"Soviet biological weapons: history, ecology, politics."

Biological weapons are weapons of mass destruction; their destructive effect is based on the use of a variety of pathogenic microorganisms that can cause mass diseases and lead to the death of people, plants and animals. Some classifications include biological weapons and insect pests that can cause serious harm to the agricultural crops of the enemy state (locusts, Colorado potato beetles, etc.).

Previously, the term “bacteriological weapon” could very often be found, but it did not fully reflect the entire essence of this type of weapon, since bacteria themselves constituted only one of the groups of living beings that could be used to wage biological warfare.

Methods of using bacterial and viral agents

Methods of using biological weapons, as a rule, are:

• missile warheads;
• aircraft bombs;
• artillery mines and shells;
• packages (bags, boxes, containers) dropped from aircraft;
• special devices that disperse insects from aircraft;
• sabotage methods.

In some cases, to spread infectious diseases, the enemy may leave contaminated household items when leaving: clothing, food, cigarettes, etc. In this case, illness can occur as a result of direct contact with contaminated items. It is also possible to deliberately leave infectious patients behind during departure so that they become a source of infection among the troops and the population. When ammunition filled with a bacterial formulation ruptures, a bacterial cloud is formed, consisting of tiny droplets of liquid or solid particles suspended in the air. The cloud, spreading with the wind, dissipates and settles on the ground, forming an infected area, the area of ​​which depends on the amount of the formulation, its properties and wind speed.

The problem is that outside the natural habitat and without transmission mechanisms corresponding to its ecological situation, the causative agent of the disease will not be transmitted to people [2].

↑ Protection against biological weapons

Biological weapons are deadly, and it is catastrophically difficult to defend against them. The best remedies are vaccines and antibiotics. When attacking an enemy using such substances, it is worth using individual and collective means of defense. Respirators, masks, gas masks are considered personal protective equipment. Collective ones include bunkers and shelters that can be maintained autonomously for a long time.

To prevent the spread of infection, the population is forcibly vaccinated. The facilities are being sanitized. Strict control over the movement of citizens from the affected area is being introduced. Biological weapons conclusions Biological weapons violate the rules of war and contradict all humane principles of the world order. Therefore, the use of such weapons is prohibited by international agreements.

History of application

The use of a kind of biological weapon was known back in ancient Rome, when, during the siege of cities, the corpses of those who died from the plague were thrown behind the fortress walls to cause an epidemic among the defenders. Such measures were relatively effective, since in confined spaces, with a high population density and with a noticeable lack of hygiene products, such epidemics developed very quickly.

The use of biological weapons in modern history.

