1. BIOLOGICAL WEAPONs OF MASS DESTRUCTION
PRESENTED BY-
Dr. Gopendra Chandra kamal
PG Scholar 2nd Year
GUIDED BY-
Dr. Ashwini Kumar S Bharati
PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF AGADA TANTRA EVUM VIDHI VAIDHYAKA
SRI DHARMASTHALA MANJUNATHESHWARA COLLEGE OF AYURVEDA
AND HOSPITAL, HASSAN, KARNATAKA
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2. DEFINITION WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION (WMD)
A weapon of mass destruction is weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans or cause great damage to human-made structures, natural structures, or the biosphere.
TYPES-
NUCLEAR WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
CHEMICAL WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
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3. Biological Agents as WMD
Biological agents are living organisms or their toxic products that can kill or incapacitate people, livestock, and plants.Categorised into three groups:
CATEGORY A
CATEGORY B
CATEGORY C
Anthrax
Brucellosis
Nipah virus
Botulinum toxin
Water borne threats e.g. vibrio cholera
H1N1, a strain of influenza
Viral Haemorrhagic Fever
Food poisoning threats e.g. salmonella, E. coli
SARS
Bubonic Plague
Ricin and Abrin
Small pox
Q fever
Tularaemia
Staphylococcal enterotoxin B
Typhus, Viral encephalitis
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4. ANTHRAX
It is non-contagious disease caused by the spore- forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis.
MOT- it is propagated by terrorist in powder form by sending letters smeared with spores. Spores enter the body by inhalation and skin contact.
Symptoms-blisters, ulcers, fever, bloody diarrhoea, nausea, haemoptysis
Treatment- antibiotics, anthrax vaccination as prophylaxis
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5. BOTULISM Caused by toxin generated by bacterium Clostridium botulinum.
MOT- it is propagated as lyophilized powder enclosed in rockets and bombs.
Symptoms-paralysis and respiratory failure
Treatment- botulinum anti-toxin.
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6. PLAGUE
It is caused by Yersinia pestis, a bacterium found in rodents and their fleas.
MOT- it is transmitted by releasing infected rat fleas kept in porcelain containers attached to projectiles.
Symptoms-swollen and tender lymph nodes called buboes. In pneumonic plague, person has fever, chest pain, blood stained sputum.
Treatment- antibiotics, sunlight and drying
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7. SMALLPOX It is caused by highly contagious virus variola major.
MOT- it is spread through aerosol and infected material. Even though eradicated, virus samples are present in laboratories of some countries.
Symptoms-fever, headache, fatigue, diarrhoea, vomiting, specific rash.
Treatment- no specific drug to treat
and vaccination not done these days.
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8. VIRAL HEMORRHAGIC FEVER
It is caused by members of filoviridae (Ebola and Marburg) and arenaviridae (Lassa and Matchupu).
It is believed that some terrorist groups in Africa possesses Ebola virus culture.
Death is due to multi-organ failure and hypovolemic shock.
Treatment- no available treatment, vaccine in process of development.
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9. BRUCELLOSIS
Caused by Brucella bacteria. The bacteria affects cattle, dogs, pigs etc. MOT- air, water, food articles are contaminated by terrorists. Bacteria can also transmit through skin wounds and unpasteurised milk. Symptoms-fever, headache, back pain, encephalitis.
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10. RICIN TOXIN SALMONELLA Ricin is obtained from Ricinus communis.
MOT- inoculation via ricin-laced projectiles
or distribution of powder.
SALMONELLA
By contaminating food stuffs in restaurants and grocery stores and lead to severe food poisoning
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11. TRENDS FAVOURING BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
Low cost and widespread availability.
More efficient in terms of coverage /Kg.
Advances in biotechnology have made production easy.
Agents are largely natural pathogens and simulate existing diseases.
Have an unmatched destructive potential.
The lag time between infection and appearance of symptoms is longer than with chemical exposures.
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12. Documented Intentional Use
The Red Indians in North America were given the smallpox infected blankets.
Japan used plague bacilli in China during causing 260,000 deaths.
Dispersal of anthrax spores due to accident in production unit in USSR caused 68 deaths in 1979.
Shigella dysenteriae employed in Texas, USA in 1996.
Anthrax spores through postal envelopes in USA in 2001 leading to 22 cases and 5 deaths.
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14. PREVENTION AND MITIGATION MEASURES
Awareness about the threats and risks associated with Biological warfare.
Only cooked food and boiled/chlorinated/filtered water should be consumed.
Insects and rodents control measures adopted.
An early accurate diagnosis.
Mass immunization programs in the suspected area.
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15. ACTION PLAN FOR BIOLOGICAL DISASTER
Constitution of a Crisis Management Structure.
System of Surveillance.
System of Epidemiological Investigation.
Confirmation of pathogens by laboratory set up.
Training to Different level workers
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16. Discussion
Biological agents can be disseminated by aerosols, water, food, animals and person to person.
Use of biological agents for destructions is from ages. Kautilya Arthashastra Book 14 deals with secret means used to disrupt the environment such as use of gunja, bhallataka, different types of smokes, outbreak of rats and dogs..
It is estimated that an aerosolized release of 100kg of anthrax spores in a city of a size of Washington D C have the potential to cause up to three millions of deaths.
an aerosolized release of little as 100kg of anthrax spores upwind of a metro city of a size of Washington D C has been estimated to have the potential to cause up to three millions of deaths.
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17. Conclusion
Even a small-scale biological weapon attack could cause massive morbidity and mortality, overwhelming the local medical capabilities.
At a time when terrorism is at its peak, possibility of use of BWMD is more than ever, so the Government, defence agencies, medical experts and most importantly the common citizens must be aware.
It is important to pay attention to official instructions via radio, television, and emergency alert systems.
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18. References
Gautam Biswas. Review of forensic medicine and Toxicology. 3rd edition, New Delhi:jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (p)Ltd.;2015
Kautilya's Arthashastra: Book XIV, Secret Means. Translated by R. Shamasastry. Bangalore: Government Press, 1915,
Weapon of mass destruction. (2017, January 8). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:49, January 8, 2017, from
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