Biological Weapons Logistics

Session 4

Biological Weapons

• Bacteria

• Viruses

• Other microorganisms

• Biological by-products

The Dalles, Oregon

• Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

• 1984

• Illness from 10 Restaurants

• S. enterica (Typhimurium)

• Supplies– Bactrol disks, freeze dryer, incubator,

refrigerator, culture medium

Other Organisms Examined

• S. typhi

• Giardia lamblia

• HIV

• Hepatitis

What Does it Take

• Intent

• Equipment

• Expertise

• Time

• Target

Intent

• Political

• Religious

• Armageddon

• Disruptive Aspects

• Hatred

• Homicide

Equipment (Production Only)

• Growth Substrate– Bacteria/Fungi– Viruses

• Floor Space• Refrigerator• Growth Chamber

– Bacteria/Fungi– Viruses

Equipment

• Organisms– ATCC– Proficiency Organisms– Shared Organisms– Environment

• Disposables

• Protection

Expertise

• Rajneeshees– RN, RFNP – Ma Anand Puja

• Aum Shinrikyo– Biochemists, Biologists, Physicists,

Engineers– Seichi Endo - Microbiologist

What Japanese Officials Found

• Culture media• Extensive library• Clean room/air lock• 90 tons Methanol• 50 tons diethylaniline• 180 tons phosphorous

trichloride• 550 kg of iodine

What Japanese Officials Found

• Phosphorous pentachloride

• Sodium fluoride

• 51 tons of isopropyl alcohol

• 160 drums of peptone

• Dozens of other chemicals and pieces of equipment

Time

Time is paired to some degree with the secluded nature of the operation. The Rajneeshees has a secret biological weapons lab, as did Aum Shinrikyo. Aum also possessed a test ranch in Australia where chemical weapons were tested on sheep.

Target

• Individual– Bulgarian SS – Georgi Markov– Aum Shinrikyo– 2001 Bacillus anthracis

• Indiscriminate– The Dalles, Oregon (confined population)– Today’s fears

• Other Organisms

Dissemination

Aside from conscience and fear of boomerang effect, this factor alone probably accounts for the reason we have not seen a wide scale event.

We will get back to this point.

What Is a “Good” Agent?

• Infectivity

• Pathogenicity

• Virulence

• Toxicity

• Transmissibility

• Incubation

Infectivity

• Ability to grow in a host

• Everyone is “infected”

• Not everyone has disease– Natural Defense– Opportunistic organisms

Pathogenicity

• Ability to cause disease• Two main routes of disease

(bacteria)– Production of toxins– Invasion of tissue

• Action of viruses– Destruction of cells– Interference with physiology

Virulence

• How likely infection will lead to death

– LD50

Toxicity

• The ability to damage by toxins– Endotoxins – gram negative organisms

• Salmonella, Shigella, Pseudomonas, Neisseria

– Exotoxins – may be gram neg. or pos.• Botulinum toxin• S. aureus

Transmissibility

• Escape from host

• Movement to new host

• Infection of new host

The ability of a disease to be passed on to a new host.

Transmissibility

• Person-to person– Direct – STDs– Indirect – Infectious nuclei

• Vectors– Rodents, insects

• Environment – Wives’ tale – The Rusty Nail

Incubation

• Time from exposure to symptoms

• Asymptomatic/Contagious– Rhinovirus– Typhus, Shigella, Hep A, Norwalk virus– Staph. aureus

Incubation

• Defenses– Macrophagial response

• Bacillus anthracis• Stage 1 disease – 1 to 6 days• Stage 2 disease – up to 60 days

Dissemination

• Environmental Sustainability– Nutrition– UV Light– Heat– Cold– Hydrolysis– Other Physical Factors

Dissemination

• Direct Inoculation– Ricin tipped umbrella– Salad bar contamination

• Indirect Inoculation– Timed release (like in module 2

reading)

Tox/Epi Exposure Routes• Respiratory

– Smallpox or anthrax

• Dermal– T2 Mycotoxins or anthrax

• Mucous Membranes• Ingestion

– Salmonella

• Injection– Assassinations or tampering

Respiratory

• Environmental Factors

• Logistics– Delivery of organisms– Organism + solution

Particle Size

Human Hair

Nuiasance Dust

90 um

Pollen –50 um

Skin cell flake 10 um -

inhalable

PM 2.5 Respirable

Particle

Overcoming. . .

• Dispersal (Engineering)

• Wind (Drift)

• Gravity (Settling)

• Water (Precipitation)

• Temperature (Degredation)

• Light (Photolysis)

Gravity/Density

<1 Indefinite suspension

1 – 3.5 hours

5 – 20 minutes

10 – 5 minutes

15 – 2.5 minutes

30 – 34 seconds

Aerosols

• Fumes - vaporized solids that recondense into very small, solid particles.

• Dusts - are solid aerosols formed by mechanical means.

• Mists - are liquid aerosols formed by mechanical means.

Targeting

• Individuals

• Emotional Targets– Schools + Daycares

• Confined Target Clusters– Aircraft + Shopping Centers

• Mega-Clusters– Concerts + Sporting Events

Detection

• Light Techniques

• Culture

• PCR (BioWatch)

• Immuno-Assay

• Other Chemical Analyses