lecture 13) biowarfare and bioterrorism

Question 1

define biological warfare/bioterrorsim

Answer 1

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

Question 2

why would you aim bioterrorism at livestock and crops?

Answer 2

disrupts economy of a country and makes it more vulnerable

Question 3

what is the UK’s stance on bioterrorism?

Answer 3

it is inhumane, illegal and entirely unacceptable in a modern world

Question 4

what is biological warfare?

Answer 4

used in war to gain strategical or tactical advantage in battlefield
attacks armed forces of opposing countries
usually involves nation states

Question 5

what is bioterrorism?

Answer 5

used against civilians
localised event
state sponsored or extremist groups

Question 6

give examples of viral biothreat agents

Answer 6

smallpox
ebola
influenze
foot and mouth disease

Question 7

give examples of bacterial biothreat agents

Answer 7

anthrax
plague
meliodosis

Question 8

give examples of fungal biothreat agents

Answer 8

coccidomycosis
wheat stem rust
rice blast fungus

Question 9

give some examples of toxin biothreat agents

Answer 9

botulism toxin

ricin toxin

Question 10

why would influenze be considered a biothreat agent if it doesnt kill you?

Answer 10

when released over a population it can be incapacitating for several weeks

Question 11

what is attractive about a biothreat agent?

Answer 11

spread of disease important (if infected individuals can transmit airborne diseases to others, must considered desired outcome and control of epidemic of disease, dont want it to spread further than the target)
potency

Question 12

if smallpox has been eliminated due to vaccines, why is it on the list of bioweapons?

Answer 12

known stocks in USA and Russia. most likely other countries have stocks that arent disclosed

Question 13

because smallpox has been eradicated, what risk does this pose to the population?

Answer 13

most people nowadays probably arent vaccinated against smallpox as the infection doesnt exist anymore

Question 14

what bacterium causes plague?

Answer 14

Yersinia pestis

Question 15

what is the natural plague classed as?

Answer 15

bubonic

Question 16

what is the biowarfare plague classed as?

Answer 16

pneumonic plague

airborne route of infection therefore more fatal and faster acting than bubonic plague

Question 17

give 4 properties of biological weapons

Answer 17

cheap
easy to produce
potent
difficult to attribute

Question 18

why is it important for a biological weapon to be difficult to attribute?

Answer 18

make it harder for the victims to determine whether it is a natural outbreak or a deliberate attack eg influenza

Question 19

how would a country determine a bioterrorism attack?

Answer 19

look for atypical patterns of emergence of disease

look for unusual outbreaks

Question 20

what did the UK establish in WWII in the fight against bioterrorism?

Answer 20

UK public health surveillance

Question 21

describe the production of bacteria as bioweapons

Answer 21

easy to grow in culture as all you need is growth media with nutrients

Question 22

describe the production of viruses as bioweapons

Answer 22

harder to produce than bacteria therefore less likely to be used as a bioweapon

Question 23

where would a terrorist group or nation state get hold of a microorganism to use it as a bioweapon?

Answer 23

prior to 1st iraq war you were able to purchase lots of pathogen culture collections
iraq got these from around the world
now regulated more tightly therefore harder to acquire these culture collections

Question 24

how was anthrax grown as a biowarfare agent in WWII in the UK?

Answer 24

large-scale batch cultivation
used medium consisting of marmite, molasses and simple salts
grown in milk churns
large volumes of spores could be grown this way

Question 25

what programme did the UK have during WWII for biowarfare?

Answer 25

offensive bioweapon programme | abandoned in late 1960s

Question 26

why was anthrax grown as an offensive bioweapon agent?

Answer 26

considered position of last resort | if all else failed and country was invaded, drop anthrax in Germany to kill livestock and debilitate country

Question 27

what is the main factor of bioweapons that would be most attractive to terrorist groups?

Answer 27

cheap to produce

Question 28

what are some of the most potent microorganisms that can be used a bioweapons?

Answer 28

plague bacteria botuilin toxin VX (nerve toxin)

Question 29

what is the potency of a microorganism dependent on?

Answer 29

infectious/toxic dose | airborne stability

Question 30

why is it important to consider the potency of a microorganism?

Answer 30

some are more infectious via different routes eg bubonic vs pneumonic plague

Question 31

what are the 2 factors to consider with airborne mircoorganisms?

Answer 31

how infectious and how stable they are in air

Question 32

what is the impact of UV radiation on airborne stability?

Answer 32

most die when exposed to sunlight

Question 33

what is the impact of rainfall on airborne stability?

Answer 33

washes bacteria out of the air

Question 34

what is the impact of temperature on airborne stability?

Answer 34

extreme temperatures could mean survival is compromised

Question 35

what is the impact of airborne chemicals on airborne stability?

Answer 35

pollutants/chemicals in the air are themselves microbicidal

Question 36

what factor is used to determine what microorganisms survive better in open air that others?

Answer 36

half life (some may have a shorter half life than others when released into the air)

Question 37

what is the airborne hazard?

Answer 37

in some situations microorganisms can survive for long periods of time in the air eg foot and mouth disease spreading from france, jersey, isle of white and then the UK

Question 38

how would you attribute a bioterrorism attack?

Answer 38

use genome sequencing to match the sequence against a database of different labs around the world

Question 39

what is a problem of using genome sequencing as a way of attributing a bioterrorism attack?

Answer 39

gives a population level picture of genetic makeup of bacteria doesnt let you look for subtle differences in that population

Question 40

how would you look for subtle differences in strains to attribute bioterrorism attacks?

Answer 40

grow up the strains and look for spontaneous mutants, their morphology and their frequencies

Question 41

what are the 2 principle ways of controlling the problem?

Answer 41

``` prohibition of weapon acquisition and production (stop people form getting hold of the microorganisms in the first place) defensive capability (have physical ways of defending ourselves) ```

Question 42

what is the main issue with the biological weapons convention 1972?

Answer 42

a lot of people signed it but there is no way to police it | many countries refused inspection regimes

Question 43

what are some of the other contro measures for bioterrorism?

Answer 43

export control of pathogens, technologies and equipment security of laboratories vetting of staff code of conduct for scientists/microbiologists refusal to publish papers that aid weapons production

Question 44

what are some of the options for defensive capability?

Answer 44

detectors and identification equipment vaccines for treatments for disease respirators and protective clothing

Question 45

why are vaccinations for protection of bioweapons considered a 'political hot potato'?

Answer 45

people may not want them unlikely that they will be exposed to them is it ethically right to immunise everyone despite unlikelihood of a bioterrorism attack?

Question 46

what does the furture of bioterrorism look like?

Answer 46

generally believed the potential for terrorist use will increase BTWC is weak; no verification attribution remains a key issue