• 1346 - Bubonic plague begins in Europe. There is an assumption that this terrible “gift” was made by Khan Janibek. After an unsuccessful attempt to capture the city of Kafa (modern Feodosia), he threw into the fortress the corpse of a man who had died of the plague. Together with the merchants who fled the city in fear, the plague arrived in Europe[3].
• 1763 - The first concrete historical fact of the use of bacteriological weapons in war was the deliberate spread of smallpox among Indian tribes. American colonialists sent blankets contaminated with the smallpox pathogen to their camp: a smallpox epidemic broke out among the Indians.
• 1942 - Great Britain: Operation Vegetarian plan for the use of anthrax in the war with Germany, weapons were developed and tested on Gruinard Island. The island was contaminated with anthrax spores, remained in quarantine for 49 years, and was declared cleared in 1990.
• 1939-1945 - Japan: Manchurian detachment 731 against 3 thousand people [4] - as part of development. As part of testing - in combat operations in Mongolia and China. Plans for use in the areas of Khabarovsk, Blagoveshchensk, Ussuriysk, and Chita have also been prepared. The data obtained formed the basis for developments at the US Army Bacteriological Center at Fort Detrick (Maryland) in exchange for protection from persecution for employees of Detachment 731[5]. However, the military-strategic result of combat use turned out to be more than modest: according to the “Report of the International Scientific Commission to Investigate the Facts of Bacteriological Warfare in Korea and China” (Beijing, 1952), the number of victims of artificially caused plague from 1940 to 1945 was approximately 700 people, then there turned out to be even less than the number of prisoners killed as part of the development[6].
• According to the same “Report of the International Scientific Commission to Investigate the Facts of Bacteriological Warfare in Korea and China” (Beijing, 1952), during the Korean War, bacteriological weapons were used by the United States against the DPRK (“Only from January to March 1952 in 169 regions of the DPRK There were 804 cases of the use of bacteriological weapons (in most cases - bacteriological aerial bombs), which caused epidemic diseases" [7]). According to Assistant Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Vyacheslav Ustinov, after the war he studied the available materials and came to the conclusion that the use of bacteriological weapons by the Americans could not be confirmed[8].
• According to some researchers, the anthrax epidemic in Sverdlovsk in April 1979 was caused by a leak of anthrax bacteria from the Sverdlovsk-19 laboratory or was a sabotage by American intelligence services. These points of view were considered by the Russian microbiologist M. Supotnitsky[9]. According to the official Soviet version, the cause of the disease was the meat of infected cows. On April 4, 1992, on the 13th anniversary of the tragedy, B. N. Yeltsin signed the Law of the Russian Federation “On improving pensions for the families of citizens who died as a result of anthrax in the city of Sverdlovsk in 1979”[10], equating the Sverdlovsk accident to Chernobyl and, in fact, recognizing the responsibility of military bacteriologists for the deaths of innocent people. The version of an accidental leak from a bioweapons production plant (Sverdlovsk-19) was once again confirmed by the President of the Russian Federation a month later.[11]
• In 1961-1962, in the territory of the modern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, the United States conducted tests on spraying spores of a pathogenic fungus that causes rice blast, the results of which were able to “achieve partial success in collecting useful information.”

Features of destruction by biological weapons

When affected by bacterial or viral agents, the disease does not occur immediately; there is almost always a latent (incubation) period, during which the disease does not manifest itself by external signs, and the affected person does not lose combat capability. Some diseases (plague, cholera, anthrax) can be transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person and, spreading quickly, cause epidemics. It is quite difficult to establish the fact of the use of bacterial agents and determine the type of pathogen, since neither microbes nor toxins have any color, smell, or taste, and the effect of their action can appear after a long period of time. Detection of bacteria and viruses is only possible through special laboratory tests, which takes considerable time, making it difficult to carry out timely measures to prevent epidemic diseases.

Modern strategic biological weapons use mixtures of viruses and bacterial spores to increase the likelihood of lethal outcomes during use, but, as a rule, strains that are not transmitted from person to person are used in order to geographically localize their impact and avoid their own losses as a result.

"Soviet biological weapons: history, ecology, politics."

CHAPTER 1. THE ORIGIN OF THE SOVIET MILITARY-BIOLOGICAL COMPLEX

1.2. INTRODUCTION TO BIOLOGICAL WARFARE

As will be seen below, the Soviet Union from its very birth was preparing for offensive biological warfare.

And the targets against which the Soviet VBK aimed its activities hidden from the population are quite obvious. This is the fauna and flora of the “probable enemy” - people, animals and plants. The means of such an unusual attack were also determined a long time ago - pathogenic bacteria, viruses, rickettsia, fungi, as well as the toxins secreted by some of them.

In fact, for many years, military microbiologists had to deal mainly with the “re-education” of biological organisms - bacteria, viruses, fungi, and insect vectors. And the more complex the microorganism was, the more difficult this “re-education” was.

Strictly speaking, the arsenal of offensive biological warfare weapons is not that significant. Depending on the specific country and circumstances, it changed somewhat, although not very significantly.

In 1931, Professor S.I. Zlatogorov (Leningrad, Military Medical Academy), who did not know about the real achievements of the Red Army in preparing for biological warfare, named the following means of biological attack: 1) plague, 2) tularemia, 3) wound infections , 4) influenza, 5) cholera, 6) glanders. It was like an outsider's view [73].

But I.M. Velikanov (Moscow), who retold the thoughts of his colleague from the northern capital and who knew the real state of affairs, also added botulism toxin [73]. However, he also kept silent about anthrax, which by that time had already been tested in Moscow as a weapon of biological attack [74].

