4-2: Biological Warfare

Question 1

What is a BW agent?

Answer 1

live microorganism or a toxic compound derived from a biological origin that is intended for use in military operations/acts of terrorism

Question 2

What are the two categories of biological agents?

Answer 2

Pathogens & Toxins

Question 3

What is the most effective way to deliver a BW agent?

Answer 3

aerosol

Question 4

What are the three primary ways a BW agent enters the body?

Answer 4

inhalation, ingestion, and percutaneous (dermal)

Question 5

What are the categories of pathogens?

Answer 5

bacteria, rickettsiae, viruses, protozoa, prions, fungi

Question 6

What are the different bacterial diseases?

Answer 6

Anthrax, Tularemia, Plague

Question 7

How is rickettsia transmitted and what are the different diseases of humans?

Answer 7

vectors (ticks), Typhus/Rocky Mountain spotted fever/Query fever

Question 8

Is there a vaccine available for typhus?

Answer 8

No

Question 9

List the human diseases caused by VIRUS

Answer 9

Smallpox, Ebola Viral Hemorrhagic Fever

Question 10

What are the onset symptoms for small pox?

Answer 10

fever, malaise, headache, severe backache, abdominal pain, vomiting

Question 11

How is ebola VHF transmitted?

Answer 11

direct contact with infected blood, secretions, organs, or semen

Question 12

What are the different types of fungi?

Answer 12

mold, mildew, smut, rust, mushrooms, puffballs, yeast

Question 13

What is an endotoxin?

Answer 13

bacterial toxin that is released after an organism dies

Question 14

How are toxins categorized?

Answer 14

Source and Effect

Question 15

What are the different sources of toxins?

Answer 15

Mycotoxins, Bacterial toxins, Algal toxins, Animal venoms, Plant toxins

Question 16

What areas do mycotoxins affect?

Answer 16

skin, eyes, respiratory system, gut

Question 17

What animals possess tetrodotoxin?

Answer 17

newt, puffer fish, blue-ringed octopus

Question 18

What are the categories based on toxin’s physiological effects?

Answer 18

Neurotoxins, Cytotoxins, Enterotoxins, Dermatoxins

Question 19

Toxins destroy an organism by overwhelming the organism’s ability to rid itself of poison, aka _________. Although they are not living organisms, toxins react with _________ of the human immune system.

Answer 19

intoxication, antibodies

Question 20

Volatility measures…

Answer 20

how readily an agent evaporates

Question 21

Delivery methods for BW agents

Answer 21

aerosol, contamination of food/water, injection

Question 22

Environmental that affect toxin/pathogen aerosols

Answer 22

direct sunlight, humidity (high retards evaporation of wet aerosol, low favorable for spread of dry agents), wind, temp (cold slows growth), atmospheric pollutants (can reduce viability of pathogens)

Question 23

3 characteristics that determine the suitability of pathogens for use as BW agents

Answer 23

viability (must be able to survive long enough to reach the target), communicability (how it will be transferred from person to person), incubation period (time required for pathogens to establish themselves in the body of the host and produce symptoms)

Question 24

poisonous compounds produced by fungi, fermentation, aerosol attack in the form of yellow/oily rain

Answer 24

Mycotoxins

Question 25

exotoxins: released by living organism endotoxins: released when organism dies; botulinum is one of the most potent bacterial toxin (exotoxin)

Answer 25

Bacterial toxin

Question 26

some fresh/salt water toxins produce this when algae blooms decompose

Answer 26

Algal toxin

Question 27

less stable than toxins from fungi/plants; tetrodotoxin is from newt/puffer fish/blue rings octopus; palytoxin is produced by a soft coral animal

Answer 27

Animal venoms

Question 28

Oldest form of biological weaponry from curare/castor bean plant

Answer 28

Plant toxins

Question 29

interfere with the transmission of nerve impulses, some animal venoms and algal toxins

Answer 29

Neurotoxin

Question 30

Most powerful neurotoxin

Answer 30

Botulinum, death usually occurs in 24 to 72 hours

Question 31

cause cellular destruction or interfere with metabolic processes, symptoms resemble chem agents (blistering/choking/vomiting), (i.e. ricin from castor beans)

Answer 31

Cytotoxins

Question 32

bacterial exotoxins that attack the intestinal tract, symptoms can last long but death rate is low, (SEB: common source of food poisoning outbreaks, resistant to freezing and heat stable, milk)

Answer 32

Enterotoxins

Question 33

penetrate intact skin, extremely stablish and can persist for years at room temp, can be treated with a topical/anti-vesicant cream

Answer 33

Dermatoxins

Question 34

What group of toxins are the only type categorized are Dermatoxins?

Answer 34

T-2 mycotoxins

Question 35

Most common method of transmission for pathogens

Answer 35

vectors

Question 36

What two pathogens have vaccination requirements mandated by the DOD and who must it be administered to?

Answer 36

Anthrax & Smallpox; CBR response team and any member entering into an area of threat

Question 37

What characteristics make toxins ideal candidates for use as BW agents?

Answer 37

stability in storage, high toxicity, persistency in environment, ability to be economically produced in large quantities, ability to be released as an aerosol, not detectable

Question 38

What is anthrax?

Answer 38

infected thru the skin via infected animals/animal products, causes respiratory distress

Question 39

What is rickettsiae?

Answer 39

smaller than most bacteria, resemble viruses in that they require living tissue for reproduction, but can perform some metabolic processes independently, transmitted by ticks

Question 40

What is a virus?

Answer 40

submicroscopic, intracellular parasite that lacks a system for own metabolism and must live in the cells of selected hosts, viruses enter a living cell, then take over the biological processes of the cell which can eventually lead to cell death, cause 60% of all infectious diseases

Question 41

What is protozoa?

Answer 41

single celled organisms that have the ability of locomotion, they are larger than bacteria and live in moist habitats, would most likely be used to contaminate food, examples: amebic dysentery and malaria

Question 42

What are prions?

Answer 42

can cause neurodegenerative diseases characterized by loss of motor control, dementia, paralysis, wasting, and eventual death; they convert normal proteins into prions, extremely heat resistant to heat and chemicals, example: mad cow disease