Introduction to bioterrorism , history of bioterrorism, key features of biological agents used as bioweapons, biological agents and effects, bioterrorism agents, effects of biological attacks, COVID-19 used as bioweapon , technology at work, preventive measures.

1. BIOTERRORIS
M
AND
BIOLOGICAL
WEAPONS
BY-GARIMA DHANAWAT

2. CONTENTS
 Introduction
 History of bioterrorism
 Key features of biological agents used as bioweapons
 Some biological agents and effects
 Bioterrorism agents
 Effects of biological attacks
 COVID-19 used as bioweapon
Technology at work
 Preventive measures

3. INTRODUCTION
 Bioterrorism involves the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria or their by-
products (eg- toxin) to cause morbidity and mortality in humans, animals or
plants.
 It’s an attractive weapon because biological agents are relatively easy and
inexpensive to obtain, can be easily be disseminated, and can cause widespread
fear and panic beyond the actual physical damage.
These agents are invisible and microscopic, yet deadly.

4. HISTORY OF
BIOTERRORISM
Biological weapons are not just a 21st century concern; humans have used
infectious agents in conflicts for hundreds of years. Below are a few examples:
 In a 1336 attempt to inflect besieged city dwellers, Mongol attackers used
catapults to hurl the bodies of Bubonic Plaque victims over the city walls of
Caffa.
 Scythia archers used arrows dipped in blood and manure of diseased.
 During battle ofTortona, Barbarossa put dead bodies in enemy water
supplies.

5. KEY FEATURES OF
BIOLOGICAL AGENTS
USED AS BIOWEAPONS
• High morbidity and mortality.
• Potential for person-to-person spread.
• Lack of rapid diagnostic capability.
• Lack of universally available effective vaccine.
• Potential to cause anxiety.
• Environmental stability.
• Potential to be weaponized.
• Invisible and microscopic.
• Difficult to trace.

6. SOME BIOLOGICAL
AGENTS AND EFFECTS

7. BIOTERRORISM
AGENTS
• Any agent intended to produce death and disease in humans are termed as
“BIOTERRORISMAGENTS”.
•They are divided into three categories as per their effects.
• Categories :- CategoryA (highly dangerous)
Category B (dangerous)
Category C (not so dangerous)

8. CATEGORY A :-
•They include:
• Anthrax
• Clostridium botulinum
• Francisella tularesnsis
•Yersinia pestis
• Ebola virus
•Variola major (small pox)

9. CATEGORY B :-
• Vibrio
•Viral encephalitidies
• Salmonella
• Ricinus communis

10. CATEGORY C
:-
• Tuberculosis
• SARS
•Yellow fever
• Hanta virus
• Nipah virus
• Chikungunya
• Influenza

11. EFFECTS OF BIOLOGICAL
ATTACKS
•Biological attacks have very harmful effects.
• According toWorld Health Organization (WHO) :-
• - Release of 50kg of Anthrax spores in 40 km x 40 km
area will cause 1 lac death of people.
• - Release of 50kg of plaque spores in 20km x 20km
area will cause 36000 death of people.

12. CORONA VIRUS (COVID-
19) USED AS BIOWEAPON
• A Corona virus is a kind of virus that causes an infection in your nose, sinuses
or upper throat.
•The virus can lead to pneumonia, respiratory failure, septic shock, and death.
• COVID-19 started spreading fromWuhan district of China.
• It was assumed that it was an attempt of bio-terrorism but has not been
confirmed yet due to lack of evidence.
• China’s first confirmed case traces back to 17 November 2019.
•Till date (1 Aug.) around 36511 people have died due to Corona in India and
1695988 cases have been confirmed which is increasing every minute.

13. TECHNOLOGY AT
WORK
• Forensic teams work hard to identify biological agents, their origins and
effects.
• Labs are working on advanced detection systems to detects early
attacks, identify at risk areas, and to give proper treatment.
• Bio-surveillance system collects data to detect bioterror attack as far as
possible.

14. PREVENTIVE MEASURES
• Full international cooperation on dealing with this problem when needed.
•We have to educate the population of the risk.
•There should be improvement on biowarfare monitoring techniques and
apparatus.
• Proper contacts to obtain stockpile. Supplies like antibiotics, immune sera,
vaccines, etc is needed.