A REVIEW OF RESEARCH ON COMMON BIOLOGICAL AGENTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT
Abstract
Biological agents are unique class of microorganisms which can be used to produce the disease in large populations of humans, animals and plants. If used for hostile purposes, any disease-causing microorganism could be considered a weapon. The use of biological agents is not a new concept and history is replete with examples of biological weapon use. Before the 20th century, biological warfare took on three main forms by deliberate poisoning of food and water with infectious material, use of microorganisms or toxins in some form of weapon system, and use of biologically inoculated fabrics. Four kinds of biological warfare agents are bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae, fungi. These are distinguished by being living organisms, that reproduce within their host victims, who then become contagious with a deadly multiplier effect, bacteria, viruses, or fungi or toxin found in nature can be used to kill or injure people. Biological agents may be used for an isolated assassination, as well as to cause incapacitation or death to thousands. These biological agents represent a dangerous military threat because they are alive, and are therefore unpredictable and uncontrollable once released. The act of bioterrorism can range from a simple hoax to the actual use of biological weapons. Biological agents have the potential to make an environment more dangerous over time. If the environment is contaminated, a long-term threat to the population could be created. This paper discusses common biological agents, their mode of action in living organisms and possible impact on the environment.References
C. A. Cole. Scientific American 275 (1996)
C.A. Cole, The eleventh plague – The
politics of biological and chemical warfare
Cole, L.A., W.H. Freeman and Company,
New York (1997).
E. J. Hoogendorn, Bulletin of the Atomic
scientists 53 (1997) 35.
M. Wheelis, "Biological warfare at the 1346
siege of Caffa.", Emerg Infect Dis (Center
for Disease Control), (2002) http://www.cdc.
gov/ncidod/EID/vol8no9/01-0536.htm.
WHO Health Aspects of Chemical and
Biological Weapons Ist edition World Health
Organization Geneva (1970) 1-29.
Office of Technology Assessment.
Proliferation of Weapons of Mass
Destruction: Assessing the Risks; OTA-ISC559 U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington DC, (1993) 1-111.
L. M. Wein, D. L. Craft and E. H. Kaplan,
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 100 7 (2003) 4346.
R. Purver, Canadian Security and
Intelligence Service (1995) p. 42.
R. M. Atlas, ASM News 64 (1998) 383.
D. R. Franz, P.B. Jahrling, A. M.
Friedlander, D. J McClain, D. L. Hoover,
W.R. Bryne, J. A. Pavlin, G. W. Christopher
and E. M. Eitzen, J. Am. Med. Assoc. 278,
No. 5 (1997) 399.
D. H. Ellison, Handbook of Chemical and
Biological Warfare Agents, CRC Press LLC
Boca Raton, FL (1999)
G. F. Webb Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 100, No. 8
(2003) 4355.
www.upmc-biosecurity.org/website/focus/
agents_diseases/background.html - 31k
E. Eitzen, J. Pavlin, T. Cieslak, G.
Christopher, and R. Culpepper Medical
Management of Biological Casualties
Handbook, 3rd ed. Ft. Detrick, MD:U.S.
Army Medical Research Institute of
Infectious Diseases (1998).
A. C. Parker, J. Kirsi, W.H Rose and D. T.
Parker. Counter Proliferation-Biological
Decontamination. Rpt DAAD09-92-D-0004.
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD:U.S. Army
Test and Evaluation Command (1996).
A. Watson and D. Keir, Epidemiol. Infect.
(1994) 479.
T. V. Inglesby, D.A Henderson and J.G
Bartlett (1999), JAMA 281, No. 18 (1994)
Williams, David. "Anthrax scientist Bruce
Ivins stood to benefit from a panic". Los
Angeles Times. (August 2, 2008).
M. Wheelis Emerg Infect Dis (Center for
Disease Control) (2002).
D. Barenblatt A plague upon Humanity, Edi.
Harper Collns (2004) pp.220-221.
