Biological warfare (BW)—also known as germ warfare—is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons (often termed "bio-weapons", "biological threat agents", or "bio-agents") are living organisms or replicating entities (viruses, which are not universally considered "alive") that reproduce or replicate within their host victims. Entomological (insect) warfare is also considered a type of biological weapon. Biological weapons may be employed in various ways to gain a strategic or tactical advantage over an adversary, either by threats or by actual deployments.
Like some of the chemical weapons, biological weapons may also be useful as area denial weapons. These agents may be lethal or non-lethal,
and may be targeted against a single individual, a group of people, or
even an entire population. They may be developed, acquired, stockpiled
or deployed by nation states or by non-national groups. In the latter case, or if a nation-state uses it clandestinely, it may also be considered bioterrorism.[1]There is an overlap between BW and chemical warfare, as the use of toxins produced by living organisms is considered under the provisions of both the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention. Toxins and Psychochemical weapons are often referred to as midspectrum agents.
Unlike bioweapons, these midspectrum agents do not reproduce in their
host and are typically characterized by shorter incubation periods
Overview
Offensive biological warfare, including mass production, stockpiling and use of biological weapons, was outlawed by the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). The rationale behind this treaty, which has been ratified or acceded to by 165 countries
as of 2011, is to prevent a biological attack which could conceivably
result in large numbers of civilian fatalities and cause severe
disruption to economic and societal infrastructure.[citation needed]
Many countries, including signatories of the BWC, currently pursue
research into the defense or protection against BW, which is not
prohibited by the BWC. A nation or group that can pose a credible threat of mass casualty
has the ability to alter the terms on which other nations or groups
interact with it. Biological weapons allow for the potential to create a
level of destruction and loss of life far in excess of nuclear,
chemical or conventional weapons, relative to their mass and cost of
development and storage. Therefore, biological agents may be useful as
strategic deterrents in addition to their utility as offensive weapons
on the battlefield.[3][4]
As a tactical weapon for military use, a significant problem with a
BW attack is that it would take days to be effective, and therefore
might not immediately stop an opposing force. Some biological agents (smallpox, pneumonic plague) have the capability of person-to-person transmission via aerosolized respiratory droplets.
This feature can be undesirable, as the agent(s) may be transmitted by
this mechanism to unintended populations, including neutral or even
friendly forces. While containment of BW is less of a concern for
certain criminal or terrorist organizations, it remains a significant
concern for the military and civilian populations of virtually all
nations.Ideal characteristics of a biological agent to be used as a weapon against humans are high infectivity, high virulence, non-availability of vaccines, and availability of an effective and efficient delivery system.
Stability of the weaponized agent (ability of the agent to retain its
infectivity and virulence after a prolonged period of storage) may also
be desirable, particularly for military applications, and the ease of
creating one is often considered. Control of the spread of the agent may
be another desired characteristic.
The primary difficulty is not the production of the biological agent,
as many biological agents used in weapons can often be manufactured
relatively quickly, cheaply and easily. Rather, it is the weaponization,
storage and delivery in an effective vehicle to a vulnerable target
that pose significant problems. For example, Bacillus anthracis is considered an effective agent for several reasons. First, it forms hardy spores,
perfect for dispersal aerosols. Second, this organism is not considered
transmissible from person to person, and thus rarely if ever causes
secondary infections. A pulmonary anthrax infection starts with ordinary
influenza-like symptoms and progresses to a lethal hemorrhagic mediastinitis within 3–7 days, with a fatality rate that is 90% or higher in untreated patients.[19] Finally, friendly personnel can be protected with suitable antibiotics.
A large-scale attack using anthrax would require the creation of aerosol particles of 1.5 to 5 µm:
larger particles would not reach the lower respiratory tract, while
smaller particles would be exhaled back out into the atmosphere. At this
size, conductive powders tend to aggregate because of electrostatic charges,
hindering dispersion. So the material must be treated to insulate and
neutralize the charges. The weaponized agent must be resistant to
degradation by rain and ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, while
retaining the ability to efficiently infect the human lung. There are
other technological difficulties as well, chiefly relating to storage of
the weaponized agent.
