Microorganisms in Biowarfare: Historical and current perspectives

 

Microorganisms in Biowarfare: Historical and current perspectives

Biowarfare refers to the intentional use of biological agents (e.g., bacteria, viruses, fungi, and toxins) as weapons in war scenarios. Biowarfare agents can be deadlier than other conventional weapon systems as even minute quantities can cause mass casualties and/or fatalities depending on the agent used.  This practice involves the deliberate use of pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi) or toxins produced by organisms to cause disease and death in humans, animals, or plants and this is almost as old as humanity itself. Since pre-historic and ancient Greek and Roman times there have been reported examples such as the use of poisoned darts or contaminating water springs and wells with corpses or cadavers.

Historical Perspectives on Microorganisms in Biowarfare

One of the earliest recorded instances of biological warfare was by the Hittites (1500-1200 BCE), who sent diseased animals into enemy territories, possibly causing tularemia outbreaks. The Scythians (4th century BCE) were known to dip their arrows in decomposing bodies or in blood mixed with manure to cause infections in their enemies.

During the Black Death (1346), Mongol forces catapulted the bodies of plague victims over the walls of the besieged city of Kaffa (now in Ukraine) in an attempt to spread the disease among the inhabitants.  Also in various medieval wars, it was common to contaminate water sources with dead animals or human corpses to spread diseases among the enemy forces.

British forces under Sir Jeffrey Amherst reportedly gave blankets contaminated with smallpox to Native Americans during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), leading to a smallpox outbreak among indigenous populations.

During World War I (1914-1918), Germany was accused of using anthrax and glanders (a bacterial disease) to infect livestock and horses.

During World War II, the Japanese military conducted extensive biological warfare research under Unit 731. They experimented with various pathogens, including plague, cholera, anthrax, and typhus, on prisoners of war and civilians in China.  Japanese forces also released plague-infected fleas over Chinese cities, causing outbreaks and significant civilian casualties.

Both the Allied and Axis powers explored research and development on biological weapons during World War II. The United States and the United Kingdom conducted research on anthrax, botulinum toxin, and other agents, though they did not use them in combat.

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union saw an escalation in biological weapons research. Both superpowers developed extensive biowarfare programs, stockpiling agents like anthrax, tularemia, Q fever, and smallpox.  The Soviet Union’s program was codenamed as “Biopreparat,” and involved the development of genetically modified pathogens that could resist antibiotics and vaccines.

Use of microorganism in biowarfare during the past millennia.

Date	Examples of the use of microorganism in Biowarfare
Pre-historic times	Melanesian tribesman used arrowheads contaminated with tetanus
14th century BC	The Hittite army send rams infected with tularemia to their enemies
6th century BC (Trojan War)	Scythian archers infected their arrows by dipping them into decomposing cadavers and human blood containing C. perfringens and C. tetani
1155	Emperor Barbarossa poisons water wells with human bodies in Tortona, Italy
1346	Tartar (Mongol) army catapulted bodies of plague victims over the city walls of Caffa
1495	Spanish sold wine mixed with blood of leprosy patients to their French opponents in Naples (Italy)
1500	Pizarro offered variola-contaminated clothing to South America native communities
1650	Polish fire saliva from rabid dogs towards their enemies
1676: Antoine van Leeuwenhoek (Father of Microbiology) identified microorganisms.
1710	Russian army catapulted bodies of plague victims into Swedish cities
1763 (French-Indian War)	British offered smallpox-contaminated blankets to Native Americans
1797	The Napoleonic armies floods the plains around Mantua (Italy) to enhance the spread of malaria
1861–1863 (American Civil War)	Confederates troops sold yellow fever and smallpox-infected clothing to Union troops
	Confederates troops contaminate water supplies for the Union forces with animal corpses
End of the 19th century: development of the germ theory of disease and foundation of microbiology by Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) and Robert Koch (1843–1910)
1914–1918 (World War I)	German troops sold horses and mules infected with glanders and anthrax to the Allies German troops attempted to spread cholera in Italy and plague in St. Petersburg
1925: The “Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare”, also referred as the “Geneva Protocol”, was signed (38 signatories and 140 parties)
1939–1945 (World War II)	Japanese army poisoned water wells in Chinese villages to study cholera and typhus outbreaks
	Japanese inoculated prisoners of war with agents causing gas gangrene, anthrax, meningitis, cholera, dysentery and plague
1972: The “Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction”, also referred as the “Biological Weapons Convention” (BWC) was signed (actually has 182 parties)
2001: The US Patriot Act is signed in, providing Federal and national law enforcement officials with enhanced counter-terrorism capacities.

During the ancient times, in many of the cases (e.g.: plague during the siege of Caffa, smallpox during the French-Indian War, etc) it is difficult to distinguish if the disease spread was due to the intentional release of the microorganisms or if it was due to the limited hygienic conditions during the period or due to the contact between populations with different immunities.  For both microbiologists and historians it is challenging to distinguish between natural epidemics and deliberate biological attacks mainly due to the lack of reliable scientific data regarding an alleged bioterrorism attack, especially before the advent of modern microbiology, the secretive nature and polemical or Controversial conditions regarding such biological attacks, etc.

