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Bioterrorism
About bioterrorism
8 July 2010 “Our world must take bio-security much more seriously […] It
would be comparatively easy for terrorists to cause mass
Home death by using agents such as anthrax or weaponized
smallpox. Let’s not wait until something has gone terribly
About INTERPOL wrong to act collectively to meet this threat”
News Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, February 13, 2005
Drugs
Criminal organizations "Bioterrorism refers to the
Financial and high-tech intentional release of
crime
biological agents or toxins for
the purpose of harming or
Fugitives killing humans, animals or
Public safety and plants with the intent to
terrorism intimidate or coerce a
government or civilian
Bioterrorism
population to further political
About bioterrorism or social objectives." Bacillus anthracis
An integrated response to (Bioterrorism Incident Pre-
planning and response guide,
bioterrorism
ICPO – INTERPOL, 2007)
Bioterrorism Prevention
Programme The US Centers for Disease
Events and workshops Control gives another
definition:
International co-operation Example of suspect package
Bioterrorism Prevention “A bioterrorism attack is the deliberate release of viruses,
Resource Centre bacteria, or other germs (agents) used to cause illness or
News death in people, animals, or plants. These agents are
typically found in nature, but it is possible that they could
Nuclear and radiological
be changed to increase their ability to cause disease, make
terrorism them resistant to current medicines, or to increase their
Fusion Task Force ability to be spread into the environment. Biological agents
can be spread through the air, through water, or in food.
Firearms & Explosives
Terrorists may use biological agents because they can be
Resolutions extremely difficult to detect and do not cause illness for
Trafficking in human several hours to several days. Some bioterrorism agents,
like the smallpox virus, can be spread from person to
beings
person and some, like anthrax, can not.”
Corruption
Other crime areas Case study – anthrax attacks
Regional activities
International liaison
In September 2001, just a week after the terrorist attacks
on New York and Washington DC, an editor of a US tabloid
Publications died after inhaling a white powder hidden in an envelope he
Recruitment had opened. This case of inhalational anthrax that occurred
Calls for tender in Florida sparked “Amerithrax” – a bioterrorism incident in
which a total of five people died and 17 got ill after being
exposed to letters containing bacillus anthracis spores. A
wave of panic swept the nation. Not only the US was
affected – many other countries had to deal with „white
powder‟ letters supposedly containing the deadly spores.
For the most part, they turned out to be hoaxes, but the
seeds of fear and panic they had sown proved the
effectiveness of this method of intimidating civilian
populations.
This was the most recent and well-known case of
bioterrorism, but statistics show that between 1960 and
1999, more than 200 incidents involving biological agents
were reported in different places in the world. For example,
even before 2001, the Aum Shinrikyo sect in Japan (the
same one responsible for Sarin gas attacks in the Tokyo
metro in 1995) experimented with Ebola, Botulinum Toxin
and anthrax, which it tried to spread in Tokyo via trucks and
sprayer systems.
How long has bioterrorism been a threat?
Bioterrorism has become one of the major challenges of the
21st century, even though biological warfare itself is as old
as the human race. Over the centuries, there have been
many attempts to initiate the spread of infectious diseases;
micro-organisms or toxins of micro-organisms were used as
weapons unleashed on select groups of people such as the
military (for instance, in the Middle Ages, the bodies of
plague victims would be thrown over city walls to
discourage advancing enemy armies). Starting in the 1930s
and up through the Cold War, some states developed
biological warfare programmes which have been long since
dismantled. Only recently has the phenomenon of
bioterrorism itself gained momentum and so bioweapons
have become a threat to civilian populations.
Who are bioterrorists?
Over the years, it has become clear that many different
kinds of people can have an interest in and make use of
biological weapons, from groups such as political
movements or sects to individuals (so-called lone wolves).
Here are some historical examples of bioterrorists who
would fall into those categories:
Independent political organisms: In the 1950s,
Mau Mau, an independence movement in Kenya,
used plant toxins to kill livestock so as to weaken
locals‟ faith in the British administration and
encourage them to join the movement.
Sects: The Rajneeshee group, a religious cult,
contaminated salad bars in Oregon with Salmonella
typhimurium in 1984, causing over 700 people to fall
sick, with over 40 hospitalized.
Individuals (so-called lone wolves): Larry Wayne
Harris, a member of a white supremacist
organization, attempted to spread the plague
bacterium but his attempt was foiled when the
biomedical supply company, surprised at his
impatience to receive the samples, alerted the
police. He was later arrested upon threatening to
spread anthrax in Las Vegas.
These examples were based on Dr. Seth Carus’
comprehensive resource. For more information about
confirmed cases of bioterrorism, as well as examples of
biological crimes please look at: WORKING PAPER
Bioterrorism and Biocrimes: The Illicit Use of
Biological Agents Since 1900. By Dr. Seth W. Carus.
Available online at:
http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/cbw/carus.pdf
What are biological agents?
A biological agent (or pathogen) is a disease-causing
organism or toxin produced from a biological source. These
can include a bacterium, virus, fungus, or biological toxin.
Recent developments in microbiology and genetic
engineering have shown that viruses and bacteria can be
modified so as to make them resistant to antiviral means
and/or antibiotics and thus more lethal.
Some biological agents are easier to manufacture and
distribute than others, thus making them the most
dangerous and deadly. According to the Centers for Disease
Control, these most lethal “Category A Agents” include
anthrax, the bubonic plague, smallpox, botulism, viral
hemorrhagic fever and tularemia.
Why is bioterrorism so dangerous?
Even if this kind of terrorism is not spectacular, it can be
devastating and especially threatening precisely due to its
clandestine nature. Responsibility for bioterrorism acts is
rarely claimed by terrorist groups, as is usually the case
with other types of attacks. A covert attack may thus take a
long time to be detected, as the first visible indication that a
bioweapon had been used would be a great number of
patients with similar symptoms and/or presence of an
unusual infection.
The effects of the attack will be visible on a number of
levels:
Physical - actual diseases;
Psychological - fear, mass panic;
Economic - travel restrictions, business shut-down;
Environmental – visible on humans, animals, plants.
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Last modified on 28 Jan 2010
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