In the same 1931, “party member professor bacteriologist comrade. Yelin,” who had not the slightest idea about the actual work of the Red Army, made such judgments about the means of biological warfare. “The most likely infections with which the enemy will try to infect our front and rear are typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, dysentery, relapsing fever and typhus.” This is, so to speak, a close combat weapon against an enemy with imperfect sanitary service. But the enemy could attack our distant rear with plague and cholera. In addition, in the opinion of Prof. V.L. Elin, the enemy could also use “epizootics - infectious diseases among animals, which will spread and which can cause enormous harm to both the army and the rear... This includes anthrax, glanders, swine fever and a number of other livestock diseases” [75].

In the early years after the Second World War, Western views on the ends and means of biological warfare were best conveyed in T. Rosebery's 1949 book Peace or Plague (biological weapons are "an ideal weapon which, given its other advantages, does not destroy material assets"). And a couple of years earlier, these and two other authors published a scientific article on the same topic. So, among the 33 most reliable agents that are suitable for use as biological weapons, the causative agents of brucellosis, tularemia, plague, melioidosis and dengue and Rift Valley fevers were named. The causative agents of typhus, psittacosis, glanders, yellow fever and equine encephalitis were also mentioned.

Well, in 1989 - during the heyday of the Soviet biological weapons program - a Soviet military textbook named 29 biological weapons against humans, including 8 types of bacteria, 4 rickettsia, 14 viruses, 1 fungus and 1 toxin [76]. However, another 10 years later, at the turn of the century, military biological general V.I. Evstigneev spoke about a list of 37 biological combat weapons, compiled according to intelligence data from the KGB and the GRU. The most dangerous among them were considered to be the causative agents of plague, tularemia, anthrax, brucellosis, melioidosis, smallpox, eastern equine encephalitis, typhus, cholera, yellow fever, botulism toxins, enterotoxin B. The author emphasized, however, that 37 pathogens are only the first generation of biological weapons, while the world is already working with third-generation weapons [69].

It remains to add that the largest number of dangerous pathogens are mentioned in the official document of the Russian Federation, which regulates the export abroad of the most dangerous pathogens, and by these we mean not only pathogens, but also their genetically modified forms, as well as fragments of genetic material [77]. The list includes 60 items, including 14 bacteria, 29 viruses, 2 rickettsia, as well as 13 types of genetically modified microorganisms capable of producing particularly dangerous toxins.

Finally, we must not forget that changes are taking place in the world, and many new, including very dangerous, pathogens have invaded people’s everyday life in recent decades [78].

1.2.1. BACTERIA IN EMAILS

Bacteria were the first object of thought for microbiologists in the field of warfare.

These are single-celled microorganisms that vary in shape and size. Bacteria reproduce by simple division, resulting in the formation of two separate cells approximately every half hour. As a rule, bacteria die quickly enough in unfavorable external conditions for them - under the influence of direct sunlight, high temperatures (over 60oC), and disinfectants. Bacteria are insensitive to low temperatures and can tolerate freezing down to -25oC and below. Some types of bacteria, in order to survive in unfavorable conditions, are able to become covered with a protective capsule or turn into a spore with high resistance to the external environment [76].

Strictly speaking, there are not so many pathogenic bacteria that cause especially dangerous infectious diseases in people. Humanity has been familiar with them for a long time, for example with plague and cholera. All of them are systematized and studied in sufficient detail.

To create bacteriological weapons - weapons of mass destruction, the active principle of which is bacteria, the military most like the pathogens of especially dangerous infections such as anthrax, plague, tularemia, glanders, melioidosis, cholera, brucellosis. In recent decades, they have actively begun to adapt legionellosis to their needs.

There is sufficient general data on this topic [10,76].

Plague (caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis) is an acute infectious disease of humans and animals. It is believed to be the most contagious disease known to mankind and one of only three infectious diseases that require mandatory quarantine. Natural foci of plague exist everywhere except Australia and Antarctica. The causative agent of plague (plague bacillus) is carried by fleas that parasitize camels, hares, marmots, gophers, mice and rats. A major outbreak of plague was noted in 1950 in Turkmenistan, killing several hundred people.

