1.
Bioterrorism
Dr. M. Jane Esther
II YR MD(Microbiology) postgraduate,
CMCHRC, Trichy, Tamilnadu

2.
Definition
• Terrorism : “The unlawful use of force and
violence against persons or property to
intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian
population, or any segment”
• Bioterrorism: bioterrorism attack is the
deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, toxins
or other harmful agents used to cause illness
or death in people, animals, or plants.

3.
Bioterrorism

4.
Why are they used?
• Can be easily disseminated, and can cause widespread fear
and panic beyond the actual physical damage
• Bioterrorism is an attractive weapon because biological
agents are relatively easy and inexpensive to obtain.
• The use of agents that do not cause harm to humans but
disrupt the economy have been discussed. Eg. Foot and
mouth disease virus
• Some bioterrorism agents, like the smallpox virus, can be
spread from person to person and some, like anthrax,
cannot.

5.
Key Features of Biologic Agents Used as
Bioweapons
• High morbidity and mortality
• Potential for person-to-person spread
• Low infective dose and highly infectious by aerosol
• Lack of rapid diagnostic capability
• Lack of effective vaccine
• Potential to cause anxiety
• Environmental stability
• Potential to be “weaponized”

6.
Earliest attempts at biological warfare
• 400 BC – Scythian archers – arrows dipped in blood
• 300 BC – Greek & Romans – animal cadavers – contaminate
water supplies
• 190 BC- Hannibal hurled snakes onto empty ships of King
Eumenes

7.
• 1346 – Mongols catapulted bodies of plague victims over
city walls
• 1718 – Russians tried the same tactic against Sweden
• 1763 – British gave small pox inoculated blankets to
Indians

8.
20th century
• By the time World war 1 began, attempts to
use anthrax were directed at animal populations.
• Dilger from Germany -infected horses with glanders while
they were waiting to be shipped to Britain

9.
• In 1972 police in Chicago arrested two college
students, Allen Schwander and Stephen Pera, who had
planned to poison the city's water supply
with typhoid bacteria.

10.
21st century
• In Oregon , followers of the Shree
Rajneesh attempted to control a local election by
incapacitating the local population – Salmonella
typhimurium.
• Letters laced with infectious anthrax were
concurrently delivered to news media offices and the
U.S Congress. The letters killed thousands of people

11.
CLASSIFICATION
• Category A, B and C – CDC
Category A
•Easily disseminated
•High mortality rates
•Major public health impact
•Public panic and social disruption
Category B
•Moderately easy to
disseminate
•Low mortality rates
Category C
•Emerging pathogens
•Could be engineered for
mass dissemination in the
future

12.
Category A agents
Bacteria Viruses
•Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis)
•Botulism (Clostridium botulinum
toxin)
•Plague (Yersinia pestis)
•Smallpox (Variola major)
•Tularemia (Francisella
tularensis)
•Viral hemorrhagic fevers:
•Arenaviruses: Lassa, New World
(Machupo, Junin, Guanarito, and
Sabia)
•Bunyaviridae: Crimean Congo,
Rift Valley
•Filoviridae: Ebola, Marburg
•
•Flaviviridae: Yellow fever; Omsk
fever; Kyasanur Forest

13.
Tularemia
• Rabbit fever
• Inhalation
• Respiratory infection
• Life threatening pneumonia

14.
Anthrax
• Bacillus anthracis
• Direct skin contact – cutaneous
• Inhalation – pulmonary
• Ingestion of carcasses of infected
animals – intestinal anthrax

15.
Small pox
• Highly contagious
• Inhalation
• High mortality
• Eradicated

16.
Botulinum toxin
• Clostridium botulinum
• Respiratory failure and
paralysis
• High mortality

17.
Bubonic plague
• Yersinia pestis
• Rodents
• Flea bite
• Bubonic
• Pneumonic
• Septicaemic

18.
Category B agents
• Moderately easy to disseminate
• Result in moderate morbidity rates and low
mortality rates
• Require specifically enhanced diagnostic
capacity

19.
Category B agents
• Brucellosis (Brucella spp.)
• Clostridium perfringens
• Glanders (Burkholderia mallei)
• Melioidosis (B. pseudomallei)
• Psittacosis (Chlamydia psittaci)
• Q fever (Coxiella burnetii)
• Ricin toxin from Ricinus
communis (castor beans)
• Staphylococcal enterotoxin B
• Typhus fever
Food safety threats:
Salmonella sp.
Escherichia coli
Shigella sp.
Water safety threats
Vibrio cholerae
Cryptosporidium
parvum

20.
Category C agents
• Include emerging pathogens
• Could be engineered for mass dissemination in the
future because of availability, ease of production,
ease of dissemination
• The recent emergence of novel viruses leading to
outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS), Nipah, hantavirus are examples

21.
T2 - mycotoxins
• Tricothecene mycotoxins -are nonvolatile
compounds produced bi filamentous fungi
primarily of the genera Fusarium, Myrotecium,
Trichoderma, and Stachybotrys.
• Inhalation, Dermal, and Oral.
• Involve eyes, skin, respiratory and
gastrointestinal tracts.
• Death rate : 10 to 20 %

22.
Is it really bioterrorism?
• Outbreak of a rare disease
• Seasonal disease at a wrong time
• Unusual age distribution
• Unusual clinical symptoms
• Unsual epidemiologic features
• Outbreak in a region / geographic location
where it is not normally seen

23.
How to be prepared for a BT attack?
• Familiarize medical staffs with agents of BT
Incorporate into disaster planning –
• Decontamination & infection control
• Communication with key agencies- Laboratory, Respective
national health authorities
• Contacts to obtain stockpiled supplies – Antibiotics, Immune
sera, Vaccines, etc
• Security preparations

24.
Preparedness
• Laboratories are working on advanced
detection systems to provide early warning,
identify contaminated areas and populations
at risk, and to facilitate prompt treatment.

25.
References
• Bioterrorism – emergency preparedness and
response – CDC
• Bioterrorism – Dr.T.V.Rao ppt
• Bioterrorism – Infectious diseases- National
academics of science