Biological weapon anthrax. Anthrax as a weapon
Smallpox
The term "biological weapon" tends to conjure up mental images of sterile government laboratories, special uniforms and test tubes full of brightly colored liquids. Historically, however, biological weapons have taken much more mundane forms: paper bags full of plague-infected fleas, or even a simple blanket, as seen during the French and Indian War in 1763.
Smallpox is caused by the variola virus. In the most common forms of the disease, death occurs in 30 percent of cases. Signs of smallpox include high fever, body aches, and a rash that develops from fluid-filled sores. The disease primarily spreads through direct contact with the skin of an infected person or through body fluids, but can also spread through the air in close, confined environments.
Smallpox is classified as a Class A biological weapon due to its high mortality rate and because it can be transmitted through the air. Although a smallpox vaccine exists, generally only health care workers and military personnel are vaccinated, this means that the rest of the population is at potential risk if this type of biological weapon is used in practice. How can a virus be released? Probably in aerosol form, or even the old-fashioned way: sending an infected person directly to the target area.
Due to its high mortality rate and resistance to environmental changes, anthrax bacteria are also classified as a Class A biological weapon. The bacterium lives in soil, and animals that frequently graze on it usually come into contact with the bacterium's spores while searching for food. A person can become infected with anthrax by touching, inhaling or swallowing the spores.
In most cases, anthrax infection occurs through skin contact with the spores. The deadliest form of anthrax infection is inhalation, in which the spores enter the lungs and are then carried by immune system cells to the lymph nodes. There, the spores begin to multiply and release toxins, which lead to the development of problems such as fever, breathing problems, fatigue, muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Those infected with inhalational anthrax have the highest mortality rate, and, unfortunately, all five victims of the 2001 letters contracted this form.
The disease is extremely difficult to catch under normal conditions, and it is not transmitted from person to person. However, healthcare workers, veterinarians and military personnel are routinely vaccinated. Along with the lack of widespread vaccination, "longevity" is another feature of anthrax. Many harmful biological bacteria can only survive under certain conditions and for a short period of time. However, the anthrax virus can sit on a shelf for 40 years and still pose a deadly threat.
Today, anthrax remains one of the best known and most dangerous types of biological weapons. Numerous biological weapons programs have worked to produce and perfect the anthrax virus over the years, and as long as a vaccine exists, mass vaccination will only become viable if a mass attack occurs.
Anthrax - what is it?
This is a rather acute infectious disease that is transmitted to humans from a sick animal (cattle, camels, horses, pigs), from its wool, from its skin. It is characterized by manifestations of black color, as well as ulcers on the skin. Anthrax has been registered in all countries of the world without exception. The causative agent of the infection is the anthrax bacillus. This is one of the largest dangerous microbes.
Period of illness
Basically, anthrax in humans occurs as a skin infection. In rare cases, the bacillus enters the body through the respiratory system or digestive system, affecting both the lungs and intestines. Usually the incubation period lasts up to three days, but sometimes the time frame varies (from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks). The cutaneous form of the disease appears in those parts of the body that are often not covered by clothing. Vulnerable places - wounds, cuts, abrasions, scratches. Two to three days after the bacillus penetrates the human body, small spots of a reddish hue appear on his skin. They itch very much, turning into papules - blisters filled with pus, which, after maturation, burst and leave behind black dead tissue. Anthrax, the symptoms of which appear after the first day, is characterized by lethargy, weakness of the body, body temperature up to 40 degrees, and rapid heartbeat. The temperature lasts for about a week, after which in some cases it drops sharply. Black spots that appear on the skin at the very beginning of the disease, if treated correctly, begin to heal after two to three weeks. In this case, the scab (dead skin) is rejected. In its place, ulcers remain, which gradually heal.
Anthrax - a bioweapon of our time
In the last century, this disease caused a real boom among the military: they saw it as a biological weapon. The fact is that if you infect the respiratory system with anthrax, then in 99% of cases this will cause the death of the sick person. Scientists have changed the microbe in the laboratory at the genetic level, making it more resistant to various types of antibiotics. Modified, it has become even more dangerous and deadly. The result was a real biological weapon. If it gets into the hands of terrorists, it will claim countless civilian lives. Fortunately, this has not happened yet, since modified anthrax is protected on par with nuclear weapons!