In humans, the disease with plague is very severe, especially the pulmonary form. After being bitten by an infected flea, the incubation period can last from 1 to 8 days. 6-8 hours after the first symptoms of the disease appear on the body, painful nodes - buboes - appear. They increase in size and darken as tissue necrosis occurs. The lymph nodes in the neck, groin and armpits swell and hurt unbearably. If left untreated, plague bacteria attack internal organs, causing shock, delirium, major organ failure, and death. In the pneumonic form, plague bacteria enter the lungs and cause pneumonia. The latent period is short - 2-3 days. Symptoms appear unexpectedly and are difficult to distinguish from symptoms of other infectious diseases. When the human immune system begins to fight the plague bacteria, a powerful toxin is released, which causes severe prostration and respiratory failure. Victims die from the toxins in about 18 hours. Infection of people in natural conditions - by airborne droplets from patients with the pulmonary form, through flea bites, from sick rodents. Combat use - spraying the formulation into the air, contaminating water, food, and household items. Mortality without treatment is 100% [10.76].

Cholera (caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae) is a well-known serious disease of the gastrointestinal tract. People can get sick through contact with sick people (the contagiousness is very high), or by consuming contaminated water, food, or fruit. Methods of combat use - contamination of water in water supply systems, food, personal items. The incubation period is 2-3 days. Mortality rate is 10-80% [76].

Anthrax (caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis) as an acute infectious disease of humans and animals has been known to mankind for a long time. It is recognizable, for example, in the description found in Homer’s Iliad. The name, known in our country and different from that used in other countries (“anthrax”), is associated with a large epidemic that occurred in Siberia in 1738 and which was then first described in our country. There are several known forms of the disease: pulmonary, intestinal and cutaneous. Under natural conditions, the cutaneous form spreads through contact with sick animals, as well as infected raw materials (hides, bone meal). Pulmonary and intestinal forms are accompanied by almost complete mortality with a short incubation period (usually 2-3 days, can reach up to 5). The military adapted the pulmonary form for their needs. The method of combat use is spraying the formulation in the air, contaminating household items. The danger is aggravated by people's ignorance, as follows from the description of the disease: “Victims often do not even suspect they are infected until the first symptoms appear. But even then, at the first stage of the disease, the picture is not always clear. The initial symptoms of the disease - stuffy nose, mild joint pain, fatigue, weakness and a dry, persistent cough - are similar to the symptoms of a minor cold or flu. For most people, such ailments are considered quite common and do not force them to immediately consult a doctor” [10].

Tularemia (caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis) is an acute infectious natural focal disease of humans and animals (sheep, fur-bearing animals). In humans it occurs in different forms (the lungs, lymph nodes, intestines, etc. are affected). Under natural conditions, it spreads through inhalation of infected dust, use of infected water and food, and contact with sick rodents. A person can become infected with tularemia from an animal through mosquito and tick bites. The pathogen enters the body through damaged skin, mucous membranes of the eyes, respiratory tract, and gastrointestinal tract. Carriers are wild rabbits, squirrels, sheep. The disease is not transmitted from person to person. Combat use - spraying the formulation into the air, contaminating water and food. The latent period of the disease is from 3 to 6 days. Mortality (without treatment) - up to 30%. The bacterium is stable and can exist in a rotting animal corpse for weeks and months [10,76].

The onset of tularemia is acute. Body temperature quickly rises with chills to 38-40oC. The patient is worried about headache, weakness, dizziness, muscle pain, and lack of appetite. The face and eyes quickly become red and inflamed. Inflammation develops at the site where the microbe invades, then it penetrates the nearest lymph nodes, where inflammation develops (lymphadenitis). The diagnosis of the disease is confirmed by a blood test. Without treatment, the disease continues for a long time and is accompanied by fever, suppuration of the affected lymph nodes, and the development of life-threatening complications.