Current Perspectives on Microorganisms in Biowarfare

International Law and Biological Weapons Convention

Geneva Protocol (1925) - The Geneva Protocol of 1925 prohibited the use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare. However, it did not address the development or stockpiling of such weapons, nor did it have enforcement mechanisms, making it less effective until later treaties supplemented it.

Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) - The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) is the primary international treaty that prohibits the development, production, and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons. This was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

It was formally known as “The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction”.  The Convention was negotiated by the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland. It opened for signature on 10 April 1972 and entered into force on 26 March 1975. The BWC supplements the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which had prohibited only the use of biological weapons.  The BWC has been signed and ratified by 187 countries as of 2024. The development, production and stockpiling of biological weapons effectively ceased with the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

Today, biological warfare is feared not mainly nations, but more from terrorist groups or “lone wolves.” Many believe that terrorists would be incapable of carrying out an effective, large-scale biological attack. For instance, in 1984, the Rajneesh cult gave food poisoning to about 750 citizens of a small Oregon town for political purposes by adding Salmonella to salad bars. Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese cult, in 1995, experimented with biological weapons. The 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, where letters containing anthrax spores were sent to media outlets and government offices, killed about 5 people.  

(https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7150198/)

Some believe that a large-scale bioterrorist attack will occur in the not-too-distant future, but others say bioterrorism is an ineffective tactic. Attack methods include contamination of food and water supplies (A), bombs (B), using the mail (C), contamination of water (F), spraying aerosolized agents (E, G), direct injection (D), or the infiltration of “suicide infectees” (H).

Advances in genetic engineering and synthetic biology have raised new concerns about the potential creation of novel or enhanced biological weapons. Techniques like CRISPR could theoretically be used to modify pathogens to increase their virulence, resistance to treatment, or ability to evade detection.

While most nations publicly adhere to the BWC, there are concerns that some countries may be maintaining or developing biological weapons capabilities in secret.

Countermeasures and Global Preparedness against Biological warfare

Biological warfare has a far greater psychological impact than direct health impact and protective measures such as massive vaccinations against all possible against biological attacks are costly and inconvenient.

Biosurveillance systems, rapid diagnostic tests, and genomic sequencing are crucial tools in identifying and responding to potential biological attacks.  International organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) play vital roles in monitoring and responding to outbreaks, whether natural or man-made.

Developing vaccines and stockpiling antiviral drugs, antibiotics, and other medical countermeasures and therapeutics against potential biowarfare agents is key aspect of national preparedness strategies.

Effective response to biowarfare and bioterrorism requires international cooperation. The Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) is one example of an initiative aimed at building global capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats.

Classification of potential bioterrorism agents capable to cause diseases in humans, according to the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Strategic Planning Group

Category	Definition	Agent and Disease
A	High-priority agents Easy to disseminate or transmitted (person to person) High mortality rates Potential for major public health impact Cause public panic and social disruption	Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) Clostridium botulinum (botulism, toxin) Francisella tularensis (tularemia) Yersinia pestis (plague) Variola major (smallpox) Filoviruses (Ebola, Marburg) Arenaviruses (Lassa, Machupo) Bunyaviruses (Congo-Crimean, Rift Valley) Flaviviruses (Dengue)
B	Second highest priority agents Moderately easy to disseminate Moderate morbidity rates and low mortality rates	Brucella spp. (brucellosis) Clostridium perfringens (gangrene and food poisoning, Epsilon toxin) Salmonella spp. (salmonellosis) Escherichia coli O157:H7 (Hemorrhagic colitis) Shigella dysenteriae (dysentery) Burkholderia mallei (glanders) Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis) Chlamydia psittaci (psittacosis) Coxiella burnetii (Q fever) Vibrio cholerae (cholera) Cryptosporidium parvum (cryptosporidiosis) Staphylococcus aureus (food poisoning, Staphylococcal enterotoxin B) Rickettsia prowazekii (typhus fever) Alphaviruses (encephalitis) Caliciviruses (gastroenteritis)
C	Third highest priority agents Includes emerging pathogens that could be engineered for mass dissemination Availability and Easy to produce and disseminate High morbidity and mortality rates Potential for major public health impact	Multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (tuberculosis) Nipah virus (encephalitis) Hantavirus (hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome - HFRS, cardiopulmonary syndrome - HCPS) Chikungunya virus (arthritis and rash) SARS-associated coronavirus (respiratory syndrome) Highly pathogenic strains Influenza Virus (respiratory syndrome) Yellow fever

(https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/agentlist-category.asp.)

 

References

·  Oliveira M, Mason-Buck G, Ballard D, Branicki W, Amorim A, Biowarfare, bioterrorism and biocrime: A historical overview on microbial harmful applications, Forensic Sci Int. 2020,  doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110366

·   Riedel S, Biological warfare and bioterrorism: a historical review,  Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent), 2004,  doi: 10.1080/08998280.2004.11928002

·   Clark DP, Pazdernik NJ, Biological Warfare: Infectious Disease and Bioterrorism,  Biotechnology, 2015, doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-385015-7.00022-3