This presentation is on the potential of Human parvovirus B19 as a Biweapon.

1. HUMAN PARVOVIRUS B19: A
POTENTIAL BIOWEAPON?
A seminar presented to Department of Medial Laboratory Science,
Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medical Sciences,
University of Maiduguri, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
award of the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science of the University
of Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Sulaiman, Aliyu
17/01/05/065
Supervised By: Dr. Muhammad Talle
September, 2023.
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2. OUTLINE
INTRODUCTION
EPIDEMIOLOGY
CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS
MODE OF TRANSMISSION
WHY B19 IS A POTENTIAL BIOWEAPON?
WHY B19 IS NOT A POTENTIAL BIOWEAPON?
LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS
CONLUSION
RECOMMENDATIONS
REFERENCES
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3. INTRODUCTION
Human parvovirus B19 is a member of the Parvoviridae family, a
small, non-enveloped, ssDNA virus.
Human parvovirus B19 is an icosahedral virus, 26-nm in size with a
genome of 5.5 kilobases.
The genome is flanked by two identical inverted terminal repeats
(ITRs), which are important for replication of the virus
It is the causative agent of fifth disease, a common childhood illness.
It also causes parvoviral arthritis and aplastic anemia.
(Heegard et al., 2019) 3

4. EPIDEMIOLOGY
Prevalence: Most common in children, but occurs in people of all
ages.
Seasonality: More common in winter and spring.
Risk factors: Close contact with an infected person, attending daycare
or school, living in a crowded setting, weakened immune system.
(Modrow et al., 2015)
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5. CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS
Here is a table summarizing the clinical manifestations of B19V
infection by age and immune status:
Age range Immune status Clinical manifestations
0-14yrs Healthy Erythema infectiosum
15+yrs Healthy Arthralgia, arthritis
Both age ranges Immunocompromised Aplastic crisis, fetal
hydrops
(Ladhani et al., 2020)
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6. MODE OF TRANSMISSION
Human parvovirus B19 is transmitted through:
 Respiratory droplets.
Contact with contaminated surfaces.
It can also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy.
(Heegaard et al., 2019)
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7. WHY B19 IS A POTENTIAL BIOWEAPON
Easily spread through respiratory droplets, close contact and can
infect people of all ages, but is common in children.
In healthy people, B19 infection usually causes a mild rash illness
called fifth disease.
It can be serious in people with weakened immune systems, like
people with HIV/AIDS or cancer, and pregnant women.
There is no specific treatment for B19 infection, and it can be
modified to be more virulent or to target specific populations.
(Field et al., 2003)
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8. WHY B19 IS NOT A VERY EFFECTIVE
BIOWEAPON
 The symptoms of B19 infection are usually mild and go away on their
own.
 There is vaccine available for B19 infection and is difficult to grow in
large quantities.
 B19 is not very stable outside of the body.
 Most people are immune to B19 after infection.
(Field et al., 2003)
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9. LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS
ELISA
Haemagglutination Assay
Electron Microscopy
Polymerase Chain Reaction
uptodate.com
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10. CONCLUSION
B19 is a potential bioweapon, but it is not a very effective one. There
are many other viruses or bacteria that would be more effective as
bioweapons.
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11. RECOMMENDATIONS
Government must strengthen biosafety and biosecurity measures at
laboratories and other facilities that work with biological agents.
Development and implementation of early warning and detection systems
for bioterrorist attacks.
Stockpiling vaccines and other medical supplies to respond to bioterrorist
attacks.
Educating the public about bioterrorism and how to protect themselves.
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12. LIST OF SELECTED REFERENCES
A. K. Field et al., "Human parvovirus B19 as a potential bioterrorism
agent," Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 9, no. 10, pp. 1281-1286,
(2003).
C. M. Heegaard et al., "Human parvovirus B19: a review," Viruses, vol. 11,
no. 7, p. 664, (2019).
J. P. Allain et al., "Human parvovirus B19 infection in haemophilia patients
treated with plasma-derived factor concentrates," Haemophilia, vol.
25, no. 4, pp. e250-e258, (2019).
S. Ladhani et al., "Clinical features of erythema infectiosum (fifth disease)
in children," The Lancet Infectious Diseases, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. e11-
e20, (2020).
S. Modrow et al., "Molecular epidemiology of human parvovirus B19,“
Journal of Clinical Virology, vol. 62, pp. 94-102, (2015).
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