The causative agent of tularemia, a small coco-like bacillus Francisella tularensis, was discovered in 1911 by two American researchers McCoy and Chapin during an epidemic that decimated ground squirrels in the area of ​​Tulare Lake in California. Then diseases were first noted in hunters who dealt with small game infected with these bacteria. Francis studied the pathogen in more detail, after whom the genus itself was named. It has been found that the most likely way for humans to become infected with tularemia is through contact with infected animals, such as when cutting up carcasses. This disease is most common among hunters, cooks and agricultural workers. Today, in North America, dozens of people are infected with tularemia every year when lawn mowers pass over the carcasses of sick rodents. An outbreak of the disease in 1999-2000 in Kosovo is believed to have been most likely caused by rodents: sick rats and mice bred in unharvested fields and contaminated grain and drinking water. In general, tularemia is common among wild animals living in the Rocky Mountains (USA) in the states of California and Oklahoma, in some areas of eastern Europe and in many territories of the former Soviet Union.

Glanders (caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas mallei) is a serious disease that occurs in various forms. Contagiousness is negligible. Under natural conditions, people become infected through contact with sick animals, skins, or inhalation of infected air. Combat use - spraying the formulation into the air, contaminating water, food, and household items. The latent period of the disease is 3-5 days. Mortality can reach 100% [76].

Melioidosis (caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas pseudomallei) is a rare disease that resembles various diseases. Contagiousness is negligible. Infection of people under natural conditions occurs through damaged skin and mucous membranes, when consuming water and food infected with rodents. Combat use - spraying the formulation into the air, contaminating water, food, and household items. The latent period of the disease is 5-10 days. It is believed that the mortality rate may be as high as 100% [76].

Brucellosis (caused by the bacterium Brucella suis) is a serious disease that occurs in various forms. It is not transmitted from person to person. Under natural conditions, the disease spreads through contact with sick animals, consumption of dairy products and meat, and inhalation of infected dust. Combat use - spraying the formulation into the air, contaminating water and food. Mortality rate is up to 5%. The latent period of the disease is from 14 to 21 days [76].

Legionnaires' disease (legionellosis, caused by the bacterium Legionella pneumophila) is a lung infection. Its first signs: cough, flu-like state, headache, quickly developing into the most acute form of pneumonia. In nature, the legionellosis bacterium is present in warm and damp places. As a separate dangerous infectious disease, legionellosis came to the attention of medicine in 1976, when about 250 people gathered at a hotel for the American Legion convention in Philadelphia fell ill, and 30 of those diagnosed with acute respiratory infections to severe pneumonia died. Legionellosis becomes especially dangerous when it gets into air conditioning or humidification systems, or settling tanks of thermal power plants. From there, in microscopic droplets of water that arise when warm indoor air is cooled, the pathogen can spread many hundreds of meters from high-rise buildings equipped with centralized air cooling systems and enter the human body through the respiratory system. Combat use - spraying in the air. Mortality without treatment is up to 20%.

Of these diseases, only plague and cholera are contagious (contagious) when people come into contact with each other. In the past, this circumstance particularly contributed to the spread of epidemics, and the almost complete mortality of people (in the absence of treatment) led to the fact that epidemics were essentially devastating. Accordingly, these points are taken into account by the military when planning the combat use of the plague.

In bacteria such as anthrax, tularemia, brucellosis and legionellosis, there is no contagiousness (sick people are not contagious to each other), and in the case of glanders and melioidosis it is negligible. As for the “combat effectiveness” of these bacteria, what is especially attractive to the military is that in the case of common strains of anthrax, glanders and melioidosis, the mortality rate reaches (without treatment) essentially 100%.

1.2.2. VIRUSES AND OTHERS

Viruses were mobilized for military service by our VBD later than bacteria - in the last decades of the 20th century. Pathogenic viruses can cause many diseases in humans, farm animals and plants [10,76].

Viruses are a large group of simple biological agents that do not have a cellular structure at all. The simplest viruses are only a hereditary molecule of deoxynucleic acid (DNA), which is protected by an appropriate shell. Since viruses do not have their own development apparatus, they are intracellular parasites at the intramolecular level, developing and multiplying only in the host cell due to its biosynthetic and energy resources. The sizes of extracellular forms of viruses are from 0.02 to 0.4 microns. Most viruses do not tolerate drying, sunlight, ultraviolet rays, heat above 60oC and the action of disinfectants.

