Biological Weapons Are Among the Most Feared
For nations or terrorists who lack the money to spend on nuclear weapons and other high-tech killing instruments, biological warfare offers grisly appeal: biological weapons are cheap, easy to make, and simple to conceal. Even small amounts, if effectively deployed, could cause massive injuries and instantly overwhelm emergency rooms.
The production of biological weapons can be carried out virtually anywhere—in simple laboratories, on a farm, or even in the home.
Many rogue nations around the worldare believed to be developing them, according to the Defense Department. (See map above.)
Anthrax: The disease affects livestock, and has long been a focus of biological warfare research and development programs because it comes from relatively tough spores that can be sprayed over a battlefield or a city. Another name for anthrax is woolgatherer’s disease. Textile workers are commonly vaccinated against it. As part of preparations against possible aggression by Iraq, the U.S. Defense Department recently ordered that all military forces be vaccinated against the disease.
While in its first phase, anthrax is relatively easy to detect and treat. It initially causes flu-like symptoms, followed by severe chest congestion. Anthrax can then go dormant for several days. In the second phase, it is almost always fatal—vast numbers of the toxin-producing organisms accumulate in the body. Anthrax spores can live for years in carcasses buried in the ground.
Ricin: One of the most toxic naturally occurring substances known. It comes from the seeds of castor bean plants—which are used to make castor oil, though that’s derived from pressing the beans and keeping the ricin out. Ricin’s claim to fame: It was the poison used to kill the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markow in London. The toxin was injected into him from the tip of an umbrella as Markow was waiting for a bus.
Botulism: Like anthrax, the bacteria can be found in soil, and occasionally strikes people who eat badly canned food or fish in which the bacteria has grown. The bacteria produces an extremely toxic substance, botulinum, that causes blurred vision, dry mouth, difficulty in swallowing or speaking, weakness and other symptoms. Paralysis, respiratory failure and death follow. Botulism can be treated with an anti-toxin, but it doesn’t do much good after the first burst of symptoms.
Aflatoxin and Mycotoxin: Both are common in crops. Aflatoxin B1 frequently turns up in molds that grow on nuts. Iraq and Iran are two of the world’s largest producers of pistachio nuts, but the toxin can also be cultivated from molds that grow on corn and other crops. These toxins destroy the immune system in animals, and are carcinogenic over the long term in humans—one reason why peanut farmers and peanut-butter makers around the world are looking for ways to pare aflatoxins out of their products. To date little data exists demonstrating aflatoxins’ effectiveness on the battlefield.
Clostridium Perfringens: A common source of food poisoning, the bacteria likes meat that has been kept at warm temperatures. Like anthrax, it forms spores that can live in soil.
Though its spores are less nasty in food, the organism causes gas gangrene when it finds its way into open battlefield wounds. Gas gangrene produces pain and swelling as the infected area bloats with gas. Later it causes shock, jaundice and death. Like anthrax, it can be treated with antibiotics such as penicillin—though in a laboratory, it’s not difficult to produce antibiotic-resistant strains by exposing the bacteria to non-lethal doses.
Camelpox: Little data exists on human exposure to this virus now being developed by Iraq—though the it is classified among the riskiest (and illegal) foreign animal pathogens. Its possession, use and importation is outlawed in the United States.
IN
THIS SERIES
Terrorists
Find New Tools of Fear
Anti-Terrorism
Budget
Willing
to Kill for the Sake of Killing
Many
Nations Developing Bioweapons
Types
of Chemical Weapons
Mass
Destruction Through Biology
Recent
Domestic Terrorist Events
Simulation
of Terrorist Acts