Biological Terrorism

What is Terrorism?

-is the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or the threat of violence in the pursuit of political change” (Hoffman, 1998).

-involves political aims and motives. It is violent or threatens violence. It is designed to generate fear in a target audience that extends beyond the immediate victims of the violence (James Lutz & Brenda Lutz).

Some Major Event

Anthrax Letter Attacks Fatalities: 5; Injuries: 17

Some Major Event

1st World Trade Center Bombing

Fatalities: 6; Injuries: 1,040

9/11 Attack Fatalities: 2,993; Injuries: 8,900

 

Different Bioterrorism Agents  

Bacterial agents (including rickettsial organisms)

Viral agents

Toxins (derived from plants or animals)

Parasites (less likely)

Bacterial Agents

Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis)

Dysentery (Shigella dysenteriae)

Typhoid (Salmonella typhi)

Plague (Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis))

Tularemia (Francisella tularensis)

Melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei.)

Brucellosis (inhalation B. microti)

Tularemia (Francisella tularensis)

Melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei.)

Brucellosis (inhalation B. microti)

Q fever (Coxiella burnetii)

E.Coli (Escherichia coli)

Salmonellosis (Salmonella)

Typhus fever (Rickettsia prowazekii)

Viral Agents

Smallpox (Variola virus)

Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers ( Arenavirus, Ebola Virus, Lassa Virus, Marburg Virus)

Viral encephalitis (alphaviruses )

Toxic Agents

Epsilon toxin  (Clostridium perfringens)

Botulism (Clostridium botulinum.)

Ricin Toxin (Ricinus communis[castor beans])

Parasites Agents

Cryptosporidium parvum

Giardia lamblia

ADVANTAGES OF BIOWEAPONS (BW) IN WAR:

A single microbial bioweapon can, because it reproduces in the host, theoretically produce the desired detrimental outcome in a target host. That is, a single smallpox virus or plague bacillus, if deposited in the right place in the host, can grow and produce a disease.

Biological toxins are among the most toxic agents known.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES TO THE USE OF BIOWEAPONS (BW) IN WAR:

Most bioweapons grade microbes are relatively easy and inexpensive to grow. 

Large quantities of biological weapons can, in most cases, be produced in a short period (a few days to a few weeks) at small facilities scattered over a large area.

DISADVANTAGES OF BIOWEAPONS (BW) IN WAR:

Difficulty of protecting the workers at all stages of production, transportation, loading of delivery systems and final delivery:

Difficulty in maintaining quality control and sufficient containment during growth and harvesting of agents:

Effective delivery problems:

Poor storage survival: 

Difficult to control once released:

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERFECT BIOLOGICAL WEAPON

•          Highly infectious; requiring only a few organisms to cause the desired effect (e.g. smallpox) or highly effective; requiring a small quantity of material to cause the desired effect (e.g. botox).

•          Efficiently dispersible, usually in the air; contagious or effective on contact.

•          Readily grown and produced in large quantities.

•          Stable in storage; preferably in a ready-to-deliver state.

•          Resistant enough to environmental conditions so as to remain infectious or operational long enough to affect the majority of the target, but not so persistent as to affect the occupying army.

•          Resistant to treatment; e.g. antibiotics, antibodies, pharmaceutical drugs etc.

THE TOP BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS

SMALLPOX:

smallpox virus is a prime candidate for a BW because of the following characteristics:

It is a DNA virus whose genetic code has been sequenced.

It is easily (for a virus) cultivated and large quantities of the virus could be produced in a relatively short period of time.

It is highly infectious, being spread by close human contact. It can be contracted by inhaling the virus.

It is extremely hardy; surviving on fomites for days or weeks.

Most of the world's population is susceptible to this virus as routine vaccination was stopped when the WHO declared its eradication in 1979.

ANTHRAX:

is an aerobic spore forming, gram positive bacterium that is highly infections and lethal to man and many of his domestic animals. It is naturally contracted through wounds, commonly by farm workers, but it can also be inhaled. Inhaled spores germinate in the lungs and produce a pulmonary anthrax which is rapidly fatal in 80% of the cases.

BOTULINUM TOXIN

The advantages of botox are that since its symptoms are delayed, the damage is done (walking dead) before victims realize what has occurred.

Clostridium perfringens

An anaerobic gram positive spore former that grows well in the absence of oxygen and produces spores resistant to adverse conditions. It enters the body through wounds, particularly the jagged, deep, and dirty type produced in war, where it causes gas gangrene.

Gas gangrene is an especially nasty disease that eats away the body while producing a stench that would gag a maggot. It is one disease that physicians can diagnose a block away from the patient.

RICIN: a protein toxin (view with the helper application Chime) extracted from the castor bean plant. It works as a slow poison, eventually causing a total body collapse as necessary proteins are not replaced. The structure and mechanism of action of ricin are well understood, thus making it an excellent candidate for genetic manipulation. That is, because of this knowledge, it should be possible to genetically modify ricin so as to make it a more effective BW. 

Fusarium oxysporum: The potential use of genetic engineering in the production of biological weapons is illustrated by the on-going studies on the possible of the use of the mold Fusarium oxysporum as a candidate for drug plant eradication. 

Fusarium oxysporum: The potential use of genetic engineering in the production of biological weapons is illustrated by the on-going studies on the possible of the use of the mold Fusarium oxysporum as a candidate for drug plant eradication. 

Aspect in Bioterrorism

Hidden and undetected

Causes small and large casualty cases

May run in long time

 Risk of Bioterrorism

The wide-ranging number of variables and lack of hard data make a reliable risk assessment extremely difficult.

“The true threat of superterrorism is not a Hiroshima-like disaster, but a widespread panic caused by a relatively small CBW incident involving a few dozen fatalities” (Sprinzak, 2000)

Reason for Bioterrorism

Intent on causing large-scale death and disruption

The use of such unconventional agents greatly affect the targeted population (Falkenrath, Newman, & Thayer, 1998).

The purpose of these weapons is to wreak destruction via psychological means—by inducing fear, confusion, and uncertainty in everyday life. These effects will take two forms, acute and long term. (Wessely, Hyams, & Bartholomew, 2001,

p. 878)