Summary
This article examines the possible dangers to civilians posed by biological agents in the hands of terrorists (biological terrorism, “bioterrorism”) and provides guidance on appropriate defensive measures. Biological terrorism can no longer be dismissed as fiction. It is already a reality for which, unfortunately, most countries are still ill-prepared. Although top priority must be given to ensuring that biological terrorism does not happen in the first place, it is equally important to enhance readiness for biological defense should it nevertheless happen.
While treatment of this issue is in many countries not the responsibility of the armed forces, the competent state bodies will nevertheless have to rely on them if such a case should arise, since in most countries only the armed forces still carry out biological defense activities and have at their disposal qualified full-time experts.
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Notes
R. Purvey (Canadian Security Intelligence Service), “Chemical and Biological Terrorism: The Threat According to the Open Literature,” printed as a manuscript, June 1995
T.J. Török et al, “A Large Community Outbreak of Salmonellosis Caused by Intentional Contamination of Restaurant Salad Bars,” JAMA, 6 August 1997, Vol. 278, No. 5, 389–395
J. Kifner, “Man is Arrested in a Case Involving Deadly Poison,” New York Times, 23 December 1995
J. Stephenson, “Confronting a Biological Armageddon: Experts Tackle Prospect of Bioterrorism,” JAMA, 7 August 1996, Vol. 276, No 5, 349–351
These two cases were reported in The Lancet, Vol. 353, 9 January 1999, p. 130
J. Stephenson, op. cit.
Jane’s Defense Weekly, 23 April 1997, p. 6; updated by a personal statement by a representative from US HQDA (DASG-HDC), October 1998
“Medical Management of Biological Casualties,” Handbook, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Maryland, March 1996
Initial studies have appeared on the question as to why biological weapons have played only a minor role in the arsenal of terrorists. Cf. R. Purver, “Understanding Past Non-Use of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents by Terrorists,” presentation to the conference on “ChemBio Terrorism: Wave of the Future?” sponsored by the Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute, Washington, D.C., 29 April 1996
Prepared by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), 1993, from various sources; US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Assessing of Risks, OTA-ISC-559, Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office, August 1993
Cf. R. Preston, “The Bioweaponeers”, The New Yorker, 2 March 1998; http://jya.com/bioweap.htm
J.P. O’Neill (FBI), statement, Hearing on Terrorist Use of Nuclear/Biological/Chemical Agents, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation, United States Senate, 1 November 1995
Cf. L.A. Cole, “Clouds of Secrecy: The Army’s Germ Warfare Tests over Populated Areas,” Totowa, N.J., 1988 and by the same author “The Eleventh Plague: The Politics of Biological and Chemical Warfare,” New York, 1997
R. Purver, (footnote No. 1)
Cf. “Biowar, Are We Ready?” International Defense, March 1995; and Jane’s Defense Weekly, 3 June 1995, p. 24
Jane’s Defense Weekly, 3 June 1995, p. 24
On the basic problems here, see Nilesh Parmar, “It was the plague, or was it?” India Today, 30 November 1994
Cf. R. Purver, (footnote 17)
Cf. R. Preston, (footnote 20)
J. Matloff “Danger from Russia’s Scientists: Selling Weapons Know-How”, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 February 1998; http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1998/02/13/intl/intl.4.html
A survey of this problem can be found in Steve Sternberg, “Bottleneck Keeps Existing Vaccines off the Market,” Science, No. 266, 7 October 1994; also E.J. Finke et. al, “List of Vaccines and Immunoglobulins for Prevention of Potential B-Agents”, German Armed Forces Medical Academy, Department of Studies and Science, Institute for Microbiology, Munich, manuscript presented at the Third Biological Medical Defense Conference of the German Ministry of Defense, October 1996
J.D. Douglass jr., “Weapons of Mass Destruction — A Biological Weapons Threat Worse Than Saddam”, 10 March 1998; http://www.infowar.com/WMD/wmd_032698a_J.html-ssi
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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Sohns, T. (1999). Defense Against Biological Terrorism. In: Sohns, T., et al. NBC Risks Current Capabilities and Future Perspectives for Protection. NATO Science Series, vol 25. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4641-8_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4641-8_4
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