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It also recommended that methods of delivery by aircraft be perfected
(research on large-capacity reservoirs, dispersion by pressure generator,
emission ramps, rain diffusers, mist, aerosol). Criteria for the choice of
agent included high virulence, resistance (notably to explosion), long
storage life, and potential for large-scale production. Costedoat proposed
the use of the following in munitions:
Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium tetani
(tetanus),
Clostridium oedematiens
(gangrene),
Clostridium histolyticum
(gan-
grene),
Clostridium sporogenes
(gangrene),
Clostridium perfringens
(gan-
grene), and
Clostridium botulinum
(botulism)
.
The biological agents to be
used in explosive vectors or dispersed in strategic situations were
Burk-
holderia mallei
(glanders),
Burkholderia pseudomallei
(melioidosis), and
Brucella melitensis
(Malta fever). The report recommended rinderpest and
peripneumonic virus as the biological agents suitable for delivery by ex-
plosive devices or dispersal equipment used to infect livestock-rearing
areas.
30
Undoubtedly bearing in mind the budgetary constraints that would
limit the scope of the program, the report concluded by recommend-
ing the adoption of a “minimum” program whose principal activities
would be
•
Selection and preparation of agents
•
Study of the preservation of vitality and virulence of lyophilized agents
•
Study of the best storage conditions (suspension in the form of liquid,
gel, dust, ampules)
•
Study of the antiseptic properties of certain materials (including metals
and plastics, used in explosive devices)
•
Study of resistance to explosion of germs and determination of mini-
mum active doses on wounds
•
Determination of minimum active doses in aerosolized delivery
•
Study of microbial aerosols in enclosed spaces and under varying condi-
tions of humidity, temperature, light, pressure, and other factors
•
Study of the stability of microbial aerosols in the open air (dispersal by
aircraft and the monitoring of stability under varying meteorological
conditions)
•
Protection and disinfection
It was upon the recommendations contained in Costedoat's report that
France based its BW program from 1953 into 1956. The genuine influ-
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