Letter for you!
We all know cases where terrorists who were able to obtain anthrax spores sent out envelopes containing the infection. Mail containing the infection was sent to a variety of government agencies in the United States of America. Fortunately, the terrorists did not have all the information about the properties and characteristics of these microbes, as well as the methods of using them as biological weapons, so their attempts failed.
Prevention and quarantine
The main responsibility for preventive measures rests with veterinarians who regularly examine animals. With the precision of a jeweler, they must recognize even the smallest signs of a sick animal. In addition, people whose profession requires contact with potential carriers of the infection are required to be vaccinated against anthrax.
Experts recognize that the anthrax bacillus can serve as a biological weapon for both an individual terrorist and a group, moreover, with a higher probability than many other bacteria. But is this bacillus easy to grow? And is this weapon effective?
It turns out that the bacillus has not been studied enough - simply because the disease has become rare.
Everyone remembers the 1995 tragedy in the Tokyo subway, when terrorist fanatics resorted to deadly poison gas. What is less known is that the same group attempted to infect the population of Tokyo with anthrax at least eight times. I tried, but didn't succeed. No cases of the disease have been reported.
In contrast, an accidental leak of anthrax bacillus from a Soviet military laboratory in 1979 resulted in 79 cases, 68 of which were fatal.
So, it happens in different ways. Based on these examples, it is difficult to judge the destructive power of anthrax as a weapon.
Is it easy to grow bacillus?
It’s not very easy, but many countries can do it. In the 1990s, 17 countries were believed to have biological weapons or the means to make them. But alone or in groups, some experts believe, they may not be able to cope with this. Not only is the bacillus itself needed to breed it in the laboratory, it also requires very complex equipment.
However, it cannot be ruled out that a group with the necessary connections will overcome these difficulties.Former Soviet biological weapons specialist Kenneth Alibek told us: “You hear that breeding the anthrax bacillus is a difficult task, but I believe that for a person who has mastered the principles of microbiology and biotechnology, it is not at all difficult...”
In addition, preparations with the bacillus can be stored for a long time without spoiling.
The most effective way to spread the bacillus is by spraying it into the air, so that potential victims inhale it and become ill with the most severe form of anthrax, pulmonary anthrax.
But this is not easy to achieve.
The terrorists who carried out the 9/11 atrocity in New York were reported to have been interested in agricultural spray planes, apparently exploring the possibility of distributing biological weapons, but experts believe the planes are not entirely unsuitable for the job.
What is the stopping power?
90% of patients die from pulmonary anthrax. The use of antibiotics at an early stage of the disease reduces mortality by up to 80%.
But the effectiveness of the canker as a weapon depends on the number of bacilli spread and the method of spread. It is reduced by the fact that this disease is not contagious.
According to the World Health Organization (1970), if 50 kg of anthrax bacillus were dispersed over a city with a population of 5 million, 250 thousand people would become ill.
According to another estimate (1993), 100 kg of bacilli scattered over Washington would kill from 130 thousand to three million people.
However, such a quantity of bacterial culture is not so easy to produce. In addition, the bacilli will remain in the air only for a certain time, determined by weather conditions, and then settle to the ground.
Whether they will be able to become deadly again if they are picked up by the wind along with dust is not known for certain. The Soviet disaster suggests that this is hardly possible. Almost no disinfection measures were taken there, and no subsequent cases of the disease were registered.
At the same time, complete disinfection of a vast area will, in the opinion of many, be an impossible task.
British experiments with biological weapons carried out on a Scottish island during the Second World War showed that the area remained contagious even decades later. And they cleaned it properly. From 1979 to 1987, 280 tons of formaldehyde were consumed on the island.
When we hear the words “anthrax,” we first of all remember the fever of “postal terrorism” that swept many countries around the world in 2001-2002. Then, due to the fault of unknown attackers, dozens of people were infected with bacteria of this most dangerous disease, and some of them died. However, not everyone remembers that exactly 30 years ago, in 1979, perhaps the largest incident in history occurred in the USSR involving the mass infection of the population with anthrax bacilli in non-combat conditions. According to data now published, 64 people died from an unknown disease that spring in Sverdlovsk, the largest city in the Urals, but independent researchers believe that the actual number of victims was in the thousands.