Viruses cause fevers such as yellow fever virus, dengue fever and chikungunya virus. Viruses underlie diseases such as tick-borne spring-summer encephalitis (Encephalophilis silvestris) and Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus. Viruses cause numerous hemorrhagic fevers that have come to the attention of the military - Marburg, Ebola, Lassa, Argentine (Junin), Bolivian (Machupo), Crimean-Congo virus, HFRS (Hantan viruses), Rift Valley fever Valley virus) and others [76]. The most famous disease caused by viruses is smallpox (Poxvirus variolae). It usually spreads from person to person through airborne droplets and contact. The incubation period is on average 12 days. The mortality rate without treatment among those immunized reaches 10%. A possible method of combat use is spraying in the air, contaminating water and personal items.

In 1959, a smallpox outbreak occurred in Moscow. And although the population of the USSR was mostly vaccinated, they decided to urgently vaccinate more than 6 million people. In a hurry, everyone was vaccinated, without taking into account indications and contraindications. As a result, while three people died from smallpox itself, many times more died from post-vaccination complications.

Vaccinal immunity can be broken by multiple infectious doses. This is important due to the fact that on May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) notified the world community about the removal of smallpox from the planet (the last case of its occurrence in natural conditions is known in 1977 in Somalia), after which work on vaccinating the world's population were sharply reduced.

Hemorrhagic fever viruses cause particularly dangerous diseases. They belong to 7 genera of 5 viral families. According to the mechanism of virus transmission, hemorrhagic fevers are divided into tick-borne fevers (Crimean hemorrhagic fever, Omsk hemorrhagic fever, Kyasanur forest disease), mosquito-borne fevers (yellow fever, dengue and chikungunya, Rift Valley fever), hemorrhagic fevers, in which the virus is transmitted to humans from infected rodents , which are the natural source and reservoir of the pathogen, through urine and possibly excrement (Argentine and Bolivian hemorrhagic fevers, Lassa fever and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome). In the Soviet Union, Crimean and Omsk hemorrhagic fevers, as well as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, were recorded.

Work with hemorrhagic fever viruses was carried out in the Soviet Union, first with the Argentinean (Junin virus) and Bolivian (Machupo virus), in which contagiousness (infectiousness) is either absent or insignificant. Only later were they extended to the Marburg, Ebola and Lassa fever viruses, which have powerful combat potential, in particular high contagiousness. These three viruses are not only highly contagious, but the disease can be transmitted from person to person even in the absence of physical contact [10].

Marburg hemorrhagic (caused by Marburg virus) was recorded in 1967 at the Behring pharmaceutical plant (Marburg, Germany). 7 people died. The virus is believed to have arrived in Europe in green monkeys obtained from central Africa. Natural sources of the causative agent of Marburg fever and the natural mechanisms of human infection by them have not been studied. Marburg hemorrhagic fever is an acute viral disease characterized by severe disease, high mortality (without treatment, approximately 30%), hemorrhagic syndrome, damage to the liver, gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system. The latent period of the disease is from 3 to 9 days, and by the early 1990s there was no specific prevention or treatment. Natural spread is by airborne droplets and contact (through microcracks in the skin). Combat use - spraying the formulation in the air.

Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus (pathogen - Ebola virus) was discovered in Africa in the Ebola River area. Natural sources of Ebola fever pathogens and natural mechanisms of human infection by them have not been studied. The latent period of the disease is 5-7 days. Many things are observed in patients: intoxication phenomena, dysfunction of the nervous and cardiovascular systems; severe pain syndrome, hemorrhage and bleeding into the abdominal organs; mental disorder; fever lasts 5-7 days; paralysis of the respiratory center, death. The illness can last for several days or up to a month. The patient bleeds, oozing from everywhere, even through the pores of the skin.. Mortality in the absence of treatment reaches 50-80%. The vectors of the disease are not known. The route of spread in natural conditions is airborne droplets and contact (through microcracks in the skin). Combat use - spraying the formulation in the air. By the early 1990s, there was no specific prevention or treatment for this disease [76].

The first Ebola epidemic was reported in 1976 in Sudan and Zaire (formerly Belgian Congo). The disease came out of nowhere and disappeared into nowhere. The exact number of her victims is unknown. Of the 318 patients who were in Zaire under the supervision of doctors, 280 died. Since then, Ebola has returned to Africa almost every year. In 1995, more than 220 Zaireans died [52]. In 2000, an outbreak occurred in Uganda (224 deaths).

