Last updated on 8/14/06
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General | Ricin | Anthrax | Botulinum Toxin | Plague | Smallpox | Tularemia | Food Supply
General Information:
CBC:
Biowar Dictionary
CBC's glossary of bio / chemical warfare words and phrases. This glossary
accessorizes the CBC feature "Red Lies," about the 1979 USSR
biological warfare "accident" in Sverdlovsk, Russia.
11/03/2001:
US Learned Bioweapons Threat in Cold War With Secret Tests on Civilians
The US government admits that the CIA conducted bio-chemical warfare experiments
on American citizens as recently as 1966.
10/23/2001
- AMA: Policies and Resources in Response to Terrorism
Medical Preparedness for Terrorism and Other Disasters, Medical Preparedness
for Terrorism and Other Disasters, and Organized Medicine's Role in the
National Response to Terrorism:
Update.
10/21/2001
- Chat transcript: Dr Jeremy McAnulty on biological warfare
MSN abd 60 Minutes sponsor a live interview with infectious diseases expert
from NSW Health, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, discussing the latest biological
threats.
10/18/2001
- NPR: History of Biological Warfare
National Public Radio's timeline and details about anthrax, and other
organisms used for centuries as weapons of war.
10/14/2001
- CDC: Facts about: Anthrax, Botulism, Pneumonic Plague, Smallpox
The Centers for Disease Control's official facts about various diseases
which may be used as weapons of mass destruction. Facts include symptoms,
causes, and cures.
10/11/2001
- AMA's draft declaration to be considered by the World Medical Association
In response to the growing threat of biological weapons, this draft declaration
was to be considered by the World Medical Association, updated on October
11, 2001.
9/24/2001
- Germ Warfare: Transcript: Expert on Biological Terror
Author William Broad of The New York Times thinks bio-warfare and bio-terrorism
may fast become our worst national nightmare.
1/17/2000
- Preventing the Use of Biological Weapons: Improving Response Should
Prevention Fail
This article presents an overview of the nature and scope of the challenges
posed by biological weapons, and offers ways by which the infectious diseases
professional community might address the challenges of biological weapons
and bioterrorism.
JAMA:
Clinical Recognition and Management of Patients Exposed to Biological
Warfare Agents
The Journal of American
Medical Association's section about various germs which can be used as
weapons of bioterrorism, including anthrax, plague, Q fever, tularemia,
smallpox, viral encephalitides, hemorrhagic fevers, botulinum toxins,
and staphylococcal enterotoxin B, as well as delving into the epidemiology
of a BW or terrorist attack.
9/14/1999
- Dr. Ken Alibek: Q & A On Bio-Warfare/Bio-Terrorism
Ken Alibek, probably the world's most knowledgeable authority on bio-warfare,
in a straight-to-the-point interview about the subject.
Telemedicine.org:
Biological Warfare and its Cutaneous Manifestations
Two military experts discuss biological warfare, cutaneous manifestations,
hemorrhagic fever, mycotoxins, poxviruses, plague, and melioidosis.
eMedicine:
Warfare - Historic spects of Biological Warfare Agents
Detailed report by a doctor at the Center for Strategic Analysis, University
of Texas at Austin, co-authored by numerous other experts.
Ricin: 
Cornell:
Toxic Agents: Ricin
Ricin is one of the most poisonous naturally occuring substances known.
Last Updated: January 8, 2003. Agent of biological warfare and weapon of mass destriction, Ricin is widely available and easily produced.
Wisconsin
Department of Health and Safety: Ricin Poisoning
Official Wisconsin Department of Health and Safety site.
Anthrax:
CDC:
Anthrax: A Possible Case History
Published in the
summer of 1999 on CDC's very own site, this terrifying scenario of whata
bioterrorist anthrax attack would look like makes one wonder how on earth
CDC was so unprepared for the relatively minor attack we experienced in
October and November 2001, more than 2 years later!
Anthrax:
10 Things You Should Know
Ten questions and answers about anthrax are provided courtesy of the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
Timeline:
Anthrax Through the Ages
CNN traces anthrax from 1500 BC, when they claim it was the fifth and
sixth Egyptian plagues of Exodus.
Johns
Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies: Anthrax
The Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies, who works with the CDC, published
this anthrax page in 2000, and mentions its possibilities for bioterrorist
use.
