BIOTERRORISM

Submitted To Submitted By
Dr. Syeda Tasneem Towhid Name: Avijit Adhikary
Associate Professor ID: M22060501131
Department of Microbiology
Department: Microbiology
Jagannath University
Jagannath University
 Introduction
Bioterrorism is a type of warfare that makes use of biological agents or
biological weapons to inflict harm to enemy.
Bioterrorism is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, toxins or other
harmful agents to cause illness or death in people, animals or plants.
The threat from bioterrorism is real, with current reports indicating that
individuals, terrorist groups and criminals have both the capability and
intention to use biological agents to cause harm to society.
The damage caused by such an event could reach untold magnitude, causing
widespread illness and death, and instilling fear and panic on a global scale.
"Bioterrorism refers to the intentional release of biological agents or toxins
for the purpose of harming or killing humans, animals or plants with the
intent to intimidate or coerce a government or civilian population to further
political or social objectives."
 Bioterrorism Weapon
A biological attack, or bioterrorism, is the intentional release of
viruses, bacteria, or other germs that can sicken or kill people,
livestock, or crops.
Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria that causes anthrax, is one of the
most likely agents to be used in a biological attack.
We do not know if or when another anthrax attack might occur.
However, federal agencies have worked for years with health
departments across the country to plan and prepare for an anthrax
attack. If such an emergency were to occur in the United States, CDC
and other federal agencies would work closely with local and state
partners to coordinate a response.
History
 History
Other allegations occurred during the post—World War II period :
 The Eastern European press stated that Great Britain had used biological weapons
in Oman in 1957.
 The Chinese alleged that the USA caused a cholera epidemic in Hong Kong in
1961.
 In July 1964, the Soviet newspaper Pravda asserted that the US Military
Commission in Columbia and Colombian troops had used biological agents
against peasants in Colombia and Bolivia.
 In 1969, Egypt accused the “imperialistic aggressors” of using biological weapons
in the Middle East, specifically causing an epidemic of cholera in Iraq in 1966.
 Biggest bioterrorism attack
Critical Biological Agents used in bioterrorism and their abuse in Wars.
Pathogen/Bio agent Disease Abused
B. anthracis Anthrax First world war; Second world war
The Soviet Union, 1979;
Japan,1995; USA, 2001

Marburg virus Hemorrhagic Soviet bioweapons program

Fever
Y. pestis Plague 14thcentury Europe;
Second world war
Variola major Smallpox 18th-century North America
Francisella tularensis Tularaemia Second world war
Clostridium botulinum Botulism –
Vibrio cholerae Cholera Second world war
Alpha viruses Encephalitis Second world war
Salmonella Food Poisoning Second world war
Shigella USA, 1990s
Burkholderia mallei Glanders First world war
Second world war
Rickettsia prowazekii Typhus Second world war

Brucella Brucellosis –
Chlamydia psittaci Psittacosis –
Coxiellaburnetti Q fever –
 Bioweapons
A biological weapon is a combination of biological agents such as
viruses, bacteria & their derivatives like toxins and the means of
keeping the agents alive & virulent, transporting it to where it will be
dispersed and a dissemination mechanism.
Any microorganism having the capacity to cause death, disability or
disease in man, animal or plant and hence cause large scale casualty
and sufferings.
• Also called as : poor man’s atomic bomb
• micro-organisms : natural/ genetically engineered.
• BDBS: biologically derived bioactive substances. Eg: cytokines, hormones
• Manually designed biological toxin like substances – e.g: nerve gases
• Terrorists can get control of these weapons & can cause harm
 Features of bioweapons
Consistently produce a given effect, death or disease at low
concentration
Should be highly contagious and Spreading capacity is high.
Have a short and predictable incubation period and If stored, it will be
stable.
Target population should have no immunity against the organism
Amenable to economic mass production
Difficult to identify in target population .
Little or no prophylaxis or treatment should be available.
It is invisible & microscopic.
Force change of government / government policies
Bioterrorism and their effects
 Laboratories for detecting bioweapons
BIDS: Biological integrated detection system
Genetic and antibody based detection on suspected aerosol particles
LRBSDS: Long range biological stand off detection system
Detects aerosol clouds from a distance up to 30 kms and can provide
early warning.
SRBSDS: Short range biological stand off detection system
Uses ultraviolet and laser induced fluorescence
Level A Level B Level C Level D

