Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
to inhalation anthrax and to several other cases of the less severe cutaneous form
of the disease. While it remains to be determined whether these terrorist attacks
were related and to identify the perpetrators, they signaled a new era of fear and
awareness of biological agents.
It should be remembered that “bioterrorism” and “biological warfare” have
long histories. Plague-infected corpses were catapulted by the Tartars during
their siege of Kaffa (in Crimea), resulting in the collapse of the city population
due to mortality from the mycobacterium. Smallpox-infected clothing and blan-
kets were reported given to susceptible populations by Spanish conquistadors'
during campaigns in South America, by the British during the French-Indian
War, and by Confederate-sympathizing manufacturers during the U.S. Civil War.
Plague outbreaks were created by the Japanese army after the intentional release
of infected fleas over Chinese towns in 1941. The United States military tested
biological weapons against unsuspecting U.S. residents by releasing relatively
harmless bacteria that could be traced
Serratia marcescens
was released in San
Francisco in 1950, and
Bacillus subtilis
was released into the New York City sub-
way system in 1966. An accidental release of anthrax from a Soviet facility in
April 1979 provides us with the only known “natural experiment” of aerosolized
release of the bacteria; that accident resulted in hundreds of deaths and proved
beyond a doubt that biological organisms could be weaponized with lethal conse-
quences. On a smaller scale, in 1984 a group of politically motivated individuals
intentionally contaminated salad bars in Oregon with
Salmonella typhimuium
,
resulting in over 750 cases. A Japanese cult released the nerve gas sarin in the
Tokyo subway system in 1995, resulting in 20 deaths and thousands of injuries.
The CDC and other federal agencies currently list
Bacillus anthracis
(anthrax),
Variola major
(smallpox),
C. botulinum
toxin (botulism),
Yersinia pestis
(plague),
Franciscella tularensis
(tularemia), and viral hemorrhagic fevers (Ebola virus,
lassa virus) as category A agents — those that are the most likely to be used as
potentially lethal weapons. This section will briefly discuss two of the major
agents, smallpox and anthrax. Due to the significant pathogenicity of each of
these agents, individuals seeking to employ their use, especially in large amounts,
would require substantial knowledge, expertise, and laboratory equipment, as well
as protection against accidental exposure (e.g., vaccination or antibiotics).
Smallpox
Smallpox, a disease that killed approximately 300 million people worldwide in
the twentieth century alone, may have been one of the first microbial agents
to be used as a weapon. The only remaining stocks of smallpox are currently
being held in secure locations in the United States and Russia. The WHO has
recently voted to delay destruction of the remaining smallpox stocks, raising
the possibility of their misappropriation and use as weapons. Because immu-
nization against smallpox was halted in 1976 following a successful worldwide
eradication program, a significant number of the U.S. population would be at
risk from a bioterrorism attack. Although individuals vaccinated prior to 1976
