Microbiology and Immunology

Bioterrorism WORLD OF MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY

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mal bioweapons programs in 1969—unintended byproducts or

deliberate misuse of emerging technologies offer potential

bioterrorists opportunities to prepare or refine biogenic

weapons. Genetic engineering technologies can be used to

produce a wide variety of bioweapons, including organisms

that produce toxins or that are more weaponizable because

they are easier to aerosolize (suspend as droplets in the air).

More conventional laboratory technologies can also produce

organisms resistant to antibiotics, routine vaccines, and thera-

peutics. Both technologies can produce organisms that cannot

be detected by antibody-based sensor systems.

Among the most serious of potential bioterrorist

weapons are those that use smallpox(caused by the Variola

virus), anthrax(caused by Bacillus anthracis), and plague

(caused by Yersinia pestis). During naturally occurring epi-

demicsthroughout the ages, these organisms have killed sig-

nificant portions of afflicted populations. With the advent of

vaccines and antibiotics, few U.S. physicians now have the

experience to readily recognize these diseases, any of which

could cause catastrophic numbers of deaths.

Although the last case of smallpox was reported in

Somalia in 1977, experts suspect that smallpox virusesmay be

in the biowarfare laboratories of many nations around the

world. At present, only two facilities—one in the United

States and one in Russia—are authorized to store the virus. As

recently as 1992, United States intelligence agencies learned

that Russia had the ability to launch missiles containing

weapons-grade smallpox at major cities in the U.S. A number

of terrorist organizations—including the radical Islamist Al

Qaeda terrorist organization—actively seek the acquisition of

state-sponsored research into weapons technology and

pathogens.

There are many reasons behind the spread of biowar-

fare technology. Prominent among them are economic incen-

tives; some governments may resort to selling bits of

scientific information that can be pieced together by the buyer

to create biological weapons. In addition, scientists in politi-

cally repressive or unstable countries may be forced to par-

ticipate in research that eventually ends up in the hands of

terrorists.

A biological weapon may ultimately prove more power-

ful than a conventional weapon because its effects can be far-

reaching and uncontrollable. In 1979, after an accident

involving B. anthracisin the Soviet Union, doctors reported

civilians dying of anthrax pneumonia (i.e., inhalation

anthrax). Death from anthrax pneumonia is usually swift. The

bacilli multiply rapidly and produce a toxin that causes breath-

ing to stop. While antibiotics can combat this bacillus, sup-

plies adequate to meet the treatment needs following an attack

on a large urban population would need to be delivered and

A decontamination crew responds to a possible release of anthrax by terrorists at a United States postal facility in 2001.

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