6. SARSepidemic,2002-2004
6
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of
zoonotic origin caused by the SARS
coronavirus (SARS-CoV).
MELODY Presentation 2.1.2: Some relevant examples of incidents
9. Po-210 in teaLondon, 2006
9
MELODY Presentation 2.1.2: Some relevant examples of incidents
10. CBRNincidents in your country
10
?
MELODY Presentation 2.1.2: Some relevant examples of incidents
11. Takehome message
A number of worldwide CBRN incidents to remember:
• Incidents with chemical agents: Seveso disaster, 1976
Sarin in metro Tokyo, 1995
• Incidents with biological agents: SARS epidemic, 2002-2003
Anthrax letters USA, 2001
• Incidents with radiological & nuclear materials: Chernobyl 1986, Fukushima 2011
Po-210 in tea London, 2006
11
MELODY Presentation 2.1.2: Some relevant examples of incidents
12. Thank you for your attention
12
MELODY Presentation 2.1.2: Some relevant examples of incidents
Editor's Notes
Module: 2 CBRN basics
Topic: 2.1 Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents
Melody Presentation: 2.1.2 Some relevant examples of incidents
Learning objective: to list a C, B and R/N factual/historical incident
Slide (number/out of): 1 / 12
Title slide: Module 2: CBRN basics
Result: The trainees know several incidents that occurred in the past.
Instructions for the trainer: Tell the trainees you will present them with some real (historical) CBRN incidents.
trainers should feel free to add their own examples of more recent and especially more local incidents
Next: Go to next slide.
References for additional information:
Depicted illustration: MELODY Logo
Picture source & IP: MELODY
Text source & IP: MELODY
Version Curriculum: 2.0
Module: 2 CBRN basics
Topic: 2.1 Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents
Melody Presentation: 2.1.2 Some relevant examples of incidents
Learning objective: to list a C, B and R/N factual/historical incident
Slide (number/out of): 2 / 12
Title slide: Presentation 2.1.2: Some relevant examples of incidents
Result: The trainees know several incidents that occurred in the past.
Instructions for the trainer: Tell the trainees you will present them with some real (historical) CBRN incidents.
trainers should feel free to add their own examples of more recent and especially more local incidents
Next: Go to next slide.
References for additional information:
Depicted illustration: MELODY Logo
Picture source & IP: MELODY
Text source & IP: MELODY
Version Curriculum: 2.0
Module: 2 CBRN basics
Topic: 2.1 Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents
Melody Presentation: 2.1.2 Some relevant examples of incidents
Learning objective: to list a C, B and R/N factual/historical incident
Slide (number/out of): 3 / 12
Title slide: CBRN incidents, examples
Result: The trainees know several incidents that occurred in the past.
Instructions for the trainer: Tell the trainees this part of content you will present them some real (historical) CBRN incidents.
trainers should feel free to add their own examples of more recent and especially more local incidents
Next: Go to next slide.
References for additional information:
Depicted illustration:
CBRN icons of TICs and chemical weapons: https://www.cleanpng.com/png-weapon-of-mass-destruction-nuclear-weapon-cbrn-def-1434407/
Tokyo Metro Sarin attack (1995): File:Emergency personnel respond to the Tokyo subway sarin attack.png
Anthrax letter (2001): File:Amerithrax-letter-a.jpg
Polonium poisioning (2006): Alexander Litvinenko
Picture source & IP:
CBRN icons: various website show the same image to be freely downloaded and freely usable: obtained from https://www.cleanpng.com/png-weapon-of-mass-destruction-nuclear-weapon-cbrn-def-1434407/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Emergency_personnel_respond_to_the_Tokyo_subway_sarin_attack.png (public main)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amerithrax-letter-a.jpg (public domain)
"2013_11_060045 Alexander living in the death" by Gwydion M. Williams is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Text source & IP: MELODY consortium
Version Curriculum: 2.0
Module: 2 CBRN basics
Topic: 2.1 Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents
Melody Presentation: 2.1.2 Some relevant examples of incidents
Learning objective: to list a C, B and R/N factual/historical incident
Slide (number/out of): 4 / 12
Title slide: Seveso disaster, 1976
Result: The trainees know several incidents that occurred in the past.
