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Bioarmageddon
Our Washington Bureau
31 DEC
A few weeks ago FBI agents swooped on two passengers from Afghanistan and recovered 3 kilograms of Anthrax among "fertilizer" bags. They were later identified to be members of a leading terrorist group led by Osma Bin Laden. These are sending out shock signals around the world as bio-terrorism seems to be fast approaching as a deadly threat for countries.
Scientists at NASA have cautioned that the latest trend for terrorists seems to be those of using biological weapons to achieve their evil intentions. The NASA team have further cautioned aginst dangers from "experiments gone wrong". They claim that the incidence of a biological germ wreaking havoc has increased tenfold over the last twenty years.
The threat does not come only from the fictional mad scientist engineering a deadly new germ, says Zilinskas,a scientist in the Biological section, although the technology to create a Satan bug may soon be within our grasp . Instead, the widespread use of the basic tools of industrial biology has put the power to create 'traditional' biological weapons in the hands of tens of thousands of people. 'Advanced biological technologies have spread all over the world,' says Zilinskas. 'There are many more people who are technically trained, and the methods for culturing large quantities of bacteria are well worked out and commonly employed.
'Two factors make the threat of a bioterrorist attack greater than ever before, says Kyle Olson, a chemical and biological weapons analyst at TASC, a firm of defence consultants in Arlington, Virginia. First, the unspoken taboo that previously dissuaded terrorists from using chemical or biological weapons against civilians has now been broken. On 20 March 1995, the nihilistic Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo unleashed nerve gas on the Tokyo subway, killing 12 people and hospitalising five thousand. Aum was also developing biological weapons. Second, with the explosive growth of basic biological research and biotechnology, what was once regarded as esoteric knowledge about how to culture and disperse infectious agents has spread among tens of thousands of people.
Chief head Olson agrees: 'A person who is smart, determined, trained in basic microbiological techniques, and willing to take a few short-cuts on safety and go at a few technical problems in mildly unconventional ways, could conceivably do some horrible things.'
Reports by the US Office of Technology Assesment have listed plague; tularemia, a plague-like disease; and botulism, caused by a toxin from the common food-poisoning bacterium Clostridium botulinum as high priority threats to the human population. A few hundred kilograms of Anthrax could lead to the destruction of a city.Most importantly, argue Olson, Zilinskas and others, public health authorities and emergency services must start planning now to cope with the aftermath of a variety of biological attacks.
Most importantly, argue Olson, Zilinskas and others, public health authorities and emergency services must start planning now to cope with the aftermath of a variety of biological attacks.But perhaps the most neglected area of planning is the medical response to an attack. 'The scenario changes with the agent used,'' says Philip Russell, former commander of the US Army Medical Research and Development Council. 'Plague is different from smallpox, which is different from anthrax. We need a group of folks to go through different scenarios and think about what could be done other than counting the bodies.' For example, he says, plans are needed to ensure that large amounts of antibiotics, and properly trained and equipped people, can be rushed to the scene. The US government has to look at quick procedures and policies to arm itself for such attacks.
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