Rohain Khalil

Use Of Weapons Microbiological Legend And Reality Rohain Khalil

ABSTRACT

Title: Use of microbiological weapons, legend and reality

Author ROHAIN KHALIL

Most keys: Microbiological weapons, Bioterrorism, anthrax, Pathogens, Conventions

Biological weapons are different from conventional weapons in that pathogens hold an unpredictable potential for multiplication, spread and genetic variation during their diffusion in a target population. Indeed, the first acts of biological warfare perpetrated on a large scale seem to date from the 14th century. During the siege of Caffa in 1346, the Tartars threw the remains of soldiers who had died of the plague in the besieged city defended by the Genoese.

A new use of biological weapons is found in the 18th century when the English used the smallpox virus against the native Canadians allied with the French. In the 1930s, Japan is said to have developed and used biological weapons against China. Since then, a large number of microorganisms and toxins have been studied all over the world for war purposes; which causes an aggressive biological risk. These agents are likely to induce panic and socio-economic disorganization among populations.

In April 1972, 80 states signed the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological, Biological, and Toxin Weapons, also known as the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (CABT). To date, 153 states have signed this Convention, which entered into force in 1975.

The end of the Cold War and the deliberate release of Bacillus anthracis by mail delivered to the United States at the end of 2001 are largely responsible for the emergence of the bioterrorism we know today.