By the way, the intelligence services still have not definitively established who in 2001 sent powder with anthrax spores by mail - bin Laden terrorists or a bacteriologist who had gone crazy and decided to challenge the whole world. One way or another, one thing is absolutely clear to experts: in our time, even a super-genius scientist is not able to single-handedly create combat strains of deadly bacilli, like anthrax, in order to then blackmail entire countries and continents with them.
This can only be done by a powerful, well-funded organization - no matter whether terrorist or state. Moreover, until quite recently, secret plans for conducting bacteriological warfare lay in the safes of the general staffs of many armies around the world.
This is how some foreign strategists imagined these invisible battles: “The bacteria of anthrax, plague and smallpox entered the battle even before the official declaration of war. The population of the hostile state and the enemy army were seized with panic, especially since the “fifth column” financed by us deliberately aggravated the horror in the enemy’s camp and exaggerated the bacteriological danger with the help of the media.
At the climax of the war, we added bacteria, which caused massive deaths of farm animals and plants. This led to the destruction of the enemy's entire food supply. As a result, the renowned army of our enemy, invincible under normal combat conditions, laid down its arms within two months, and the government was forced to accept conditions of surrender that were very difficult for the country.”
This is a quote from the article “Bacteriological Warfare,” which was published in the serious scientific publication “Journal of Immunology” in the late 50s of the 20th century. American microbiologists J. Rosebery, G. Kabet and A. Boldt published it during the period of greatest aggravation of relations between the USSR and the USA, without even suggesting that at the very beginning of the 21st century, according to the scenario they developed, some attackers would begin “postal terror” against themselves USA, sending deadly powder in the most ordinary envelopes and parcels...
Secret weapons of past centuries
However, one should not assume that bacteriological warfare is an invention of the 20th century. It turns out that the very first mentions of this terrible method of fighting against all living things can be found... in the Old Testament. For example, in the book “Exodus” the Lord God threatens the enemies of his chosen Jewish people: “And I will bring a vengeful sword on you... and I will send a pestilence upon you...” (read - an epidemic). And in the “Book of the Prophet Jeremiah” it is said: “And I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt as I punished Jerusalem: with sword, famine and pestilence.”
Of course, now all this can only be perceived as biblical legends. However, here is an absolutely reliable historical fact. Even from school, we know that at the beginning of the 16th century, the notorious Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro barbarously destroyed the Indians of South America. But only recently did it become known from archival documents that fire and sword were not enough for him during that war: once during negotiations, the Spaniards gave the Indians clothes taken from smallpox patients. The epidemic thus caused in Peru and Chile alone claimed the lives of three million natives.
However, even 250 years after these events, the authorities of the then newly formed North American States did not hesitate to use biological weapons against the indigenous inhabitants of the continent. Not long ago, historians discovered an interesting correspondence between the commander of the American army and the commandant of the Fort Pitt fortress. A superior officer advised his subordinate the following: “Would you try to spread smallpox among the rebellious Indian tribes? Every means must be used to exterminate these savages." And soon, at “peace” negotiations with the Indian leaders, American soldiers handed them two blankets and a scarf taken from the hospital for smallpox patients. A month later, the uprising of the Ohio aboriginal tribes stopped by itself: by that time there was simply no one to rebel...
But all these were, so to speak, “spontaneous” experiments in the use of bacteriological weapons. Only in the 20th century did the governments of the leading world powers fully realize all the “conveniences” that the controlled use for military purposes of the most terrible infections known to mankind at that time could bring. To develop biological products of this kind, at the beginning of the century, top-secret laboratories were created in many countries, where the best minds of biological science worked on the creation of new weapons under the close supervision of the military. The “hawks” were not stopped even by the 1926 Geneva Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical and Bacteriological Warfare, which was signed by almost all major states. Previously closed archives also spoke about this.
Only a few will survive
However, we have now already learned something about the preparation of different states to conduct bacteriological warfare. Back in the 60s of the 20th century, the British government removed the classification of secrecy from information about experiments with anthrax bacteria, which in 1940-1943 were carried out on the deserted rocky island of Greenard in the North Sea. Since then, no one can appear here without a special insulating suit, as this is mortally dangerous for him. Analyzes of soil samples that microbiologists regularly take from this piece of land to this day show that even more than 60 years after those military experiments, anthrax bacteria remain viable and therefore could well cause a catastrophic epidemic.
