Biological Warfare

Since about 1960, the development of genetic engineering has greatly expanded the possibilities of biological warfare. Genetic engineering is the process by which an organism's genetic properties are manipulated so that they acquire desired characteristics. In the case of biological warfare, the desired characteristics are harmful to mankind. Several issues arise when tampering with the genetic makeup of microorganisms such as the development of new diseases for which there is no treatment available for either opponent. Genetic engineering can also be applied for the purposes of making existing pathogens more pathogenic (disease-causing).

Other known biological agents that are considered biological weapons and might be used during biological warfare are botulism, brucellosis, Q fever, smallpox, saxitoxin, ebola hemorrhagic fever, tularemia, and staphylococcus enterotoxin.

Like most potential biological weapons, brucellosis occurs naturally among domestic and wild animals. It is spread by one of three varieties of the Brucella bacterium. It is seldom fatal, but causes a long-term, debilitating illness characterized by fever, loss of weight, general lassitude, and depression. Brucellosis is a biological weapon that does not kill people, but renders them so ill that they are unable to fight effectively. The disease can be treated with tetracycline.

Q fever is a biological agent that is not particularly harmful but is highly infectious. It is caused by a bacterial strain of the rickettsial organism Coxiella burnetii and produces headache, fever, chills, sweats, and a loss of appetite. Scientists believe that the condition is often mistaken for the flu. Like brucellosis, the value of Q fever is not in its toxicity, but in its ability to be easily spread. No more than a dozen microbes are needed to initiate an infection. It represents a particularly noxious biological weapon in its potential to be modified to cause disease or death.

From time to time, coastal waters in various parts of the world develop a reddish tinge because of a unicellular organisms called dinoflagellates. These so-called red tides are a warning that seafood from these waters are potentially unsafe. The dinoflagellates release a variety of toxins including saxitoxin. Some of these toxins quickly cause a type of paralysis that can cause death in humans in less than an hour. U.S. scientists prepared and tested shellfish toxins, including saxitoxin, for possible use as a biological weapon after World War II.

Many forms of Staphylococcus exist, some harmless and some quite dangerous. They are often responsible for specific forms of food poisoning and, in rare instances, exposure to these microorganisms can lead to toxic shock syndrome within hours. A person infected with Staphylococcus contaminated food experiences severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and is essentially incapacitated for two or three days. Staphylococcus has a practical advantage in that it can be dried and stored for up to a year without losing its toxicity.

Tularemia is a plague-like disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. After an incubation period of about a week, a person infected with the bacterium begins to develop a fever accompanied by chills and headaches. If the bacterium is inhaled, symptoms also include chest pain and difficulty in breathing. The death rate is relatively low when exposure occurs through the skin, but much higher when inhaled. Delivery of a genetically modified form of the bacteria by aerosolization would cause a disease that is expected to have a case fatality rate which may be higher compared to the 5–10% seen when disease is acquired naturally.