Lecture 6 - bioterrorism Flashcards
what is biowarfare?
BW agents aremicroorganisms that can be used to cause disease in humans, animals, or plants.They can be used in covert or overt ways.
what were the early applications of biowarfare?
One of the first recorded uses of biologicalwarfareoccurred in 1347.
Mongol forces were trying to capture a strategic fort in theBlack Seaport of Caffa (nowUkraine) from the Genoese traders- this went on for years
Mongolcatapultedplague-infested bodies over the walls to force an end of the siege
Plague is a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis
Might have caused the spread of plague across Europe as people fled
what are biowarfare agents?
Mainly bacteria
A small number of viruses
Anthrax is top of the charts-
Bacillus anthracis (causes Anthrax) : a keystone of BW programmes for the last 100 years
What distinguishes a potential BW agent from just any germ?…Infectivity; casualty effectiveness; resistance; availability; and means of transmission
Theodor Rosebury and Elvin Kabat, “Bacterial Warfare: A critical analysis of the available agents, their possible military applications, and the means for protections against them,” later published as Rosebury at al, “Biological Warfare,” J Immunol Sept 1947
what was Roberts kochs theory?
Robert Koch, 1870s: importance of Koch on the global development of microbiology
Before Koch, fevers, diarrhoea, boils, coughs and breathlessness, that regularly spread throughout communities, were blamed on magic, evil winds and bad smells
what’s the life cycle of anthrax?
A disease that kills to complete its lifecycle - allows the release of spores “the deadly package”
and look at ss for how it is spread
what are the types of anthrax?
Inhalational anthrax.
Fixed and sectioned human brain shows hemorrhagic meningitis
Cutanteous anthraxBlackened lesion on a forearm: tissue necrosis
Mortality rates from anthrax vary, depending on exposure:
20% for cutaneous anthrax without antibiotics
25 - 75% for gastrointestinal anthrax;
inhalation anthraxhas a fatality rate that is 80% or higher
Main reservoir for the disease is cattle: main focus was to develop a vaccine
what are the anthrax vaccine business?
Dozens of scientists, technicians, and visitors trained in basic BA culture techniques
Develop Pasteur institutes globally to produce fresh local anthrax vaccine
what is the incidence of anthrax
An important disease of livestock and humans 1958: - worldwide incidence of 20-100,000 human cases annually- Economically important
what is the Louis Pasteur, 1881: BA mass production
Pouilly-le-Fort public vaccine trial
1881: mass anthrax vaccine production began
When the visitors arrived on June 2, they were astounded. The twenty-four sheep, the goat, and the six cows which had received the vaccinations of attenuated anthrax, all appeared healthy. In contrast, twenty-one sheep and the goat which had not been vaccinated had already died of anthrax; two other unvaccinated sheep died in front of the viewers, and the one remaining sheep died at the end of the day.
why is BA a goof candidate for a weapon?
It was deadly and it was available-
BA was developed as a standard organism in microbiology education, institutions & technology in the late 1800s
Means of transmission-
Scientists focus on inhalational BA: the making of a weapon, 1880s – 1950s
how was anthrax used during world war 1?
BA: German program of sabotage of Allied neutral powers, 1912 – 1917
During World War I, over 1 million horses were used by the British alone.
Supply of horses from the USA to UK was key to the war effort
BA deployed against animals in USA, Norway, Romania, Argentina.
Dr. Anton Dilger (USA) trained at the KI
The disease Glanders (caused by Burkholderia mallei) was spread deliberately by German agents to infect large numbers of horses on the Eastern Front.
While the United States began work on biological warfare agents in the 1940’s individuals working in the US labs became infected.B. malleihas been considered a potential threat since the 1940’s because of its high infectivity, degree of incapacitation, and agent availability
what is the French BW program 1921 - 40
Auguste A. Trillat: “microbial clouds”
Suspensions of BA: mass produced
Use airplanes to carry microbial bombs
Aim was to infect whole populations
BUT: failed to develop effective inhalational formulations
Relied on cuts and lesions from bombs
Technically difficult to achieve the “clouds”
Where did the breakthrough in delivery come from?
