Week 11 lecture 20 biowarfare Flashcards
In the history of bio warfare, what happened in the 1300s?
Siege of kaffa where mongols threw ppl with plague over wall
What was a regulation attempt to stop bio and chemical warfare?
the 1925 Geneva protocol
The geneva protocol still is upheld T/F?
FAlse; tjhere was not a way in place to keep it in check
The issue wityh the Dachau facility was?
bioweapons testsed against innocent ppl uring WWII
The issue with the Dachau facility and Gruinard island was?
bioweapons tested against innocent ppl during WWII
What type of bioweapon was used in Gruinard island?
Anthrax warfare
What did the bioweapons program from Japan do during WWII?
Contaminated Chinese cities’ water and food supply
Why is Fort Detrick , MD special?
That is where the biowarfare program was initiated in the USA. There were large scale anthrax weapons + defensive research
The anthrax outbreak in the USSR was in which lab?
tularemia lab
What was the frst and largest USA bioterror attack?
Rajneeshee Cult in the USA
The Rajneeshee cult spread what where in the US?
salmonella in Portland, OR, USA
What are the levels of the War on Terror in the USA? What is the highest risk?
A B and C; A
___ Prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer,
stockpiling and use of biological / toxin weapons & WMDs
* Signed by nearly all countries (183)
* Review conferences held every 5 years
* Again, no clear mechanisms to enforce the treaty exist.
United Nations (UN) Biological & Toxin Weapons Convention
Steps to mass produce bioweapons
Procure the agent, have skill for storage/handling, develop transmission (experts and money basically)
What is the best (worst for people’s survival) way to spread a bioweapon?
Aerosol transmission
Smallpox
Anthrax
Plague
Botulism
Tularemia
Viral hemorrhagic fevers (Ebola)
are which categories and whY>
A; not easy treatment/vaccination
Weaknesses of smallpox as a weapon are?
only in 2 locations in world, easy diagnosis, available vaccine
The most likely bioweapon to be used is? Why?
anthrax; easily found in nature and causes severe disease
Weaknesses of anthrax as a weapon are?
Susceptible to major antibiotics
Antitoxin available (stockpiled)
Vaccine effective
among the types of anthrax which is most deadly? Why?
Inhalational, leads to septicemia and respiratory failure
Anthrax is not able to spread from person to person T/F?
TRUE
Weaknesses of plague as a weapon are?
treated with antibiotics and doesnot survive for long
The most potent category A bioweapon toxin by weight
Botulinum Neurotoxin (BoNT)
Weaknesses ofbotulism as a weapon are?
There is an antitoxin treatment available and stocked, and vaccine is not approved but is developed
Tularemia is also called ___ because that isthe reservoir
rabbit fever
How is tularermia spread?
inhalation of contaminated dusts or aerosols
(NOT direct person to person)
Tularemia Disease causes what complications?
respiratory, pneumonic and
systemic infection
* 7% mortality in untreated cases
Positives of ebola as a bioweapon are?
it is easy to spread person to person and has high mortality with no cure
Weaknesses of ebola as a weapon are?
Ebola is unstable and hard to grow lots of. Plus a vaccine does exist for it
Transmission from Inhaled barnyard dust
Dirt with feces, urine, placenta, milk
Resistant to drying and very stable
Can be carried long distanced by wind
what am i describing an d wat category bioweapon is this?
Q fwever; B category
Weaknesses of Q fever as a bioweapon are?
low mortality/virulence and treatable and vaccine available
Weaknesses of Ricin toxin as a bioweapon are?
Can’t spread person to person
What type of categoy of disease is foot and mouth disease?
Category C and livestock bioterrorism
What type of category of disease is foot and mouth disease?
Category C and livestock bioterrorism that would cause food sthortage and economic prioblems
What type of category of disease is foot and mouth disease?
Category C and livestock bioterrorism that would cause food shortage and economic problems
Highly toxic toxin extracted from the castor bean
Grown at home, difficult to limit/regulate
* Can be in form of powder, mist, pellet, dissolved in water, etc
* Transmission by injection, oral ingestion, inhalation
Similar symptoms as anthrax except no antidote
* Fever, nausea, organ failure, pneumonia, shock
* Supportive care only
Has been used/attempted as a weapon MANY times
What am I describing and what category is it?
Ricin - Category B
