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HWN Suggests

Were 'cursed' rams the first biological weapons?

Ancient written texts from the Middle East may reveal that the use of biological weapons dates back more than 3300 years, according to a new review.

The historical documents hint that the Hittites – whose empire stretched from modern-day Turkey to northern Syria – sent diseased rams to their enemies to weaken them with tularemia, a devastating bacterial infection that remains a potential bioterror threat even today, says the review.

Experts caution that more evidence is needed to firmly establish that the Hittites intended to spread disease using the animals. But they add that if this proves true, it might represent the earliest known use of biological warfare.

Tularemia,…

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Featured

 Dog Gives Woman Fatal Tularemia, A Potential Bioterrorism Agent

Though it is a naturally occurring disease, bioterrorism analysts have long feared the deployment of tularemia as a biological weapon. Ken Alibek, a Soviet defector, claimed that the Soviets infected Nazi soldiers with tularemia in 1942, helping them win the Battle of Stalingrad.

Articles of Interest

Tularemia on the Tube

One of the world’s foremost researchers studying the obscure but highly infectious, potentially fatal disease discusses how it figures into the plot of “The Americans”

A Bioweapon Worse Than Anthrax?

ANTHRAX AND SMALLPOX are on everyone's radar as potentially devastating bioweapons. But a seldom-heard-of bacteria is also on the government's A-list of bioterror threats. The pathogen that causes tularemia is extremely infectious, experts say, and no vaccine is available to the general public. But researchers disagree over whether tularemia poses as serious a threat as other potential bioterror agents.

Abstract: "Consensus Statement: Tularemia as a Biological Weapon: Medical and Public Health Management"

A working group of 25 representatives from major academic medical centers and research, government, military, public health and emergency management institutions and agencies developed consensus-based recommendations for measures to be taken by medical and public health professionals following the use of tularemia as a biological weapon against a civilian population.

Francisella tularensis as a potential agent of bioterrorism?

Francisella tularensis is a category A bioterrorism agent. It is the etiological agent of tularemia, a zoonotic disease found throughout the northern hemisphere. The intentional spread of F. tularensis aerosols would probably lead to severe and often fatal pneumonia cases, but also secondary cases from contaminated animals and environments. We are not ready to face such a situation. No vaccine is currently available.

Francisella tularensis: a biological weapon

The bacterium Francisella tularensis, which causes tularemia, is categorized as a class A bioterrorism agent, putting it among the likes of plague, smallpox and ebola.

Francisella Tularensis: Stopping A Biological Weapon

Scientists hope a vaccine is on the horizon for tularemia, a fatal disease caused by the pathogen Francisella tularensis, an organism of concern as a potential biological warfare agent. Until recently we knew very little about this bacterium.

Tularemia as a Biological Weapon

A weapon using airborne tularemia would likely result 3 to 5 days later in an outbreak of acute, undifferentiated febrile illness with incipient pneumonia, pleuritis, and hilar lymphadenopathy.

Tularemia Fact Sheet

F. tularensis is considered an effective bioweapon because it can be aerosolized, it has an extremely low infectious dose (~10 organisms), and can cause a substantial, long-lasting illness, sometimes leading to death.

Tularemia: A Case Study In Medical Surveillance And Bioterrorism Preparedness

F. tularensis is one of the most highly infectious known bacterial pathogens; inoculation or inhalation of as few as ten colony forming units of F. t. tularensis can cause potentially lethal disease in humans.

Resources

Center for Biosecurity of UPMC

F. tularensis is considered to be a serious potential bioterrorist threat because it is one of the most infectious pathogenic bacteria known–inhalation of as few as 10 organisms can cause disease–and it has substantial capacity to cause serious illness and death. The bacterium was developed into an aerosol biological weapon by several countries in the past.

Center for Health Security

F. tularensis is considered to be a serious potential bioterrorist threat because it is one of the most infectious pathogenic bacteria known-inhalation of as few as 10 organisms can cause disease-and it has substantial capacity to cause serious illness and death. The bacterium was developed into an aerosol biological weapon by several countries in the past.

National Terror Alert

Francisella tularensis is very infectious. A small number (10-50 or so organisms) can cause disease. If F. tularensis were used as a weapon, the bacteria would likely be made airborne for exposure by inhalation. People who inhale an infectious aerosol would generally experience severe respiratory illness, including life-threatening pneumonia and systemic infection, if they are not treated.

The Doctor's Doctor

Francisella tularensis is the agent of tularemia, a serious and occasionally fatal disease of humans and animals. For centuries, this disease was known primarily to veterenarians, animal handlers, and hunters. With the increased attention to bio-terrorism, concern has been raised that this bacteria could be used as an agent of terror.

NOVA Online

The agent that causes tularemia, Francisella tularensis, is one of the most infectious bacteria known: inhaling as few as ten microscopic germs can trigger disease. A World Health Organization committee estimated that if 110 pounds of a virulent strain of the bacteria were sprayed over a city of five million, it could incapacitate 250,000 people and kill 19,000. Respiratory failure or shock would cause most fatalities.