But information that similar experiments were carried out not only in England, but also in the USSR, was allowed to be published in our open press only during perestroika. It turns out that back in 1938, Soviet military microbiologists infected the entire soil on the Vozrozhdeniya and Komsomolsky islands in the Aral Sea with anthrax. Just like in England, from then to this day this deserted corner of the former USSR is completely closed to people. And here, as a result of an experiment that has been going on for 70 years, it was possible to prove that all this time the anthrax bacteria present in the soil are capable of maintaining their pathogenicity.
However, experiments with anthrax on the islands of the Aral Sea turned out to be only a “touchstone” of the top secret work on creating vaccines, which Soviet military doctors had been conducting since the 30s in the event of a bacteriological war against the USSR. The officially existing anti-plague institutes in Stavropol, Rostov and Saratov already at that time began to train specialists who, along with methods of combating especially dangerous infections, studied the damaging properties of the same plague, smallpox, anthrax, as well as many dozens of other terrible diseases.
In parallel with the institutes open to the press, there were also completely secret biological centers where the possibilities of using the same infections in combat conditions were explored. Of these closed institutions, the most famous is the enterprise in Yekaterinburg (formerly Sverdlovsk), which in Soviet times was codenamed “mailbox A-1063” (also known as secret plant No. 19). Its fame is primarily associated with the tragic incident that happened here in April 1979.
Resident of Samara Andrey Kuznetsov, born in 1956 (his name and surname have been changed for reasons that will be indicated below), in 1978, after graduating from the institute, he was called up for military service in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the USSR and was sent to serve in one of the units of the construction troops. , stationed in Sverdlovsk. There he became an involuntary witness and at the same time a victim of an accident at a secret biological weapons plant. Here is his story.
“One morning our lieutenant suddenly ran into the unit’s club. Seeing me, he shouted in a voice that was not his own: “Get ready immediately and get vaccinated!” From the lieutenant’s disheveled appearance, I realized that something extraordinary had happened. Therefore, he dropped everything and rushed to carry out the order. I ran to the front row for the vaccination. In a specially equipped room there were already five or six needle-free pneumatic injectors that inject the vaccine into the human body directly through the skin. They wiped the soldier’s forearm with a cotton swab containing alcohol, a second and he was free. All soldiers who arrived on time were vaccinated very quickly.
What kind of emergency happened and where exactly was not explained to us then, and we did not ask. Only a few days later we heard talk about mass deaths in Sverdlovsk from an unknown disease. I immediately connected this news with the general vaccination of our unit’s personnel. By the way, none of the construction battalion soldiers died or even got sick. But in a neighboring military unit, two soldiers died from that same mysterious disease. It was rumored that there was not enough vaccination material for them. And according to the information that reached us, more than a thousand people died in Sverdlovsk during these events.
I ask you not to indicate your first and last name anywhere. I have good reasons for this. The fact is that together with me, three other soldiers, my fellow countrymen, witnessed all the events described above. So, now I’m the only one left alive out of everyone. Then I found out that two of my excessively talkative colleagues back in Soviet times died suddenly for an unknown reason, and the third died mysteriously in an accident.”
Bacteriological disaster
The history of the emergence and activities of secret plant No. 19 in Sverdlovsk is still covered in a thick veil of secrecy. According to some materials published by former military doctors and biologists, back in 1972, a secret decree of the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers was issued on the creation of advanced technology for the production of biological weapons in the country. In accordance with this decree, several top secret facilities were created on the territory of the USSR at the same time, where research was carried out on various types of bacteria that were deadly to humans. In particular, on the territory of Sverdlovsk military camp No. 19, for several years, bacteriological weapons were created based on anthrax, a disease well studied by doctors.
A leak of bacterial material at this production site occurred on the morning of April 3, 1979. According to published sources, this happened during the setup of a new installation in the drying shop. The reason was errors made by workers during installation. When the accident occurred, an aerosol containing anthrax bacteria escaped into the atmosphere through cracks in the ventilation system. As a result, a deadly cloud spread over Sverdlovsk, which subsequently became the cause of the death of many people. It was a pulmonary form of infection, the rarest and most dangerous.