Instructions for the trainer:
Ask if they know about Seveso. It was an incident with a dioxin which is a chemical. C is the correct answer.
Tell the trainees something about this case (below) which is a ‘copy & paste’ from Wikipedia to provide a working example for the lesson. Feel free to be brief or go into more depth depending on the available time, potential interest of the group and your own preferences.
Case Description: The Seveso disaster was named because Seveso, with a population of 17,000 in 1976, was the community most affected. The Seveso disaster was an industrial accident that occurred around 12:37 pm on July 10, 1976, in a small chemical manufacturing plant approximately 20 kilometers (12 mi) north of Milan in the Lombardy region of Italy. It resulted in the highest known exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in residential populations,[1] which gave rise to numerous scientific studies and standardized industrial safety regulations. Within days a total of 3,300 animals, mostly poultry and rabbits, were found dead. Emergency slaughtering commenced to prevent TCDD from entering the food chain, and by 1978 over 80,000 animals had been slaughtered. 15 children were quickly hospitalised with skin inflammation. By the end of August, Zone A had been completely evacuated and fenced, 1,600 people of all ages had been examined and 447 were found to suffer from skin lesions or chloracne. The EU industrial safety regulations are known as the Seveso II Directive.
Next: Go to next slide.
References for additional information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seveso_disaster
Depicted illustration: images from the SEVESO disaster in Italy
Picture source & IP:
seveso_limpieza.jpg (941×588) (bp.blogspot.com) This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
seveso.jpg (600×449) (bp.blogspot.com) This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
Text source & IP: MELODY consortium
Version Curriculum: 2.0
Module: 2 CBRN basics
Topic: 2.1 Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents
Melody Presentation: 2.1.2 Some relevant examples of incidents
Learning objective: to list a C, B and R/N factual/historical incident
Slide (number/out of): 5 / 12
Title slide: Sarin in metro Tokyo
Result: The trainees know several incidents that occurred in the past.
Instructions for the trainer:
Ask if they know if Sarin is C,B or R/N. Sarin is a ‘nerve gas’ especially designed for warfare. C is the correct answer.
Tell the trainees something about this case (below) which is a ‘copy & paste’ from Wikipedia to provide a working example for the lesson. Feel free to be brief or go into more depth depending on the available time, potential interest of the group and your own preferences.
Case Description: On the 20th of March 1995 members of the cult movement Aum Shinrikyo launched a terroristic attack in the Tokyo subway using the chemical warfare nerve agent sarin (a liquid!). Five members of the cult carried 2-3 plastic bags each with approximately one liter of liquid sarin per bag. The plastic bags, packed in a newspaper, were placed on the floor of five different train compartments on three different subway lines and punched with an umbrella, causing the fluid to leak and slowly evaporate. During the attack 13 people died and 50 people got severely injured of whom some later died in the hospital. Nearly a thousand people temporarily lost vision due to the attack. Most of the people who died immediately came in direct contact with the fluid (e.g. trying to kicking the bag out of the train). After the terror attack a criminal investigation revealed the cult had used various CBRN agents on different occasions before. Sarin was also used during an attack on 27 June 1994 in the town of Matsumoto. A truck, heater and fan were used to spread sarin killing 8 people and injuring around 500. The cult also used VX, another chemical warfare nerve agent, for individual murders of opponents and produced other harmful chemicals such as hydrogen cyanide, soman and phosgene. The cult also had its own bio-warfare program, producing botulinum toxin and anthrax. Attempts were made to conduct terror attacks, blowing anthrax spores in the air from either a high building or a truck in 1993, but these attacks failed. A vaccine (non harmful) strain was used. The Aum Shinrikyo story shows there are groups who are willing to use these type of agents for terroristic purposes and, given the financial means and the knowledge, are able to produce these type of substances.
