ITER/B.Tech/HSS1011/2nd Sem

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE Subham Ram CSIT C, 1441017202 Institute of Technical Education and Research, Bhubaneswar

Abstract Biological warfare is the intentional use of microorganisms and toxins of biological origin to produce disease and death in humans, livestock or crops. Countries at war or terrorist organisation use biomedical weapons because of its low production cost, easy availability of wide range of disease producing agents, their ability to remain undetected by security systems and their effortless transportation. Some preferred biological agents are Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia pestis, viruses causing haemorrhage fevers like Ebola and Lassa, small pox viruses or any genetically engineered organism designed to kill. Dispersal can be done by aerosol sprays, explosives or food and water. Biological warfare can cause huge deaths suddenly and can continue for a long time. Concerns about the matter are high because of the increasing number of Nations involved in production of biological warfare agents. The need of the hour is to develop international cooperation and take preventive measures.

Keywords Biological agents, terrorism, war, death.

Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with the intent to kill or disable humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Defence against biological weapons should not only be considered a national security issue, but also public health priority. Sustainable defence, response and deterrence against a biological attack are essential things to be considered by the government. Biological weapons are actually microorganisms that infect and grow in the target host producing a clinical disease that kills or disables the targeted host. These include biological toxins as well as substances that interfere with normal behaviour, such as hormones, neuropeptides and cytokines. With present technology, it is possible to design and manufacture substances that mimic the actions of biologics. We will be able to create designer substances that can be specifically targeted to a particular cell type in an enemy. Genetically modified anthrax was developed by Russia which may be able to ride off the vaccine that American troops receive. 1

ITER/B.Tech/HSS1011/2nd Sem

Biological weapons are used because of many advantages of these weapons over other weapons such as low production costs. They are also called poor man’s weapons of mass destruction. Large quantities of biological weapons can be produced in small duration in small facilities located in small areas. Non detection by routine security systems is also an attraction. It is easy to access a wide range of disease producing biological agents. Biological toxins are among the most toxic agents known. For example the quantity of Botox in the dot of ‘i’ is enough to kill ten people if distributed properly. A single bioweapon can theoretically produce the desired amount of outcome in target host because it reproduces in the host. Biological weapons have additional bonus of the infrastructure left behind by the enemy. But there are some disadvantages to producing biological weapons too. It is difficult to protect the workers involved in its production or transportation or delivery at all times. There comes difficulty in maintaining quality control and required containment during growth and harvesting of agents. Delivery problems include destruction of agents on UV light incidence and the agents may also disperse in nondesired areas due to inconsistency in wind patterns. They are difficult to control once released and hence may affect the launching country if anything goes wrong. What are the top biological weapons choices can a difficult question to answer because of the extreme secrecy maintained in these matters. Bacillus anthracis or Anthrax has a bad reputation because of its high toxicity. A millionth gram of anthrax constitutes lethal inhalation dose. It is extremely stable and can be stored indefinitely as dry powder. Its production is easy and cheap and no high technology is needed. There is very limited capability available to detect this agent. Small pox has long been used in biological warfare. At least ten countries have quietly kept the small pox virus. It is a prime agent because of the attributes such as genetic code sequenced, highly infectious, easily cultivable, most of the world’s population is susceptible, mortality rate fifty percent and has no treatment. Some other top biological agents are Yersinia pestis which causes plague, Coxiella burnetii which causes Q fever, Ebola virus, Botox, Aflatoxin, Ricin and Fusarium oxysporum. Scud missiles, motor vehicles, remote control devices may be used to deliver biological weapons in warfare. Indian Intelligence agencies have said that the threat of a biological warfare against India is not something they would rule out. A recent report by the BioWeapons Monitor listed India's position on biological warfare. There is a plausible threat of bio weapons use, though the chances of state actors using it against India are slim. However, there is a threat from the non-state actors like terrorists, criminals or crazy scientists. 2

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India has not faced a single bioterrorism incident, either from non-state actors or from inter-state rivalries involving capable government agents. Of course, we often face the so-called 'bio scares' intermittently due to the suspicious nature of a natural outbreak or a possible human intervention. For example, the Plague in Surat, Japanese Encephalitis in Siliguri, recent Bird flu and Swine Flu outbreaks in Northeast and western India. Also, our country has had its share of man-made bio weapons related scares and blackmails in the past. 'Bio-scares' have happened where a possible angle of individuals or scientist with criminal intent, could be noticed in the last decade. The 2001 postal letter scares in India (followed by the actual anthrax letter attacks in the US). All were hoax and some letters did contain wheat flour-like powdery substance. For instance, powder laced letters were received by the then Maharashtra deputy chief minister's office till late October 2001, were found to be anthrax negative. In October 2010, a threat letter from an unknown terrorist group called Indian Mujahideen (Assam) to launch a biological war in the northeast state of Assam; an example of bio terror blackmailing by non-state actors. Their demands were to free all jihadi leaders held at the Guwahati central jail, end operations against jihadi forces in Assam and stop all ongoing development projects in Assam. Recently, the brother of US Vice President Joe Biden received a package allegedly from India containing a white powder, though it being a bio weapon has been ruled out. The Indian government has recognised the threat from bio weapons as real and imminent. Both the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Home Affairs place high priority on this issue. Ex-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underscored the fact that the government was working towards mitigating biological weapon threats. In July 2008, India's National Disaster Management Authority devised a draft plan to counter the threat of biological disaster, including man-made and natural outbreaks. We have seen actual movement of National Disaster Response Force during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. NDRF teams were deployed with prophylaxis for anthrax and nerve-gas antidotes and were equipped with residual vapour detectors, chemical agent monitors, water poisoning detector kits and three-colour detector papers to tackle any biological incidents at the venues in New Delhi. As far as India is concerned, a possible bioterrorism tactic would appeal to Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Tayiba and other Kashmir centric groups. LeT is aware of the potential utility of bio weapon pathogen as it had observed the large-scale disruptions during the US anthrax letter cases. Also, it does not have to recruit or employ microbiologists or life scientists to carry out bioterrorist attacks. As a matter of fact it has the most robust medical and path lab network in Pakistan and many of 3

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its activists are trained medical professionals. Ad Dawa medical missions, Taiba Hospitals and Path Labs in Lahore, Karachi and number of mobile dispensaries in Pakistan are all accessible by LeT. Potentially the infrastructures and the manpower at the disposal of LeT and other international terrorist organisations can be modified to develop bio weapon pathogens without any large investments or at least can be very useful for them to spread bio-scare if the leadership wishes. Some of the preventive measures include developing full international cooperation on dealing with this problem through the United Nations. Educating the potential target populations can help. Continuous improvement of biological weapons monitoring techniques and equipment and stockpiling of fighting supplies should be done. Considering the real threat of a large-scale biological attack, defence against biological weapons should not only be considered a national security issue, but also public health priority. The security measures need to be strengthened in order to successfully detect and respond to an attack, which will have the side benefit of enabling the public health system to better fulfil its commitment in protecting the health of the population.

References:  Atlas RM. Biological weapons pose challenge for microbiological community. American Society for Microbiology News 1998; 64:383-388.      

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