According to official data, between April 4 and May 10, 1979, 64 people died in the city from direct exposure to bacteria. However, experts believe that the actual number of people who died during this man-made epidemic ranged from several hundred to several thousand. Firstly, the authorities tried to keep as secret as possible all cases of death that were more or less similar to anthrax. Secondly, sources of infection in the city remained even after May 10, when official disinfection was completed. After all, anthrax bacteria can be stored in dry form for hundreds of years, and when exposed to a favorable environment, they begin to multiply quickly.
But this is not the most terrible conclusion: most likely, in 1979, at military enterprise No. 19, research was carried out not on the natural form of anthrax, but on its “enhanced” version, in which, thanks to genetic engineering methods, the killing power turned out to be greatly increased. In the fight against this form of Siberian flu, conventional vaccines are useless - we need a special one, developed by the same specialists who bred the deadly bacterium.
Unfortunately, the secret vaccine was not used for mass treatment of residents of Sverdlovsk in 1979. It was only enough for soldiers of several military units, in one of which the hero of the above interview served. Let him say thank you to the lieutenant who sent him to get vaccinated on time...
Incredible facts
At one time or another, people have tried to take every opportunity to find a new viable option for destroying each other. We razed forests, "turned over" religion, philosophy, science and even art in order to fuel humanity's desire to drink more blood from each other. We've even built some of the most powerful viral, bacterial, and fungal weapons along the way.
The use of biological weapons dates back to the ancient world. In 1500 BC. The Hittites in Asia Minor realized the power of the contagious disease and sent a plague to enemy lands. Many armies also realized the power of biological weapons, leaving infected corpses in the enemy's fortress. Some historians even suggest that the 10 biblical plagues that Moses "called" against the Egyptians may have been biological warfare campaigns rather than vengeful acts of God.
Since those early days, advances in medical science have led to greatly improved understanding of the action of harmful pathogens and how our immune systems fight them. However, while these advances have led to the advent of vaccinations and treatments, they have also led to the further militarization of some of the most destructive biological "agents" on the planet.
The first half of the 20th century was marked by the use of biological weapons such as anthrax by both the Germans and the Japanese. Then it began to be used in the USA, Great Britain and Russia. Today, biological weapons are illegal, as their use was banned in 1972 by the Biological Weapons Convention and the Geneva Protocol. But while a number of countries have long since destroyed their stockpiles of biological weapons and stopped research on this topic, the threat still remains. In this article we will look at some of the main threats of biological weapons.
10. Smallpox
The term "biological weapon" tends to conjure up mental images of sterile government laboratories, special uniforms and test tubes full of brightly colored liquids. Historically, however, biological weapons have taken much more mundane forms: paper bags full of plague-infected fleas, or even a simple blanket, as seen during the French and Indian War in 1763.
Under the orders of Commander Sir Jeffrey Amherst, British troops delivered smallpox-infected blankets to Indian tribes in Ottawa. Native Americans were especially susceptible to the disease because, unlike Europeans, they had not previously been exposed to smallpox and therefore lacked adequate immunity. The disease cut through the tribes like wildfire.
Smallpox is caused by the variola virus. In the most common forms of the disease, death occurs in 30 percent of cases. Signs of smallpox include high fever, body aches, and a rash that develops from fluid-filled sores. The disease primarily spreads through direct contact with the skin of an infected person or through body fluids, but can also spread through the air in close, confined environments.
In 1976, WHO led efforts to eradicate smallpox through mass vaccination. As a result, the last case of smallpox infection was recorded in 1977. The disease has been virtually eradicated, however, laboratory copies of smallpox still exist. Both Russia and the United States possess WHO-approved specimens of smallpox, but since smallpox has played a role as a biological weapon in the special programs of several nations, it is unknown how many secret stockpiles still exist.
Smallpox is classified as a Class A biological weapon due to its high mortality rate and because it can be transmitted through the air. Although a smallpox vaccine exists, generally only health care workers and military personnel are vaccinated, this means that the rest of the population is at potential risk if this type of biological weapon is used in practice. How can a virus be released? Probably in aerosol form, or even the old-fashioned way: sending an infected person directly to the target area.