Woolsorter’s Disease = inhalational anthrax
1850 - 1910
what is BA and the British Bioweapon program
aul Fildes, 1940 led the programme at Porton Down comprised of 45 people
Develop new BA strains (M-36)
Developed aerosol testing apparatus- not just clumps but single spores
Infection occurred by the direct passage of
the organisms through the alveolar wall into
the blood stream.
Plan drop 4 million 4lb anthrax bombs on six major German cities. Predicted deaths: 3 million civilians
Additional plan to drop 5 million linseed-anthrax cakes on Germany, wiping out its beef and diary industry. Codenamed Operation Vegetarian
what is the USA and its industrialisation
US special projects division had thousands of staff
US Government refurbished an ordanance plant in Indiana
6000-acre in size
Ten 20,000 gallon fermenters
Own rail line
Investment of over $30 million dollars
Produced the bombs but were never used
Nuclear weapons were developed
Germany was defeated by conventional means
what are the more recent threats of anthrax?
BWs are attractive to countries that cannot produce nuclear WMDs
Iraq, South Africa, North Korea…
Iraq 1988: purchased strains of anthrax from the USA (honestly)
Rihhab Rashid Taha (trained at University of East Anglia) led their programme
The Al Hakum facility began mass production of weapons-gradeanthraxin 1989 and ultimately produced 8,000 liters or more.
The 8,000 litre figure is according to a declaration by the Iraqi government itself.
Hussein had prisoners tied to stakes and bombarded with anthrax and chemical weapons for experimental purposes
Likely all was destroyed in 1991 as verified by the UN
what is bioterrorism using salmonella?
1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack in Dalles, Oregon Largest bioterror attack in US history
Aim was to incapacitate locals and win the County election
Deliberate contamination of salad bars using Salmonella Typhimurium
751 individuals were poisoned; 45 hospitalized
Not published in any leading journals due to fear over copycat attacks
Source: Germs: Biological Weapons and America’s Secret War, Miller.
2001 New York Times Non-Fiction Bestseller!
what are the 1993-1995 Tokyo terror attacks
The Aum Shinrikyo cult attempted to disperse botulinum toxin but this was a failure because the cult had failed to acquire an active strain of C. botulinum (availability)
Aum Shinrikyo’s then tried an anthrax programme. They obtained anthrax spores from a sympathizer outside the group. The strain they received was a Sterne vaccine strain, incapable of causing harm. (availability!)
The cult carried out two anthrax attacks in 1993: One from the roof of their headquarters building in Kameido. Another from a truck with a custom spraying device, targeting the Diet building, Imperial Palace, and Tokyo Tower.
what are the 2001 anthrax attacks
In 2001 letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to newspapers offices and US senators
Killed 5 people and infected 17 more
Concern was that this was an attack by a foreign power
White Houseofficials pressuredFBI DirectorRobert Muellerto publicly blameal-Qaedafollowing theSeptember 11 attacks.
Possible “secret messages” in the letters?
TTT = Phenylalanine (single-letter designator F)
AAT = Asparagine (single letter amino acid code N)
TAT = Tyrosine (single-letter designator Y)
The FBI Summary Report proceeds to say:
“From this analysis, two possible hidden meanings emerged: (1) ‘FNY’ – a verbal assault on New York,
and (2) PAT –the nickname of the chief suspects former Colleague”
Four of the media letters had been sent to
New York
Increased suspicion that this was a scientist
what was the investigation into the 2001 attacks?
The anthrax letters are believed to have been mailed from Princeton, New Jersey
Investigators found anthrax spores near the University campus
All of the material was derived from the same bacterial strain known as the Ames strain
The Ames strain was then distributed to sixteen bio-research labs within the U.S. and three other locations
Radiocarbon dating established that the anthrax was cultured no more than two years before the mailings
The water used to process the anthrax spores came from a source in the northeastern United States
Clearly this was most likely a homegrown attack
Bacillus anthracis genome analysis
DNA sequencing of the anthrax taken from Robert Stevens (the first victim), was conducted at The Institute for Genomic Research
It was noted that there were variants or mutations
in the anthrax powders
Based on the testing, the FBI concluded that flask RMR-1029 was the parent material of the anthrax spore powder.
Ivins (chief suspect) had sole control over that flask.
Ivins worked at the government’s biodefense labs at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland.