Routine Tests done Molecular Also called:

pathogens • Confirmatory test level testing • Hot labs
cultured and Antibiotic • Highest in expertise
identified • susceptibility test • Conducts highly
• Rapid specialized tests
presumptive
identification
 Epidemiological Clues to an Event of
Bioterrorism
Large no of ill persons with similar disease or syndromes
presenting around the same time.
Failure of common diseases to respond to usual therapy.
Higher mortality or morbidity than expected with a common
disease or syndrome.
Unusual ,atypical or genetically engineered strain of the agent.
Disease with unusual geographic or seasonal distribution.
Similar genetic type among agents isolated temporally or
spatially distinct sources.
 Bioterrorism Diseases
Bioterrorism agents can be separated into three categories, depending on
how easily they can be spread and the severity of illness or death they cause.
Category A
These high-priority agents include organisms or toxins that pose the highest risk to
the public and national security:
• Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis)
• Botulism (Clostridium botulinum toxin)
• Plague (Yersinia pestis)
• Smallpox (variola major)
• Tularemia (Francisella tularensis)
• Viral hemorrhagic fevers (filoviruses [e.g., Ebola, Marburg] and arenaviruses
[e.g., Lassa, Machupo])
 Category B
These agents are the second highest priority:
• Brucellosis (Brucella species)
• Epsilon toxin of Clostridium perfringens
• Food safety threats (e.g., Salmonella species, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Shigella)
• Glanders (Burkholderia mallei)
• Melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei)
• Psittacosis (Chlamydia psittaci)
• Q fever (Coxiella burnetii)
• Ricin toxin from Ricinus communis (castor beans)
• Staphylococcal enterotoxin B
• Typhus fever (Rickettsia prowazekii)
• Viral encephalitis (alphaviruses [e.g., Venezuelan equine encephalitis, eastern equine encephalitis,
western equine encephalitis])
• Water safety threats (e.g., Vibrio cholerae, Cryptosporidium parvum)
 Category C
These third highest priority agents include emerging pathogens that could be engineered for
mass spread in the future:
• Emerging infectious diseases such as Nipah virus and hantavirus
• Influenza (novel strain)

• Chemicals
• Cyanide
 Bioweapon agents type
Historically, bioweapon agents of concern have included a selective group of
pathogens & toxins. They are all naturally occurring organisms or their toxic
product. These are mainly of 2 types,
1. Genetically modified agents
2.Advanced Biological Warfare Agents(ABWA)
1. GENETICALLY MODIFIED AGENTS With the advent of recombination
DNA technology, an organism’s genetic make up may be altered & genetically
modified biological warfare agents may be produced.
Examples of genetic modification includes *Antibiotic resistance *Increased aerosol stability
*Heightened pathogenesis
2. ADVANCED BIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGENTS Developed technology
across multiple disciplines in the biological sciences have revolutionized biowar
by facilitating an entirely new class of fully engineered agents referred to as
advanced biological warfare agents.
 Microorganism as a Bioweapon
 Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria that causes anthrax, would be one of the biological
agents. Biological agents are germs that can sicken or kill people, livestock, or crops.
• Anthrax spores are easily found in nature, can be produced in a lab, and can last for a long
time in the environment.
• Anthrax makes a good weapon because it can be released quietly and without anyone
knowing. The microscopic spores could be put into powders, sprays, food, and water.
Because they are so small, you may not be able to see, smell, or taste them.
• Anthrax has been used as a weapon around the world for nearly a century. In 2001, powdered
anthrax spores were deliberately put into letters that were mailed through the U.S. postal
system. Twenty-two people, including 12 mail handlers, got anthrax, and five of these 22
people died.
 Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii.
• Cattle, sheep, and goats are the primary reservoirs
• It does not cause clinical disease in animals, bacteria is found in milk, urine, feces, amniotic
fluids, and placenta.
• Infection by droplet spread. Thirty percent to 50% of patients with symptomatic infection
will develop pneumonia
 Variola virus is the causative agent of smallpox and is a member of the
Poxviridae family.
• Smallpox was eradicated worldwide in 1977 but now has regained interest as a
potential bioterrorism agent.
• Due to an increasing unvaccinated population along with its contagiousness and
ability to be transmitted by aerosol, smallpox is a CDC category A bioterrorism
agent.
• Only two stockpiles of the virus remain (at the CDC and the Russian State
Research Center) for continued research.
• Europe it is estimated 400,000 people per year died from the disease and one-third
of the cases resulted in blindness.
• In the 20th century it is estimated that smallpox resulted in 300-500 million deaths.