A. Pearson Zoonoses: biology, clinical
practice, and public health control (Soulsby
E. J, Palmer, S. L editors). Oxford
[Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press
(1998) pp. 276–9.
R.R. Parker, Recent studies of tick-borne
diseases made at the United States Public
Health Service Laboratory at Hamilton,
Montana. In: Proceedings of the Fifth Pacific
Congress (1934) 3367-3374.
D.T. Dennis, T.V. Inglesby, and D. A.
Henderson et.al., JAMA 285, No. 21 (2001)
A. Söstedt, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1105
(2007) 1.
J. B. Woods. USAMRIID’s Medical
Management of Biological Casualties
Handbook (6th ed.). Fort Detrick, Maryland:
U.S. Army Medical Institute of Infectious
Diseases (2005) pp. 53.
W. R. Byrne and Q fever. In: Medical
Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare
Sidell F.R., Takafugi, E.T. and Franz, D.R.
editors). Washington, DC:TMM Publications,
(1997) 523-537.
M.G. Madariaga, K. Rezai, G.M. Trenholme
and R.A. Weinstein. Lancet Infect Dis 3, No.
(2003) 709. PMID 14592601
R.Seshadri, I.T. Paulsen and J.A. Eisen,.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A 100, No. 9
(2003) 5455.
Freeman, B.A. Burrows Textbook of
Microbiology. 21st ed. Philadelphia, PA:WB
Saunders Co (1979)
D. J. McClain, Smallpox. In: Medical
Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare
(Sidell, F.R., Takafugi, E. T., Franz, D.R.
editors). Washington, DC:TMM publications
(1997) 539-559
H.J. McGeorge, Chemical/Biological Terrorism Threat Handbook. Rpt DAALO3-86-D0001. Aberdeen Proving Ground, Chemical
Research, Development and Engineering
Center (1989).
E. W. Stearn and A.E. Stearn. The Effect of
Smallpox on the Destiny of the Amerindian.
Boston, Mass: Bruce Humphries (1945).
G.W. Christopher, T. J. Cieslak, J. A. Pavlin,
and E.M. Eitzen Jr., JAMA 278, No. 5
(1997) 412.
J. F. Smith, K. Davis, M.K. Hart, G.V.
Ludwig, D.J. McClain, M. D. Parker and W.
D. Pratt, (1997) Viral encephalitides. In:
Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological
Warfare (Sidell, F.R., Takafugi, E.T., Franz,
D.R. editors). Washington, DC : TMM Publications ; 561-589
Stedman's Medical Dictionary 24th ed.,
(Baltimore, M. D. editor) (1982).
N. J. Mantis, Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev. 57, No. 9
(2005) 1424.
G. Rajagopalan, M. M Sen,. M. Singh, N.S
Murali, K. A. Nath and K. Iijima. Intranasal
exposure to staphylococcal enterotoxin B
elicits an acute systemic inflammatory
response. Shock.25, No. 6 (2006) 647.
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/ricin/facts.asp
D.R. Franz, Defense against toxin
weapons. In: Medical Aspects of Chemical
and Biological Warfare (Sidell, F.R.,
Takafugi, E.T., Franz, D.R. editors).
Washington, DC:TMM Publications, (1997)
C. Montecucco and J. Molgó, Current
Opinion in Pharmacology 5, No. 3 (2005)
BUMED. Biological Warfare Defense
Information Sheet. Botulism. Available:
http://support1.med.navy.mil/ bumed/med02/med-02c/botulism.htm (1996).
M.S. Palmgren, and A.Ciegler, Aflatoxins.
In: Handbook of Natural Toxins. Vol 1 Plant
and Fungal Toxins (Keeler, R.F., Tu, A.T.
editors). New York: Marcel Dekker (1983)
-323
R.A. Zilinskas, Iraq's biological weapons.
The past as future? JAMA 278, No. 5 (1997)
