Biological weapons are pathogenic microorganisms, their

toxins, naturally occurring or modified plants or animals’ toxins

that are used intentionally to interfere with the biological process
of a host. These microbes or toxins work to kill or incapacitate the
host. Biological weapons may be used to target living organisms
such as humans, animals or vegetation through contamination of
non-living substances of the environment such as water, air and
soil. The deliberate use of bioweapons on humans, animals and
plants population to cause illness or death is called
“Bioterrorism”.
A biological weapon is a combination of a biological agent
(the bacteria, virus or toxin) and the means of keeping the agent
alive and virulent, transporting it to where it will be dispersed and
a dissemination mechanism. For example one biological weapon
could be anthrax spores, a plane and a pesticide sprayer. Another
might be salmonella bacteria bred in a laboratory, transported in
a vial and poured into some food. Some biological weapons are
suited to large-scale production and dissemination for use in war,
some are more likely to be considered for use in a smaller-scale
terrorist attack, and others are only suitable as weapons of
assassination. Some writers have chosen to use the term
‘weapons of mass casualties’ instead of biological agents, even
though, achieving mass casualties with biological weapons is a
difficult task which depends on the agents used, the quantity of
agents and the means of dissemination. Biological weapons may
be used as weapons of individual assassination or in small-scale
targeted attacks, so it is misleading to speak of them as weapons
of mass casualties, anyway. In the past, attempts to use biological
weapons in individual assassinations or small-scale attacks have
 generally been more successful than attempts to cause mass
casualties.
NATURE OF THE LIKELY AGENTS TO BE USED AS BIOWEAPONS
The nature of an infectious agent that will suitably be used
as a biological weapons to succeed in a particular attack on the
target population includes the followings:
 They can easily multiplies in large quantity in the laboratory.
 It can easily be stored in dried or frozen form without spoilage.
 It should be stable in air if not intended to be spread in aerosol.
 It should be highly virulent and infective even at a small dose.
 It should be a non-endemic pathogens in which the target
population are not immune against it.
 It should be resistant to most available chemotherapeutic agents.
Broadly speaking, the CDC separates agents of bioterrorism into
three categories depending upon the lethality of the agent (i.e.,
how fast it can spread and the severity of the illness or death it
causes. These categories are category A, B, and C.
Category A agents
Category A agents are considered the highest risk and highest
priority because they can easily spread from person-to-person,
result in high mortality rates, possess the potential for major
public health impact (i.e., can cause extreme concern and social
disruption) and require special public health preparedness
provisions. These agents includes: anthrax (Bacillus anthracis),
botulism (Clostridium botulinum toxin), plague (Yersinia pestis),
smallpox (Variola major), tularemia (Francisella tularensis) and
viral hemorrhagic fever (Ebola, Lassa fever, Yellow fever, Rift
valley fever and Congo cri-mean hemorrhagic fever).
Category B agents
Category B agents are the second highest priority because they
can be moderately spread, result in moderate morbidity rates and
low mortality rates, and require enhanced disease surveillance
and specific laboratory capacity for good investigation. The
category B agents include the followings: brucellosis (Brucella
species), epsilon toxin of
Clostridium perfringens, food safety threats (i.e., Salmonella
species,
Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Shigella species), glanders
(Burkholderia mallei), melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei),
psittacosis (Chlamydia
Psittaci), Q-fever (Coxiella burnetii), ricin toxin from Ricinus
communis (castor beans), Staphylococcal enterotoxin B, typhus
fever (Rickettsia prowazekii), viral encephalitis (alpha viruses,
such as
Venezuelan equine encephalitis, eastern equine encephalitis,
western
equine encephalitis), and water safety threats (i.e., Vibrio
cholerae, Cryptosporidium parvum).
Category C
Category C agents are the third highest priority and are
considered as
emerging threats for disease. These agents are easily available,
easily
produce and transmitted, and have the potential for high mortality
and morbidity rates. Category C agents include Nipah virus,
Hantavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and HIV.
MILESTONE OF BIOWEAPONS
As early as 600 BC, infectious diseases were recognized for
their
potential impact on people and armies when the Assyrians
poisoned enemy wells with rye ergot, a fungus that causes
convulsions when ingested. Such a strategy of polluting wells and
other sources of water with infectious substances continued to be
used in many European wars, the American Civil War, and other
20th-century conflicts.z
In 14th century diseased cadavers and carcasses were been
used as bioweapons by military leaders for initiating pandemic
plague outbreak in Europe, near East, and north Africa which is
said to be the most devastating public disaster in record, a similar
event occur between Swedish and Russian forces in 1970.
In 15th century contaminated clothes supplied to South
American natives by military officer causes small pox outbreak
which is another devastating and highly contagious disease, also
in 1754, the Indian tribes in the Ohio valley became infected with
small pox through the use of small pox-laden blankets presented
by a military officer.
During the 19th century, the use of biological warfare
became more sophisticated. With the new founded knowledge of
Koch’s postulates and the development of modern microbiology,
isolation and production of specific pathogens that will be used as
bioweapons became possible.