 Glanders It is caused by Burkholderia mallei

• It is primary a disease of horses. Human is infected due to contact or droplet infection.
• usually acute or chronic skin infection
• Droplet infection can cause pneumonia and sepsis rapidly
• Usually misclassified on culture as it is a rare disease
 Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
• Symptoms include fever, weakness and headache. In the bubonic form there is
swelling of lymph nodes.
• Bubonic and septicemia plague is generally spread by flea bites or handling an
infected animal
• It has historically occurred in large outbreaks with the most well known being the
Black Death in the 14th century ,which resulted in greater than 50 million death
• Circumstances for natural human outbreaks: disasters/ disruption of rat habitats/
rat dis- or relocation
 Chronology of Anti-Bioterrorism Actions
• 1910-1920’s – The first use of chemical and biological weapons in combat leads
to efforts ban their use.
• 1925 – The Geneva Protocol prohibits the use of biological and chemical weapons
in war.
• 1969 – President Richard M. Nixon unilaterally renounces the use of biological
weapons in United States restricts research to immunization and safety efforts.
• 1984 – The Reagan administration presented a draft treaty to ban the production
and storage of chemical weapons to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
2001- Fifth BWC Review Conference.
 Tularemia (Francisella tularensis)
• Tularemia is caused by the gram-negative bacterium Francisella tularensis and is a zoonotic
disease, with humans as accidental hosts.
• Human infections occur by contact with ticks and flies, handling infected animals,
improperly prepared animal meat, animal scratches and bites, drinking contaminated water,
or aerosolization of the organism from the environment or in bioterrorism.
• Human-to-human transmission does not occur.

Anthrax Small pox Glanders

Plague Tularemia
 Epidemiological clues of bioterrorist attack
 Disease manifesting in more severe form
 Too many cases or death in particular region – sudden rise in hours/ days
 Unusual route of exposure
 Transmitted by unusual vector
 Unusual host factors
 Multiple simultaneous/ serial epidemics
 Different attack rate in different area.
The mode of attack :
 The mode of attack depend upon the type of agents used. In order to infect a large
population , it is possible that aerosol mechanism would be used in closed ,confined
areas where a large number of people assemble e.g. Cinema halls , departmental
stores.
 The contamination of water and food with toxins and pathogens could be another
measure.
 Deliberate infiltration of infected animals ,pests or vectors through the borders could
be another mode of attack
 Legal provisions related to bioterrorism
Geneva protocol
• Use of biological weapons was banned in international law by the Geneva
protocol of 1925.
• Came into force on 8th February 1928
• The 1972 biological and toxin weapons convention extended to ban to almost
all production , storage, and transport of any types of biological weapons
• Prohibits use in war of asphyxiating poisons or other gases and of all
analogous liquids, materials or devices and also bacteriological methods of
warfare.
• Limitations:
 Prohibited use but not possession
 Not all nations were its signatory
 Many states had right to use if attacked by such weapons
 Legal provisions related to bioterrorism
Biological weapons convention (BWC)
• Came into force on : 26th march 1975
• Prohibition of development, production and stockpiling of bacteriological
and toxin weapons and their destruction.
It has 2 articles:
 Article 1: never in any circumstance to develop, produce, stockpile or
acquire/retain items – microbial/ other biological agents or toxin and weapons,
equipment's or means of delivery designed to use of such agents
 Article 2: destroy/ divert to peaceful purposes all agents, toxins, weapons,
equipment's and all means of delivery within 9 months of entry into convention.
 EFFECTS OF BIOLOGICAL ATTACK
Biological attacks have very harmful effect. According to
World Health Organization
Release of 50k.g. of Anthrax spores in 40k.m.² area will cause 1 lac
death of people.
Release of 50k.g. of plague spores in 20k.m.² area will cause 36000
death of people.
 Delivery of biological weapons
Biological weapons by used :
By scud missiles
Motor vehicles With spray
Hand pump sprayers
By person to person
Book or letter
Remote control
Robotic delivery
Aircraft sprayers
Animal vector
Food or water
 Conclusion
 Biological weapons are unique in their invisibility and their delayed effects
 The harmful effects of crime affect vital resources in our society, like loss of life. The
nature and manner in which crimes are committed in the present world are becoming
more complicated, especially with the use of biowarfare agents’ terror attacks.
 The use of biowarfare agents for terror attacks Unlike other terror attacks,
bioterrorism has the potential to destroy humanity.
 The recent anthrax attack in the United States in 2001 led to the creation of a new
microbial forensics field. Microbial forensic experts are involved in the investigation
of bio-terror attacks. Morphological, genomic and bioinformatic features may be
used to classify the biological threat of a crime. The investigation into biological
attacks is believed to be critical in cooperation with forensics scientists, medical
professionals, and police agencies.
 To ensure the admissibility of results in the court, it will be necessary for bio-terror
investigators to monitor the crime scene, maintain the custody chain, validate
procedures, and make a justifiable interpretation of the results.
 References
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%20high%2Dpriority%20agents%20include,Plague%20(Yersinia%20pestis)
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