificially infected with bacteria and viruses that seems to be an almost win-win option. Moreover, these carriers can retain the ability to transmit the pathogen to people virtually throughout their entire lives. And their lifespan can range from several days or weeks (flies, mosquitoes, lice) to several years (ticks, fleas).
Biological terrorism
In the post-war period, biological weapons were not used during large-scale conflicts. But at the same time, terrorist organizations began to take an active interest in him. Thus, since 1916, at least 11 cases of planning or carrying out terrorist attacks using biological weapons have been documented. The most famous example is the story of sending letters containing anthrax spores to the United States in 2001, when the letters killed 5 people.
Today, biological weapons most closely resemble the genie in a fairy tale who was locked in a bottle. However, sooner or later, the simplification of technologies for the production of biological weapons may lead to a loss of control over them and will put humanity in front of another threat to its security.
The development of chemical and later nuclear weapons led to the fact that almost all countries of the world refused further funding of work on the creation of new types of biological weapons, which had been going on for decades. Thus, the technological developments and scientific data that were accumulated during this time turned out to be “suspended in the air.”
On the other hand, work aimed at creating means of protection against dangerous infections has never stopped. They are conducted at the global level, with research centers receiving decent amounts of funding for these purposes. The epidemiological threat continues today throughout the world, which means that even in undeveloped and poor countries there are always sanitary and epidemiological laboratories that are equipped with everything necessary to carry out work related to microbiology.
Today, even ordinary breweries can be quite easily repurposed to produce any biological formulations. Such objects, along with laboratories, may be of interest to biological terrorists.
At the same time, the most likely candidate for use for sabotage and terrorist purposes is the variola virus. Currently, collections of variola virus, on the recommendation of the World Health Organization, are securely stored in Russia and the USA. At the same time, there is information that this virus can be stored uncontrollably in a number of states and can spontaneously (and possibly intentionally) leave the storage sites.
It is necessary to understand that terrorists do not pay any attention to international conventions, and they are not at all concerned about the indiscriminate nature of pathogenic microorganisms. The main task of terrorists is to sow fear and achieve their desired goals in this way. For these purposes, biological weapons seem to be an almost ideal option. Few things compare to the panic that the use of biological weapons can cause. Of course, this could not have happened without the influence of cinema, literature and the media, which surrounded such an opportunity with an aura of certain inevitability.
However, even without the media, there are prerequisites for the possible use of such weapons for terrorist purposes. For example, potential bioterrorists take into account the mistakes made by their predecessors. Attempts to create portable nuclear charges and a chemical attack that was carried out in the Tokyo subway due to the lack of high technology and a competent approach among terrorists turned out to be failures. At the same time, biological weapons, if the attack is carried out correctly, will continue to operate without the participation of the perpetrators, reproducing itself.
Thanks to this, based on the totality of parameters, we can confidently say that biological weapons may be chosen by terrorists in the future as the most suitable means to achieve their goals.