9. Anthrax
In the fall of 2001, letters containing white powder began arriving at US Senate offices. When word spread that the envelopes contained spores of the deadly bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which causes anthrax, panic began. The anthrax letters infected 22 people and killed five.
Due to its high mortality rate and resistance to environmental changes, anthrax bacteria are also classified as a Class A biological weapon. The bacterium lives in soil, and animals that frequently graze on it usually come into contact with the bacterium's spores while searching for food. A person can become infected with anthrax by touching, inhaling or swallowing the spores.
In most cases, anthrax infection occurs through skin contact with the spores. The deadliest form of anthrax infection is inhalation, in which the spores enter the lungs and are then carried by immune system cells to the lymph nodes. There, the spores begin to multiply and release toxins, which lead to the development of problems such as fever, breathing problems, fatigue, muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Those infected with inhalational anthrax have the highest mortality rate, and, unfortunately, all five victims of the 2001 letters contracted this form.
The disease is extremely difficult to catch under normal conditions, and it is not transmitted from person to person. However, healthcare workers, veterinarians and military personnel are routinely vaccinated. Along with the lack of widespread vaccination, "longevity" is another feature of anthrax. Many harmful biological bacteria can only survive under certain conditions and for a short period of time. However, anthrax bacteria can sit on a shelf for 40 years and still pose a deadly threat.
These properties have made anthrax the "favorite" biological weapon among related programs around the world. Japanese scientists conducted human experiments using aerosolized anthrax bacteria in the late 1930s in occupied Manchuria. British troops experimented with an anthrax bomb in 1942, and managed to contaminate the Greenard Island test site so thoroughly that 280 tons of formaldehyde were needed to disinfect the soil 44 years later. In 1979, the Soviet Union accidentally released anthrax bacteria into the air, killing 66 people.
Today, anthrax remains one of the best known and most dangerous types of biological weapons. Numerous biological weapons programs have worked to produce and perfect the anthrax virus over the years, and as long as a vaccine exists, mass vaccination will only become viable if a mass attack occurs.
8. Ebola hemorrhagic fever
Another known killer exists in the form of the Ebola virus, one of a dozen different types of hemorrhagic fevers, nasty illnesses that cause profuse bleeding. Ebola made headlines in the 1970s when the virus spread to Zaire and Sudan, killing hundreds of people. In the decades that followed, the virus maintained its deadly reputation, spreading in deadly outbreaks across Africa. Since its discovery, at least seven outbreaks have occurred in Africa, Europe and the United States.
Named after the region of Congo where the virus was first discovered, scientists suspect it usually lives in its native African animal host, but the exact origin and range of the disease remains a mystery. Thus, experts were able to detect the virus only after it had infected humans and primates.
An infected person transmits the virus to others through contact of healthy people with the blood or other secretions of the infected person. The virus is particularly adept at spreading its virus through hospitals and clinics in Africa. The incubation period of the virus lasts 2-21 days, after which the infected person begins to show symptoms. Typical symptoms include headache, muscle pain, sore throat and weakness, diarrhea, and vomiting. Some patients suffer from internal and external bleeding. Approximately 60-90 percent of cases of infection are fatal after the disease progresses for 7-16 days.
Doctors don't know why some patients recover faster than others. They also do not know how to treat this fever, since there is no vaccine. There is only a vaccine for one form of hemorrhagic fever: yellow fever.
Although many doctors worked to develop treatments for the fever and prevent outbreaks, a group of Soviet scientists turned the virus into a biological weapon. Initially, they were faced with the problem of growing Ebola in laboratory conditions; they achieved greater success in this field by cultivating the Marburg hemorrhagic fever virus. However, in the early 1990s they managed to solve this problem. While the virus usually spreads through physical contact with the secretions of an infected person, the researchers observed it spreading through the air in a laboratory setting. The ability to “release” weapons in aerosol form only strengthened the position of the virus in class A.
7. Plague
The Black Death wiped out half of Europe's population in the 14th century, a horror that continues to haunt the world even today. Dubbed the “big death,” the mere prospect of this virus returning is causing shock among people. Today, some researchers believe that the world's first pandemic may have been a hemorrhagic fever, but the term "plague" continues to be associated with another Class A biological weapon: the bacterium Yersinia Pestis.