Next: Go to next slide.
References for additional information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_subway_sarin_attack
Depicted illustration:
CBRN icons of TIC’s and chemical weapons: https://www.cleanpng.com/png-weapon-of-mass-destruction-nuclear-weapon-cbrn-def-1434407/
Tokyo Metro Sarin attack (1995): File:Emergency personnel respond to the Tokyo subway sarin attack.png (public domain)
Shoko Asahara.
Picture source & IP:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Emergency_personnel_respond_to_the_Tokyo_subway_sarin_attack.png (public domain)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shoko_Asahara.jpg (not public domain and in principle licensed. However, this image is free to use in fair use)
CBRN icons: various website show the same image to be freely downloaded and freely usable: obtained from https://www.cleanpng.com/png-weapon-of-mass-destruction-nuclear-weapon-cbrn-def-1434407/
Text source & IP: MELODY consortium
Version Curriculum: 2.0
Module: 2 CBRN basics
Topic: 2.1 Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents
Melody Presentation: 2.1.2 Some relevant examples of incidents
Learning objective: to list a C, B and R/N factual/historical incident
Slide (number/out of): 6 / 12
Title slide: SARS epidemic 2002-2004
Result: The trainees know several incidents that occurred in the past.
Instructions for the trainer:
Ask if they know if SARS is C,B or R/N. SARS is a virus. B is the correct answer.
Tell the trainees something about this case (below) which is a ‘copy & paste’ from Wikipedia to provide a working example for the lesson. Feel free to be brief or go into more depth depending on the available time, potential interest of the group and your own preferences.
Case Description: SARS is a disease with a zoonotic origin, with its causative agent, a coronavirus, from the same family of viruses as the COVID-19 pandemic. The viral outbreak can be genetically traced to a colony of cave-dwelling horseshoe bats in China's Yunnan province.[21] The SARS epidemic appears to have started in Guangdong Province, China in November 2002 where the first case was reported that same month. The outbreak first appeared on 27 November 2002, when Canada's Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN), an electronic warning system that is part of the World Health Organization's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), picked up reports of a "flu outbreak" in China through Internet media monitoring and analysis and sent them to the WHO. The epidemic reached the public spotlight in February 2003, when an American businessman traveling from China, Johnny Chen, became afflicted with pneumonia-like symptoms while on a flight to Singapore. On 12 March 2003, the WHO issued a global alert, followed by a health alert by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Local transmission of SARS took place in Toronto, Ottawa, San Francisco, Ulaanbaatar, Manila, Singapore, Taiwan, Hanoi and Hong Kong whereas within China it spread to Guangdong, Jilin, Hebei, Hubei, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Shanxi, Tianjin, and Inner Mongolia.
Next: Go to next slide.
References for additional information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002%E2%80%932004_SARS_outbreak
Depicted illustration:
SARS epidemic 2002-2004: File:Sars Cases and Deaths.pdf
Picture source & IP:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002–2004_SARS_outbreak ( Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)
Text source & IP: MELODY consortium
Version Curriculum: 2.0
Module: 2 CBRN basics
Topic: 2.1 Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents
Melody Presentation: 2.1.2 Some relevant examples of incidents
Learning objective: to list a C, B and R/N factual/historical incident
Slide (number/out of): 7 / 12
Title slide: Anthrax letters USA
Result: The trainees know several incidents that occurred in the past.
Instructions for the trainer: Explain that this slide is about anthrax letters to news media and politicians in the USA in 2001.
Ask if they know if Anthrax is C,B or R/N. Anthrax is a disease caused by Bacillus anthracis. B is the correct answer.
Tell the trainees something about this case (below) which is a ‘copy & paste’ from Wikipedia to provide a working example for the lesson. Feel free to be brief or go into more depth depending on the available time, potential interest of the group and your own preferences.
