Do you still remember?

• 1984 - USA - Rajneeshee bioterror attackIn Oregon in

1984, followers of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
attempted to control a local election by incapacitating
the local population. This was done by infecting salad
bars in eleven restaurants, produce in grocery stores,
doorknobs, and other public domains with Salmonella
typhimurium bacteria in the city of The Dalles, Oregon.
The attack infected 751 people with severe food
poisoning. However, there were no fatalities. This
incident was the first known bioterrorist attack in the
United States in the 20th century.
• 1993 - Japan - Aum Shinrikyo anthrax release
in Kameido In June 1993 the religious group
Aum Shinrikyo released anthrax in Tokyo.
Eyewitnesses reported a foul odor. The attack
was a total failure, infecting not a single
person. This case shows how difficult it is to
aerosolize anthrax spores in high
concentration.[
• 2001 - USA - Anthrax Attacks In September and October
2001, several cases of anthrax broke out in the United
States in the 2001 anthrax attacks, caused deliberately.
Letters laced with infectious anthrax were delivered to
news media offices and the U.S Congress. The letters killed
5. Tests on the anthrax strain used in the attack pointed to
a domestic source, possibly from the biological weapons
program. Still the attacks provoked efforts to define
biodefense and biosecurity, where more limited definitions
of biosafety had focused on unintentional or accidental
impacts of agricultural and medical technologies.
Biological Warfare and Bio
Terrorism
 Definition of Biological Warfare
• Deliberate use of disease-causing biological
agents such as protozoa, fungi, bacteria,
protists, or viruses, to kill or incapacitate
humans, other animals or plants;
– Employed in various ways to gain a strategic or
tactical advantage over an adversary, either by
threat or by actual deployment;
 Definition of Bioterrorism
• Terrorism involving the intentional release or
dissemination of biological agents (bacteria,
viruses, or toxins), that may be in a naturally-
occurring or in a human-modified form
 “Genuine”Effects
• Biological weapons allow for the potential to create a
level of destruction and loss of life far in excess of
nuclear, chemical or conventional weapons, relative
to their mass and cost of development and storage;
• Effective, and therefore might not immediately stop
an opposing force;
• Unintended Mechanism poses risk;
Characteristics of Good Biological Agent used
for B.W. and B.T.
• high infectivity
• high virulence
• non-availability of vaccines
• and availability of an effective and efficient
delivery system;
• “Stability of the weaponized agent”
Examples of Good B.A. for B.W. and B.T.
Scientific Name Common Name Target System

Bacillus anthracis Anthrax Respiratory System

Vibrio cholerae Cholera Virus Digestive System

Rickettsia rickettsii (RMSF). Immune System

Rickettsia prowazekii Immune Sytem

Francisella tularensis Tularemia Immune System

Scientific Name Common Name Target System

Coxiella burnetii Q-Fever Respiratory

System
Chlamydophila Respiratory
psittaci System
Burkholderia ALL
pseudomallei
Burkholderia mallei
 Any way to prevent?
• It Goes with the letters: BWC
• Preparedness
• Biosurveillance
 TYPES of B.W. and B.T.
• Anti-personnel
– Disable the military foundation of the country;
– Delay attacks;
• Anti-agriculture
– Disable backbone of economy;
– Divert the attention of the Gov’t to the
agricultural sector
• The botulinum toxin is relatively easy to produce in large
quantities using Clostridium bacteria. It is also easy to
transport. The extreme potency and deadliness of the toxin
have made it a subject of biological warfare research. The
Japanese carried out experiments on human prisoners in
China during the 1930s to test the toxin. The former Soviet
Union produced large stockpiles of the toxin during the Cold
War. Following the Persian Gulf War of 1990 and 1991,
inspectors found that Iraq under Saddam Hussein had
stockpiles of botulinum toxin and a program to weaponize the
toxin in bombs and warheads.
 Types of Agents
• Category A
– Tularemia
– Anthrax
– Smallpox
– Botulinum Toxin (Clostridium botulinum)
– Bubonic Plague (Yersinia pestis)
– Viral Hemorrhagic fever (Ebola and Marsburg)
• Category B
– Category B agents are moderately easy to disseminate
and have low mortality rates.
– Brucellosis (Brucella species)
– Epsilon toxin of Clostridium perfringens
– Food safety threats (e.g., Salmonella species, E coli
O157:H7, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus)
– Glanders[30] (Burkholderia mallei)
– Melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei)
– Psittacosis (Chlamydia psittaci)
• Category B
– Q fever (Coxiella burnetii)[33]
– Ricin [34] toxin from Ricinus communis (castor beans)
– Abrin toxin from Abrus precatorius (Rosary peas)
– Staphylococcal enterotoxin B
– Typhus (Rickettsia prowazekii)
– Viral encephalitis (alphaviruses, e.g.: Venezuelan equine
encephalitis, eastern equine encephalitis, western equine
encephalitis)
– Water supply threats (e.g., Vibrio cholerae,[35]
Cryptosporidium parvum)
• Category C
– Category C agents nd H1N1 have been poteare
emerging pathogens that might be engineered for
mass dissemination because of their availability,
ease of production and dissemination, high
mortality rate, or ability to cause a major health
impact. This category includes viruses such as the
Nipah virus and hantavirus. SARS antial diseases in
this category.
 History
• Talk to the gladiators;
• But before talking to them, talk to the Hitites;
• Then talk to Hannibal;