Download bioweapons_2016 - Kenston Local Schools

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As stated by one of the
Micro students (2015) in the
“Outbreak” write up…
• “Ebola (or any other pathogen) is
a threat because it takes away
from your …
–Peace of Mind” …
Anthrax
Anthrax
• Can be inhaled
– LUNGS
• Can be on skin
– CUTANEOUS
• Digestive System
– GUT
Cholera
CHOLERA
• Diarrhea / SEVERE
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Dehydration
Cholera Camp
• Botulism is a rare but serious bacterial
paralytic
illness; nerve
toxin produced
Clostridium
botulinum
• There are three types:
–Foodborne : by eating foods that
contain the botulism toxin.
–Wound botulism: is caused by toxin
produced from an infected wound
–Infant botulism is caused by eating
the spores of the botulinum bacteria,
which then grow in the intestines and
release toxin.
• All forms of botulism can be
fatal
• Foodborne botulism can be
especially dangerous because
many people can be poisoned
at one time; by eating a
contaminated food
Ebola
EBOLA – “Hot Topic”
In the News …
TOTAL
Deaths
from
Ebola:
as of
2/13/15
9253
= 785
in one
month
(since 1/16/15)
Ebola 2014-2015 Outbreak
• ~ 11,000 deaths from outbreak last year
(as of January 31, 2016)
• http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/20
14-west-africa/case-counts.html
Glanders
• http://www.thehorse.com/articles/36220/gl
anders-detected-at-2016-olympicequestrian-facilities
Plague
3 types:
1) Bubonic Plague
2) Pneumonic
Plague
3) Septicemia
Q-Fever
• Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by a
species of bacteria that is throughout the
world
• Cattle, sheep, and goats are the primary
reservoirs
• Infection has been noted in other animals,
including domesticated pets.
Q-Fever
• high fevers (104-105° F)
• severe headache, myalgia (muscle soreness
all over)
• chills, sweats, non-productive cough,
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal
pain, and chest pain.
• Fever usually lasts for 1 to 2 weeks.
Weight loss can occur and persist for
some time.
Q-FEVER
• http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/201
5/s4333689.htm (Australia)
– ~ 17 minutes (we probably won’t watch all of it)
Ricin
Ricin History
• Before: 2002, Ricin was best known for its use in
the assassination of a Bulgarian dissident
during the Cold War.
• Modern terrorists: Ricin; from the castor bean is
and odd choice
– it does not survive long in outdoor conditions
– it is not easily transferred through the human skin.
• January 2003; London police found traces of
the substance and production equipment during
a terror raid on a local apartment.
Ricin
• Less than a pinch of Ricin ingested into
the human body would cause nausea,
vomiting, internal bleeding = liver failure
• Near certain death within 72 hours from
the collapse of multiple organs.
• There is no known antidote, and it can be
weaponized as a powder, mist, or pellet.
• It can even be dissolved into drinking
water
Saxitoxin
Saxitoxin
• When people consume
these contaminated
shellfish, they very
quickly feel the effects
of the toxin, a
syndrome known as
paralytic shellfish
poisoning.
• Death will usually occur
within 2-12 hours in
untreated cases.
There is no cure.
A type of Protist: Dinoflagellate
Saxitoxin History
• It has been involved in covert government
operations and in chemical warfare.
• Saxitoxin is about 1000 times more toxic
than a typical synthetic nerve gas such as
sarin, and it is not surprising that in the
1950s, the CIA began experimenting with
it, reportedly using it in suicide capsules
provided to its agents
Smallpox
What is tularemia?
• Tularemia, also known as
“Rabbit Fever”
–is a disease caused by the
bacterium Francisella tularensis.
• Tularemia is typically found in
animals, especially rodents and
rabbits.
• Tularemia is usually a rural disease and
has been reported in every state except
Hawaii.
• Bite of infected insects
– most commonly, ticks and deerflies
– by handling infected sick or dead animals
– by eating or drinking contaminated food or
water
– by inhaling airborne bacteria.