Case description: Letters containing Anthrax spores were sent over the course of several weeks beginning September 18, 2001. Explain that the letters were mailed to several news media offices and two senators (politicians). Explain that (only) five people died due to infection and subsequent disease, and 17 others were infected and recuperated. Explain that the person suspected of sending these letters, Bruce Ivins, worked at a biological military defense laboratory. He became a suspect in 2007, 6 years after the event, because the investigation was focused elsewhere between 2001-2006. Bruce Ivins was suspected of producing spores of the bacteria Bacillus anthracis and sending 5 letters: each containing approximately 1 gram of spores. Bruce Irving was arrested, but never prosecuted, because he committed suicide during incarceration in 2007. Explain that although no confession was obtained nor lawsuit was ever filed, strong (circumstantial) evidence indicated his involvement. For instance, the anthrax spores in the letters could be genetically linked to the laboratory Bruce Irving was working in. In addition, Bruce had worked alone in the lab in the evenings and weekend (without a good explanation), before the letters were posted. There was a motive as well: Bruce was working on Anthrax vaccines and he was facing a huge limitation of his research budget. As a result of the sent anthrax letters, his budget was increased. In the aftermath of the letters, hundreds of millions of US dollars were spent on the decontamination of buildings.
Next: Go to next slide.
References for additional information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_anthrax_attacks
Depicted illustration:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amerithrax-letter-a.jpg
Picture source & IP:
Anthrax letter (2001): File:Amerithrax-letter-a.jpg (public domain)
File:Bruce Ivins award ceremony crop.jpg (public domain)
Text source & IP: MELODY consortium
Version Curriculum: 2.0
Module: 2 CBRN basics
Topic: 2.1 Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents
Melody Presentation: 2.1.2 Some relevant examples of incidents
Learning objective: to list a C, B and R/N factual/historical incident
Slide (number/out of): 8 / 12
Title slide: Chernobyl 1986, Fukushima 2011
Result: The trainees know some basic information about two nuclear incidents.
Instructions for the trainer:
Ask if they know if Chernobyl and Fukushima are C,B or R/N incidents. Chernobyl and Fukushima were nuclear power plants, so the correct answer is N.
Tell the trainees something about this case (below) which is a ‘copy & paste’ from Wikipedia to provide a working example for the lesson. Feel free to be brief or go into more depth depending on the available time, potential interest of the group and your own preferences.
Case Description: On April 26, 1986, the Number Four RBMK reactor at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, Ukraine, went out of control during a test at low-power, leading to an explosion and fire that demolished the reactor building and released large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere. Safety measures were ignored, the uranium fuel in the reactor overheated and melted through the protective barriers. RBMK reactors do not have what is known as a containment structure, a concrete and steel dome over the reactor itself designed to keep radiation inside the plant in the event of such an accident. Consequently, radioactive elements including plutonium, iodine, strontium and cesium were scattered over a wide area. In addition, the graphite blocks used as a moderating material in the RBMK caught fire at high temperature as air entered the reactor core, which contributed to emission of radioactive materials into the environment into the air for the next 9 days and were deposited on parts of the (former) USSR and western Europe. The United Nations state that the immediate death toll of the accident is 28 and estimate that an additional 4000 people died due to cancer from exposure to the radiation.
Case Description: The Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan was caused by a tsunami following an earthquake on March 11, 2011. Lack of power caused the cooling systems to halt, resulting in the melt-down of three nuclear cores, and three hydrogen explosions. This accident led to nuclear material being released into the environment. This meant that even more people had to be evacuated from their homes. Over 150 thousand people were evacuated, and 40 thousand still are. In 2018, the government of Japan surprisingly acknowledged that one person died from long cancer due to exposure of radiation from Fukushima. "Surprisingly" regarding the very short time between exposure and development of the cancer. It could well be that other reasoning played a role here for this acknowledgement.
Next: Go to next slide.
References for additional information:
https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/chernobyl/faqs
Depicted illustration:
Fukushima 2011 sequence: Chernobyl reactor 4.
Picture source & IP:
Chernobyl
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IAEA_02790015_(5613115146).jpg
Photo Credit: USFCRFC
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse&atype=rich)
Fukushima:
https://wordpress.org/openverse/search/?q=image-191637-panoV9free-vflj,
"image-191637-panoV9free-vflj" by Oldmaison is marked with CC BY-SA 2.0.