JAMA:
Anthrax as a Biological Weapon
The Journal of American Medical Association's page about anthrax as a
weapon of bioterrorism, its history as a current threat, epidemiology,
symptoms, and methods of treatment.
10/19/2001
- ABC News: Anthrax Let Loose in 1979
What we learned from the Soviet Compound 19 anthrax "accident"
of 1979. On the bright side ,in that incident, no one under the age of
24 came down with the disease.
10/16/2001
- AMA Message to Physicians on Anthrax
In light of the ongoing
investigations of inhalation and cutaneous anthrax, the American Medical
Association (AMA) provides this information to doctors.
5/26/1998
- Heritage Foundation: Defending America Against Bioterrorism
Properly entitled
"Microbes and Mass Casualties: Defending America Against Bioterrorism,"
this page delves into the likelihood that genetically altered disease-causing
microbes could overwhelm the U.S. public health system and wreak horrific
destruction.
3/2/1998
- The Bioweaponeers
A conversation with
Ken Alibek, for whom a strain of weaponized anthrax (Alibekov anthrax)
is named.
Case
Study: Sverdlovsk Anthrax Outbreak of 1979
The anthrax epidemic in Sverdlovsk, prompting Soviet officials to attribute
the outbreak to contaminated meat, while the US Government took the position
that the outbreak was due to a leakage from a biological weapons facility.
This case seeks to explore the sources of the anthrax spores as well as
the methods of treatment used by the Soviets according to both US and
Soviet sources.
Britain's
'Anthrax Island': Quarantined for 48 Years
The island of Gruinard,
half way between Ullapool and Gairloch in the Highlands, was so contaminated
by experiments that it was quarantined for almost 50 years.
Botulinum Toxin:
Johns
Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies: Botulinum Toxin
The Center for Civilian
Biodefense Studies, who works with the CDC, published this botulinum toxin
page in 2000. When it was published last year, it averred that "a
number of states named by the U.S. State Department as "state sponsors
of terrorism" have developed or are developing botulinum toxin as
a biological weapon."
JAMA:
Botulinum Toxin as a Biological Weapon
The Journal of American Medical Association's publication about medical
and public health management of botulinum toxin, microbiology and virulence
factors, and history of current threat.
Virtual
Naval Hospital
Section on the treatment
of biological warfare agent casualties due to clostridium botulinum toxin.
Plague:
Johns
Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies: Plague
The Center for Civilian
Biodefense Studies, who works with the CDC, published this study of the
plague. Among some of the more disturbing statements: "There are
no effective environmental warning systems to detect an aerosol cloud
of plague bacilli, and there are no widely available rapid, diagnostic
tests of utility. The first sign of a bioterrorist attack with plague
would most likely be a sudden outbreak of patients presenting with severe
symptoms."
JAMA:
Plague as a Biological Weapon
The Journal
of American Medical Association's publication examines the plague, its
history as a current threat, epidemiology, symptoms, and methods of treatment.
eMedicine:
Plague
Background, clinical
aspects, and treatment of the plague, *Warning: the pictures on this site
are not for the squeamish.
Smallpox:
CDC:
Smallpox: An Attack Scenario
The most shocking thing about this publication is that it was on CDC's
site in 1999. That should not minimize the shock of the scenario, set
in the northeast U.S., and goes into how a terrorist could easily spread
the disease, and how easily emergency rooms would misdiagnose the symptoms,
effectively helping the disease to spread.
CDC's
FAQ'S about Smallpox
The US Centers for
Disease Control's frequently asked questions about smallpox.
Johns
Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies: Smallpox
The Center for Civilian
Biodefense Studies, who works with the CDC, published this study of smallpox.
06/11/01:
Warning of smallpox terror risk
Russia's Vektor Institute
in Siberia holds one of only two official samples of smallpox. In this
article, Dr. Lev Sandakhchiyev, the director of the center, warns of the
risks of smallpox in the hands of bioterrorists.
Tularemia
Johns
Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies Tularemia
The Center for Civilian
Biodefense Studies, who works with the CDC, published this study of tularemia,
a likely bioterrorism weapon.
JAMA:
Tularemia as a Biological Weapon
The Journal of American
Medical Association's publication examines tularemia, its history as a
current threat, epidemiology, symptoms, and methods of treatment.
Contamination of the Food Supply:
Would
our food chain survive a chemical or biological attack?
Agroterrorist attacks,
chem-bio incidents, biological weapons, and how first responders can better
prepare for and manage their effects.
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