2. Introduction
ď‚— Microbial forensics is a relatively new scientific
discipline dedicated to analysing microbiological
evidence from a crime scene, that can help in
solving cases such as bioterrorism attack,
outbreaks of food borne disease etc.
3. What is bioterrorism
ď‚— Bioterrorism is terrorism by release or dissemination of
biological agents such as bacteria, viruses and toxins with
malicious intention.
ď‚— These are used to cause illness or death in people, animals ,
or plants.
ď‚— Biological agents can be spread in air as aerosols or in food or
drink
Virus
Bacteria
toxins
4. Optimum condition for effective
biological warfare
The agent
ď‚— Consistency produces a given effect- death or
disease
ď‚— Highly contagious and infective in low doses
ď‚— Short and practicable incubation time
ď‚— Difficult to identify in target population
ď‚— Suitable for mass production, storage, and
weaponisation.
ď‚— Stable during dissemination
5. Cont..……..
The target population
ď‚— Little or no natural or acquired immunity
ď‚— Little or no access to immunization or treatment
The aggressor
ď‚— Has means to protect or treat own forces and
population against the agent
6. Disease or agent Lethality (death) Incubation
period
Effective dose Environmental
stability
Lethal Agents
Anthrax High 1-6 d
10,000-50,000
spores
very stable for years
Plague High 1-6 d 100-500 organisms stable for 1 year
Smallpox High 7-17 d 10-100 organisms very stable
Ebola virus High 2-6 d 10-100 organisms unstable
Botulism High 1-5 d
0.001 mcg/Kg
weight
relatively stable
Ricin High 1-2 d 3-5 mcg/Kg weight stable
Cholera High 1-3 d 10-500 organisms unstable
Common biological warfare agents used for
bioterrorism
7. Incapacitating
Agent
Brucellosis Low months 10-100 organisms very stable
Tularemia Low 2-15 d 10-50 organisms stable for months
Q fever Low 15-40 d 1-10 organisms stable for months
Mycoplasma Low months 10-100 organisms moderately stable
T-2 Mycotoxins Moderate 1 d unknown very stable
Type B
Enterotoxin
Moderate <1 d 0.03 mcg moderately stable
Equine
encephalitis
Low 2-6 d 10-100 organisms relatively unstable
8. Clinical features
Clinical syndromes produced by biological
warfare agent
ď‚— Non specific febrile illness
ď‚— Pneumonic and gastrointestinal illness
ď‚— Pulmonary consolidation
ď‚— Effusion etc.
10. • 7 days after the terrorist attacks of sep 11, 2001 anonymous
letters laced with deadly anthrax spores began arriving at
media companies and congressional offices.
9/11/2001 9/18/2001
9/11/2001 7 days later
18/11/2001
However , now the simple act of opening an envelop
anywhere in the country could be deadly.
• Sent from Trenton to CBS News, NBC News, ABC News,
and the New York Post all located in New York City
• 5 people died in this case and 17 others were infected after
exposure.
12. Anthrax – an infectious usually fatal disease of
warm blooded animals, specially cattle and
sheep caused by bacterium bacillus anthrasis.
Bacillus anthracis is a rod-shaped, Gram-
positive, aerobic bacterium about 1 by 9 ÎĽm in
size.
An infectious, usually fatal disease of warm-blooded
animals, especially of cattle and sheep, caused by the
bacterium Bacillus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrax#/media/File:Bacillus_anthracis_Gram.jpg
13. Anthrax-
Mode of transmission for
bioterrorism
ď‚— Cutaneous
ď‚— Inhalation
ď‚— Gastrointestinal
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reopen911.info%2FNews%2F2010%2F09%2F06%2Farte-diffuse-enfin-le-film-marchands-
danthrax-mardi-7-septembre-2010%2F&ei=7x9DVdK5G8K4OKPOgNgB&bvm=bv.92189499,d.ZWU&psig=AFQjCNEpkN05hAd2tmI7nE-hhrCPVOhYYQ&ust=1430548847892367
14. Cutaneous
anthrax
Bacterial entry through skin
1-6d
Pruritic papulae
pustules
Ulcer
Coal black eschar
•Marked edema
•Lymphadenopathy
•Fever
•Swelling of surrounding tissues
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrax#/media/File:Skin_
reaction_to_anthrax.jpg
http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=
http://www.slideshare.net/KayalVizhi9/a
nthrax-15259628
15. Gastrointestinal anthrax
•Initial signs: nausea
•Loss of appetite
•Vomiting blood
•Sever diarrhea
•Lesions & soreness in throat
•Difficulty swallowing
•Swelling of neck &lymph glands
•50% of all patients develop
meningitis
http://www.skinsight.com/atlas/anthrax.htm
17. Mediational widening with
inhalation anthrax
http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=https://edc2.healthtap.com/ht-
staging/user_answer/reference_image/2393/large/Anthrax.jpeg%253F1386669816&imgrefurl=https://www.healthtap.com/topics/i-am-in-the-military-and-i-worried-
about-the-anthrax-vaccine-is-it-
dangerous&h=284&w=343&tbnid=xXnEZbBOEnmiKM:&zoom=1&docid=Xf3uIQ32PwWALM&ei=S6hVVY3CGojdywPYkoH4Bg&tbm=isch&ved=0CGMQMyhAMEA
18. Examination
ď‚— cultural characteristics
o aerobes and facultative anaerobes
o 2-3 mm colonies
o edge like matted hair
o medusa head appearance
o Blood agar hemolytic colonies.
http://www.bacteriainphotos
.com/bacillus_anthracis.ht
ml
19. Gram stain morphology of B.
Anthrax
http://textbookofbacteriology.net/Anthrax.html
The cells have characteristic squared ends. The endospores are
ellipsoidal shaped and located centrally .
22. ANTIBIOTICS FOR ANTHRAX
ď‚— Penicillin
ď‚— Erythrocin
ď‚— Tetracycline
ď‚— Chloramphenicol
ď‚— Occasional strains resistant to
penicillin are encountered
23. Antibiotic test for anthrax
ď‚— Antibiotic drugs (discs) being tested on anthrax
bacteria (Bacillus anthracis) colonies being
cultured on an agar growth medium in a Petri
dish. The exclusion zone around each disc
demonstrates the effectiveness of that antibiotic.
http://www.allposters.ie/-sp/Anthrax-Antibiotics-Research-posters_i10034927_.htm
25. REFERENCES
Websites referred
ď‚— http://www.theglobaljournals.com/ijar/file.php?val=October_2013_13807213
16_3ab9c_133.pdf
ď‚— http://www.immed.org/illness/bioterrorism.html
ď‚— http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrax
ď‚— www.actionbioscience.org/genomics/salyersarticle.htm
Research papers referred
ď‚— Sharma, S. (2013) Microbiology with An Emphasis on Forensic
Applications. Indian journal of applied research.,3(10)
ď‚— Nicolsan, G. L. Bioterrorism and Biological Warfare Agents, The Institute
for Molecular Medicine Huntington Beach, California 92649, 2001.
ď‚— Adalja, A.A., Toner, E. and Inglesby, T.V. (2015) Clinical management of
potential bioterrorism- related conditions. The new England journal of
medicine.,372(10) 954-61.
ď‚— Nicholas, J.B., Dance D.A.B., Miller, A.R.O. and Spence, R.C. (2002) .
Biological warfare and bioterrorism. Rev medica;l microbiology (324 ) 336-
339.