Are we concerned about tularemia being used
as a bioweapon?
• It is highly infectious.
• A small number of bacteria (10-50
organisms) can cause disease.
• People who inhale the bacteria can
experience severe respiratory illness,
including life-threatening pneumonia
and systemic infection, if they are not
treated.
Tularemia
Tularemia
Chemical
Weapons
Sarin
• Sarin is a human-made chemical
warfare agent classified as a
nerve agent.
• Clear, colorless, tasteless,
odorless
• Sarin is also known as GB
How Sarin Works…
• Symptoms appear within a few
seconds up to 18 hours after
exposure
• All the nerve agents cause their
toxic effects by not letting the
nerves & muscles to “switch OFF”
Japan Subway -1995 - Sarin Attack
• In March 1995, the
Aum Shinrikyo sect
killed 12 people
and injured nearly
6,000 by releasing
sarin nerve gas in
the Tokyo subway
system.
VX
• VX is a human-made chemical
warfare agent classified as a
nerve agent.
• Nerve agents are similar to
pesticides
• VX was first developed in the
United Kingdom in the early
1950s.
• VX is odorless and tasteless.
• VX is an oily liquid that is amber
in color and slow to evaporate.
• It evaporates about as slowly as
motor oil.
• Can last for days or
months on objects
…because it evaporates
so slowly
VX
Mustard Gas – “HD”
• Sulfur mustard is a
thick liquid at room
temperature
• Often called mustard
gas.
• It is colorless and
odorless, but when
mixed with other
chemicals, it looks
brown and has a
garlic-like smell
Mustard Gas
• Mustard Gas has been used in chemical
warfare / in the Iran-Iraq war in 19801988.
• It was reported that The U.S. Department
of Defense was supposed to have
destroyed all remaining stocks of sulfur
mustard by 2004.
Phosgene = “CG”
• Phosgene is a
chemical used to
make plastics
and pesticides.
• It is colorless or
is a white to
pale-yellow
cloud.
Lewisite = “L”
• Lewisite is a chemical
warfare agent. It is a
vesicant or
blistering agent =
causes blistering of
the skin and mucous
membranes.
• Lewisite has an odor
like geraniums.
Lewisite
• Lewisite was produced in 1918 to be used
in World War I, but it was too late to be
used in the war.
• Lewisite has been used only as a chemical
warfare agent; there is no medical or other
practical use.
2012
USAMRIID
USAMRIID
• Includes a military and civilian staff of 750
include:
– microbiologists
– physicians
– veterinarians
– pathologists
– chemists
– virologists, nurses, etc.
USAMRIID collaborates …
• … with the CDC, the NIH, the World
Health Organization = WHO, the
Department of Energy, the FBI
• Other teams specialize in rapid response
to investigate disease outbreaks anywhere
in the world and can evacuate patients
under BSL-4 isolation
CDC - Atlanta
CDC
Regions
CDC - History
• Founded in 1946 to help control
malaria
• CDC has remained at the forefront of
public health efforts to prevent and
control infectious diseases and other
health threats
Biopreparat - Vektor
• Russia
• Created in 1973, Biopreparat was
originally designed as pharmaceutical
research but became a front for
bioweapons activity.
• Though no research was done there,
Alibek (from Bioterror video) said, the site could
hold clues to work done at other locations
Russian Equivalent
Biopreparat-Vektor
• In the late 1980s, Vector was reportedly
devoted to the development and
production of viruses as weapons.
• This research is said to have included
work on the Marburg virus putting it into
warheads
• Work reportedly also done on loading
warheads with smallpox virus, bubonic
plague, and anthrax.
Vektor Institute
• Vektor had some 4,500 scientists working
on bioweapons in 1990, author Richard
Preston told Congress in 1998.
• It also is supposed to be holding Russia's
samples of smallpox virus -- supposedly
only one of two such sample sets in the
world.