Plague exists in two main strains: bubonic and pneumonic. Bubonic plague is usually spread through the bites of infected fleas, but can also be transmitted from person to person through contact with infected body fluids. This strain is named after the swollen glands in the groin, armpits and neck. This swelling is accompanied by fever, chills, headache and fatigue. Symptoms appear after two to three days and usually last from one to six days. If treatment is not started within 24 hours of infection, then in 70 percent of cases death cannot be avoided.
The pneumonic form of plague is less common and is spread by airborne droplets. Symptoms of this type of plague include high fever, cough, bloody mucus and difficulty breathing.
Plague victims, both dead and alive, have historically served as effective biological weapons. In 1940, there was an outbreak of plague in China after the Japanese dropped bags of infected fleas from airplanes. Scientists in several countries are still investigating the possibility of using the plague as a biological weapon, and since the disease is still found around the world, a copy of the bacterium is relatively easy to obtain. With appropriate treatment, the fatality rate for this disease is below 5 percent. There is no vaccine yet.
6. Tularemia
Death from this infection occurs in five percent of cases. A small gram-negative rod is the causative agent of tularemia. In 1941, the Soviet Union reported 10,000 cases of the disease. Later, when the Nazi attack on Stalingrad occurred the following year, this number rose to 100,000. Most cases of infection were recorded on the German side of the conflict. Former Soviet bioweapons researcher Ken Alibek argues that this surge in infection was not an accident, but the result of biological warfare. Alibek would continue to help Soviet scientists develop a vaccine against tularemia until his escape to the United States in 1992.
Francisella tularensis occurs naturally in no more than 50 organisms and is especially common among rodents, rabbits and hares. Humans usually become infected through contact with infected animals, insect bites, or consumption of contaminated food.
Symptoms usually appear within 3-5 days depending on the method of infection. The patient may experience fever, chills, headache, diarrhea, muscle pain, joint pain, dry cough and progressive weakness. Symptoms similar to pneumonia may also develop. If left untreated, respiratory failure and death follow. The illness usually lasts no more than two weeks, but during this time infected people are mostly bedridden.
Tularemia is not spread from person to person, it is easily treated with antibiotics and can be easily avoided by getting a vaccine. However, this zoonotic infection spreads very quickly from animals to humans and is also easy to catch if it is spread as an aerosol. The infection is especially dangerous in aerosol form. Due to these factors, after the end of World War II, the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and the Soviet Union began working on ways to turn it into a biological weapon.
5. Botulinum toxin
Take a deep breath. If the air you just breathed contains botulinum toxin, you won't know it. Deadly bacteria are colorless and odorless. However, after 12-36 hours the first symptoms appear: blurred vision, vomiting and difficulty swallowing. At this point, your only hope is to get botulism antitoxin, and the sooner you get it, the better for you. If left untreated, muscle paralysis occurs, and later paralysis of the respiratory system.
Without breathing support, this poison can kill you within 24-72 hours. For this reason, the deadly toxin is also classified as a Class A biological weapon. However, if the lungs are given help and support in their work at this moment, then the mortality rate immediately drops from 70 percent to 6, however, recovery will take time, since the poison paralyzes the nerve endings and muscles, effectively cutting off the signal from the brain. For a full recovery, the patient will need to “grow” new nerve endings, and this takes months. Although a vaccine exists, many experts are concerned about its effectiveness and side effects, so it is not widely used.
It is worth noting that this neurotoxin can be found anywhere in the world, especially in soil and marine sediments. People primarily encounter the toxin as a result of eating spoiled food, especially canned foods and meat products (for example, canned fried mushrooms and fish).
Its potency, availability, and limitations to cure have made botulinum toxin a favorite among biological weapons programs in many countries. In 1990, members of the Japanese sect Aum Shinrikyo sprayed the toxin to protest some political decisions, however, they failed to cause the massive death toll they expected. When the cult, however, switched to sarin gas in 1995, they killed dozens of people and injured thousands.
4. Rice blast
Numerous biological organisms prefer cultivated food crops. Ridding cultures of their enemies is an important task for humans, since without food people will begin to panic and riot.
A number of countries, especially the United States and Russia, have devoted much research to diseases and insects affecting food crops. The fact that modern agriculture tends to focus on single-crop production only complicates matters.