Text source & IP: MELODY consortium
Version Curriculum: 2.0
Module: 2 CBRN basics
Topic: 2.1 Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents
Melody Presentation: 2.1.2 Some relevant examples of incidents
Learning objective: to list a C, B and R/N factual/historical incident
Slide (number/out of): 9 / 12
Title slide: Po-210 in tea London
Result: The trainees know several incidents that occurred in the past.
Instructions for the trainer:
Ask if they know if Polonium is C,B or R/N. Polonium is an atom emitting alpha particles, so the correct answer is R(/N).
Tell the trainees something about this case (below) which is a ‘copy & paste’ from Wikipedia to provide a working example for the lesson. Feel free to be brief or go into more depth depending on the available time, potential interest of the group and your own preferences.
Case Description: Alexander Litvinenko was a former officer of the Russian secret service. He defected from Russia to the United Kingdom and was openly very critical of Vladimir Putin and the Russian state. On 1 November 2006 he fell ill and died on 23 November. It was established he was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210. This is an unstable isotope of the element polonium which sends out alpha particles. Alpha particles are especially dangerous when inhaled or ingested. The United Kingdom investigated his death as a murder. Litvinenko got his dose of Po-210 by drinking a cup of tea. The United Kingdom openly accused Russia of ‘state sponsored murder’.
Next: Go to next slide.
References for additional information:
Depicted illustration:
Alexander Litvinenko hospitalized
Alexander Litvinenko’s grave
Picture source & IP:
"2013_11_060045 Alexander living in the death" by Gwydion M. Williams is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Alexander Litvinenko's grave, Highgate Cemetery West, Camden, London, UK" by gruntzooki is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Text source & IP: MELODY consortium
Version Curriculum: 2.0
Module: 2 CBRN basics
Topic: 2.1 Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents
Melody Presentation: 2.1.2 Some relevant examples of incidents
Learning objective: to list a C, B and R/N factual/historical incident
Slide (number/out of): 10 / 12
Title slide: CBRN incidents in your country
Result: After this slide you will have discussed some incidents in your own country that could be labeled as CBRN incidents.
Instructions for the trainer:
Ask if they know of any CBRN incidents in your country.
Discuss the following (it is meant for the trainees to come up with a case and information as asked below, if not, bring in an example yourself)
Give a brief description of the incident
Was it C, B or R/N?
Why was it labeled CRBN (or not)
What were the results in terms of deaths, injuries, social impact, financial impact
Next: Go to next slide.
References for additional information:
Depicted illustration:
Flags of Europe
Picture source & IP:
https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Europe_flags.png (public domain)
Text source & IP: MELODY consortium
Version Curriculum: 2.0
Module: 2 CBRN basics
Topic: 2.1 Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents
Melody Presentation: 2.1.2 Some relevant examples of incidents
Learning objective: to list a C, B and R/N factual/historical incident
Slide (number/out of): 11 / 12
Title slide: Take home message
Result: The trainees are made aware of various (non)deliberate incidents that have occurred with CBRN agents.
Instructions for the trainer: The most relevant CBRN incidents to remember are listed as the take home message.
Next: Go to next slide.
References for additional information:
Depicted illustration:
Picture source & IP:
Text source & IP: MELODY consortium
Version Curriculum: 2.0
Module: 2 CBRN basics
Topic: 2.1 Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents
Melody Presentation: 2.1.2 Some relevant examples of incidents
Learning objective: to list a C, B and R/N factual/historical incident
Slide (number/out of): 12 / 12
Title slide: thank you for your attention
Result: trainees and trainer wrap up this part of the curriculum and can enter the next topic..
Instructions for the trainer: Time for questions or remarks
Next: final slide.
References for additional information:
Depicted illustration:
Picture source & IP:
Text source & IP: MELODY consortium
Version Curriculum: 2.0
