biological warfare/ bioterrorism

Question 1

definition

Answer 1

the deliberate dispersal of infective or toxic agents to kill or incapacitate man/ or to destroy or severely damage livestock, crops and disrupt the food chain

Question 2

Biological warfare

Answer 2

in war- towards armed forces

Question 3

bioterrorism

Answer 3

used against civilian populations and can be state sponsored or extreme groups

Question 4

targets of BW and terrorism

Answer 4

military, civilian, livestock, crops

Question 5

biothreat agents

Answer 5

viruses, bacteria, fungi, toxins

Question 6

viruses

Answer 6

smallpox, ebola, influenza, FMDV

Question 7

bacteria

Answer 7

anthrax, plague, meliodosis

Question 8

fungi

Answer 8

coccoidomycosis, wheat stem rust, rice blast fungus

Question 9

toxins

Answer 9

botulism, ricin toxins

Question 10

what are biothreats dependent on

Answer 10

infectious does and airborne stability

Question 11

properties of BW

Answer 11

cheap, easy to produce, potent, difficult to attribute

Question 12

production of BW

Answer 12

bacteria are simple to culture, viruses are much harder

Question 13

where are pathogens from

Answer 13

used to be able to buy from culture collections- however after the Golf war when iraq used these from around the world- much harder to acquire

Question 14

How are BW produced e.g. UK

Answer 14

large scale batch cultivation of anthrax spores during WWII in UK. using a medium of marmite, molasses and simple salts in milk jars- very simple. Wasn’t produced to kill humans, but in a last resort if germany managed to take over the uk- to kill live stock and destabilise G economy

Question 15

small pox

Answer 15

virus, transmissible/ lethal agent. brick shaped 300nm 200nm. Mortality 30-50%. Infective dose is 100 particles. vaccine would probs be affective but very few people have it

Question 16

plague

Answer 16

Yersinia pestis. Transmissible/ lethal. Infective dose: 1000 bacteria. Mortality rate close to 100%.

Question 17

plague is more deadly in

Answer 17

pneumonic form

Question 18

cost

Answer 18

1/30 of nuclear weapons- attractive to terrorist groups, less attractive to advanced nations

Question 19

what are the most potent pathogens

Answer 19

botulism and plague- a billion times more so than chlorine

Question 20

infectious dose may

Answer 20

differ to lethal dose- dependent on route of infection

Question 21

likely to be delivered via

Answer 21

airborne rout- causes more severe disease

Question 22

which diseases would have the most harmful effect on a city

Answer 22

anthrax, plague and tularemia

Question 23

airborne stability

Answer 23

in the lab the pathogens survive well, in the open air they do not

Question 24

pathogens are affected y

Answer 24

UV, temp, airborne chemical, rainfall

Question 25

foot and mouth disease outbreak 1981: the airborne hazard

Answer 25

-involved the mass culling of livestock. Originated in Brittany, winds then carried the infection and then onto the isle of wight and then the UK- spread by prevailing wings

Question 26

attribution

Answer 26

how to distinguish between: natural/ accidental and deliberate outbreak

Question 27

attribution and genome sequencing

Answer 27

-fis they sequenced the DNA and matched against database strains of anthrax to diff labs. How’ve many labs had same strain. Issue being that it only gives pop. level of genetic makeup of bacteria

Question 28

looking at rare spontaneous variants

Answer 28

will show how phenotypes differ (e.g. shape of growth) and therefore can find original stock

Question 29

controlling the problem

Answer 29

• prohibition of weapon acquisition and production
• defensive capability
• the biological weapons convention
• export control
• security of premises containing CL3 and CL4 labs
• vetting of staff
• code of conducts
• refusal to publish papers which aid weapons production

Question 30

defensive capability

Answer 30

development of detectors and identification equipment. Vaccines and treatments for disease. Respirators and protective clothing

Question 31

Biological weapons convention 1972

Answer 31

forbids development, production and stockpiling of BW - thought to be weak, it is ineffective against terrorists and there i no verification regime- attribution remains a key issue

Question 32

Markov assassination 1978

Answer 32

Bulgarian writer stabbed with umbrella which inserted a pellet fun of Ricin toxin on waterloo bridge- died

Question 33

Anthrax in mail- 2001

Answer 33

anthrax pores sent throughout US mail- 19 people developed infection and 5 fatalities- perpetrators never identified, but thought to have come from a sophisticated lab since weapon grade level

Question 34

Aum Shinrikyo cult

Answer 34

Japan- carried out an aerosol dispersion of anthrax from an 8 storey build in Tokyo. No report of infection in the local population. The strain used by the cult was later identified as a commercially available vaccine strain commonly used in Japan