Bioterror Flashcards
what was one of the first instances of biological warfare
siege of caffa- Mongols hurling plague corpses
what percent of biological warfare agents are zoonotic
90%
what make a pathogen category A
-easily disseminated/transmitted
-high mortality rate/significant impact on public health
-might cause panic
-require special action for public health preparedness
what is unit 731
a group used by the Japanese in the early-mid 1900s as guinea pigs for biological warfare experiments
what did Japan do to increase the efficacy of ceramic bombs containing plague infected fleas
added corn to give fleas energy
T/F Japanese balloons containing a biological warfare agent were generally ineffective due to lack of precision of landing location
TRUE
what country ran the largest biological weapons program in the world
the soviet union
what is vozrozhdeniye island
island used by Russia to test biological agents, that was later abandoned hurriedly making the island toxic
who is “Dr. Death”? why is he called that?
Dr. Wouter Basson
ran the second most sophisticated biological warfare program in the world(south Africas program)
how did biological warfare in south Africa have an impact on apartheid
they created a sterility vaccine to use on black citizens, as well as other chemical agents to assassinate political enemies and rebels
what was the anthrax test performed by UK
-why was it done
The UK dropped massive amounts of anthrax on Gruinard island, and discovered they could contaminate a German city rendering it uninhabitable for generations
-done out of fear of Germany attacking the UK with biological weapons
what led to “anthrax island” being cleaned?
what did cleaning it entail?
bioterrorist group threatened to dump soil from island on government official doors
-cleaning took 280 tons of formaldehyde, 2000 tons of seawater, and top 6 inches of soil removed
T/F the American biological warfare campaign focused mostly on offensive strategies
FALSE. it was mostly defensive
what was the 1966 lightbulb experiment? what did it find?
they dumped 6 light bulbs filled with a harmless mimic of anthrax in the new york subway.
they found that they could contaminate a significant portion of new york with just 6 lightbulbs
how much anthrax would be as lethal as a hydrogen bomb
200 lbs
T/F it is considered bioterrorism if a threat is made even if no attempt at follow through is made
TRUE
what is the most common agent used in bioterror attacks
anthrax
why is bioterror so readily used
-inexpensive
-doesn’t destroy property
-populations have no immunity
-incubation period allows terrorist to escape
-huge economic impact even from hoax’s
what method of transmission tends to be more fatal
aerosol/inhaled
what was the white powder incident
anthrax sent through the postal system in letters. anthrax leaked through envelope and caused significant economic loss