One such biological weapon is rice blast, a disease caused by the imperfect fungus Pyricularia oryzae. The leaves of the affected plant become grayish in color and become filled with thousands of fungal spores. These spores multiply quickly and spread from plant to plant, significantly degrading their performance or even destroying the crop. Although breeding plants resistant to the disease is a good protective measure, rice blast poses a serious problem because you have to breed not just one strain of resistance, but 219 different strains.
This type of biological weapon does not work for sure. However, it can lead to serious starvation in poor countries, as well as financial and other types of losses and problems. A number of countries, including the United States, use this rice disease as a biological weapon. By this time, a huge amount of the harmful fungus had been collected in the United States for potential attacks on Asia.
3. Rinderpest
When Genghis Khan invaded Europe in the 13th century, he accidentally introduced a terrible biological weapon. Rinderpest is caused by a virus that is closely related to the measles virus, and it affects cattle and other ruminants such as goats, bison and giraffes. The condition is highly contagious and causes fever, loss of appetite, dysentery and inflammation of the mucous membranes. Symptoms persist for approximately 6-10 days, after which the animal usually dies from dehydration.
For centuries, people have continually brought "sick" livestock to various parts of the globe, thereby infecting millions of cattle, as well as other domestic and wild animals. From time to time, outbreaks of the disease in Africa were so severe that they turned starving lions into man-eaters and forced herders to commit suicide. However, thanks to a massive vaccination program, rinderpest has been brought under control in most countries of the world.
Although Genghis Khan came into possession of these biological weapons by accident, many modern countries such as Canada and the United States are actively researching this type of biological weapon.
2. Nipah virus
Viruses adapt and evolve over time. New strains emerge, and sometimes close contact between humans and animals allows life-threatening diseases to jump to the top of the food chain. With the constant increase in the number of people on earth, the emergence of new diseases is inevitable. And every time a new outbreak appears, you can be sure that someone is bound to start looking at it as a potential biological weapon.
The Nipah virus falls into this category because it only became known in 1999. The outbreak occurred in a region of Malaysia called Nipah, infecting 265 and killing 105 people. Some believe that the virus develops naturally in the bodies of fruit bats. The exact nature of the virus' transmission is uncertain, but experts believe the virus can spread through close physical contact or through contact with body fluids of an ill person. Cases of human-to-human transmission have not yet been reported.
The illness usually lasts 6-10 days, causing symptoms ranging from mild flu-like to severe encephalitis-like or brain inflammation. In some cases, the patient may experience drowsiness, disorientation, convulsions, and, moreover, the person may even fall into a coma. Death occurs in 50 percent of cases, and there is currently no standard treatment or vaccination.
The Nipah virus, along with other emerging pathogens, is classified as a Class C biological weapon. Although no country is officially researching this virus for possible use as a bioweapon, its potential is wide and its 50 percent mortality rate makes it a must-watch virus.
1. Chimera Virus
What happens when scientists start digging into the genetic structure of dangerous organisms, remaking it?
In Greek and Roman mythology, a chimera is a combination of body parts from a lion, goat, and snake into one monstrous form. Artists of the late Middle Ages often used this image to illustrate the complex nature of evil. In modern genetic science, a chimeric organism exists and contains the genes of a foreign body. Given its name, you probably assumed that all chimeric organisms must be terrible examples of man invading nature to further his nefarious goals. Fortunately, this is not the case. One such “chimera,” combining genes from the common cold and polio, could help treat brain cancer.
However, everyone understands that abuse of such scientific achievements is inevitable. Geneticists have already discovered new ways to increase the killing power of biological weapons such as smallpox and anthrax by specially tuning their genetic structure. By combining genes, however, scientists can create weapons that can cause two diseases to develop simultaneously. In the late 1980s, Soviet scientists worked on Project Chimera, during which they explored the possibility of combining smallpox and Ebola.
Other possible abuse scenarios are the creation of multiple strains of bacteria that require specific triggers. Such bacteria subside for a long period of time until they become active again with the help of special “irritants.” Another possible option for a chimeric biological weapon is the effect of two components on the bacterium so that it begins to work effectively. Such a biological attack would not only result in higher human mortality, but could also undermine public confidence in health initiatives, aid workers, and government officials.
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