Agents considered for weaponization, or known to be weaponized, include bacteria such as Bacillus anthracis, Brucella spp., Burkholderia mallei, Burkholderia pseudomallei, Chlamydophila psittaci, Coxiella burnetii, Francisella tularensis, some of the Rickettsiaceae (especially Rickettsia prowazekii and Rickettsia rickettsii), Shigella spp., Vibrio cholerae, and Yersinia pestis. Many viral agents have been studied and/or weaponized, including some of the Bunyaviridae (especially Rift Valley fever virus), Ebolavirus, many of the Flaviviridae (especially Japanese encephalitis virus), Machupo virus, Marburg virus, Variola virus, and Yellow fever virus. Fungal agents that have been studied include Coccidioides spp..[20][21]
Toxins that can be used as weapons include ricin, staphylococcal enterotoxin B, botulinum toxin, saxitoxin, and many mycotoxins. These toxins and the organisms that produce them are sometimes referred to as select agents. In the United States, their possession, use, and transfer are regulated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Select Agent Program. The former US biological warfare program categorized its weaponized anti-personnel bio-agents as either Lethal Agents (Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis, Botulinum toxin) or Incapacitating Agents (Brucella suis, Coxiella burnetii, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, Staphylococcal enterotoxin B).
Anti-agriculture
The United States developed an anti-crop capability during the Cold War that used plant diseases (bioherbicides, or mycoherbicides)
for destroying enemy agriculture. Biological weapons also target
fisheries as well as water-based vegetation. It was believed that
destruction of enemy agriculture on a strategic scale could thwart Sino-Soviet aggression in a general war. Diseases such as wheat blast and rice blast
were weaponized in aerial spray tanks and cluster bombs for delivery to
enemy watersheds in agricultural regions to initiate epiphytotics
(epidemics among plants). When the United States renounced its offensive
biological warfare program in 1969 and 1970, the vast majority of its
biological arsenal was composed of these plant diseases.[citation needed] Enterotoxins and Mycotoxins were not affected by Nixon's order.
Though herbicides are chemicals, they are often grouped with
biological warfare and chemical warfare because they may work in a
similar manner as biotoxins or bioregulators. The Army Biological Laboratory tested each agent and the Army's Technical Escort Unit
was responsible for transport of all chemical, biological, radiological
(nuclear) materials. Scorched earth tactics or destroying livestock and
farmland were carried out in the Vietnam war (cf. Agent Orange)[22] and Eelam War in Sri Lanka.[citation needed]Biological warfare can also specifically target plants to destroy
crops or defoliate vegetation. The United States and Britain discovered
plant growth regulators (i.e., herbicides) during the Second World War, and initiated a herbicidal warfare program that was eventually used in Malaya and Vietnam in counterinsurgency operations.
- Anti-livestock
In 1980s Soviet Ministry of Agriculture had successfully developed variants of foot-and-mouth disease, and rinderpest against cows, African swine fever for pigs, and psittacosis
to kill chicken. These agents were prepared to spray them down from
tanks attached to airplanes over hundreds of miles. The secret program
was code-named "Ecology".[20]Attacking animals is another area of biological warfare intended to
eliminate animal resources for transportation and food. In the First
World War, German agents were arrested attempting to inoculate draft
animals with anthrax, and they were believed to be responsible for
outbreaks of glanders
in horses and mules. The British tainted small feed cakes with anthrax
in the Second World War as a potential means of attacking German cattle
for food denial, but never employed the weapon. In the 1950s, the United
States had a field trial with hog cholera.[citation needed] During the Mau Mau Uprising in 1952, the poisonous latex of the African milk bush was used to kill cattle.[23]Unconnected with inter-human wars, humans have deliberately introduced the rabbit disease Myxomatosis,
originating in South America, to Australia and Europe, with the
intention of reducing the rabbit population – which had devastating but
temporary results, with wild rabbit populations reduced to a fraction of
their former size but survivors developing immunity and increasing
again.
Entomological warfare
Entomological warfare (EW) is a type of biological warfare that uses
insects to attack the enemy. The concept has existed for centuries and
research and development have continued into the modern era. EW has been
used in battle by Japan and several other nations have developed and
been accused of using an entomological warfare program. EW may employ
insects in a direct attack or as vectors to deliver a biological agent, such as plague. Essentially, EW exists in three varieties. One type of EW involves infecting insects with a pathogen and then dispersing the insects over target areas.[24] The insects then act as a vector,
infecting any person or animal they might bite. Another type of EW is a
direct insect attack against crops; the insect may not be infected with
any pathogen but instead represents a threat to agriculture. The final
method uses uninfected insects, such as bees, wasps, etc., to directly
attack the enemy.[25]
.[2]
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