Lassa hemorrhagic fever virus (causative agent - Lassa fever virus) is associated with the village of Lassa in Nigeria (Africa). The latent period of the disease is 5-7 days. Clinic: the onset of the disease is gradual, vomiting, cough, sore throat, abdominal pain, muscle pain, pleurisy, rash, respiratory paralysis, death. Mortality without treatment is 65-70%. By the early 1990s, there was no specific prevention or treatment for this disease. The route of spread in natural conditions is airborne droplets, food and contact (through microcracks in the skin). Combat use - spraying the formulation in the air.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (causative agent - Crimean-Congo virus) was first found in 1944 in Crimea. Considered as a weapon in the early stages. The latent period of the disease is 3-6 days. Clinic: damage to the vascular and nervous systems, sudden onset of the disease, temperature - 40oC, severe pain, kidney damage, bleeding into the mucous membranes and abdominal organs. As a rule, patients die from hemorrhage in internal organs, including the brain. The fever lasts 5-7 days. Mortality without treatment is 13-40%. Contagiousness is moderate. There are no specific prevention or treatment methods. The route of spread in natural conditions is airborne, through the bites of ticks that parasitize wild animals and birds. Combat use - spraying the formulation in the air, dispersing artificially infected ticks. The causative agent of the disease is a tick that lives on warm-blooded animals, in particular cows and horses. Tick ​​carriers are mice and hares.

Rickettsia

Rickettsia are bacteria-like microorganisms, rod cells. They reproduce by transverse binary fission only inside cells of living tissues. Although rickettsiae do not form spores, they are quite resistant to such adverse effects as drying, freezing, and heating (not higher than 56oC). Rickettsiae that cause severe human illness include typhus, Rocky Mountain fever, Q fever, and some others.

An acute infectious natural focal disease, Q fever is caused by Burnet's rickettsia. It is characterized by general intoxication, fever and frequent lung damage.

Fungi

Fungi are single- and multicellular microorganisms of plant origin. They differ from bacteria in a more complex structure and a different method of reproduction. Fungal spores are very resistant to drying, sunlight, and disinfectants.

Fungi cause some severe human infectious diseases - coccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis and other deep mycoses.

Toxins

Toxins are waste products of living organisms. They are chemical substances of a protein nature that are highly toxic and which, when used in combat, can infect humans and animals.

Most toxins are water-soluble globular proteins and appear as solid, powdery substances.

In addition to toxins, there are their non-toxic derivatives - toxoids (from the Greek ana - back, toxicon - poison), formed when toxins are treated with formaldehyde. However, when introduced into the body, toxoids, like the original toxins, contribute to the development of immunity to the corresponding toxin.

This type of biological weapon, such as a toxin weapon, can be classified as both biological and chemical. From the point of view of their origin, toxins are clearly biological weapons. Phytotoxins are of plant origin (for example, ricin, isolated from castor beans), zootoxins are of animal origin (in particular, toxins of bee and snake origin), microbial toxins are released by many types of microorganisms. However, based on the method of use, it is more logical to consider them as chemical weapons.

Bacterial toxins, especially the so-called exotoxins, which are formed during intracellular metabolism and then released by producer cells into the environment, are considered the most promising biological weapons. Typically, exotoxins are high molecular weight polypeptides.

1.2.3. BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS AND ITS PURPOSE

Despite their general similarity, dangerous microorganisms, primarily bacteria and viruses, have serious differences. However, strains of even the same dangerous pathogen can have different properties - virulence (activity towards a selected target - humans, animals, etc.), stability under certain conditions, reproducibility in laboratories and industry, etc.

Military strains of especially dangerous infections include those that can be used as a means of biological attack. These strains must be convenient for reproduction in industrial quantities (in other words, they must have high cultivability), they can be stored and transported without much hassle, they must remain highly stable in aerosols, have an acceptable route of infection from the point of view of the thoughts of military biologists, and Of course, they must be highly virulent [10].

Military people have specific tastes. It is important for them to spread diseases not through rats and fleas, as in natural conditions (although this has happened), but mainly through the air.

Post-war types of biological weapons are mainly aerosol types . Because our military biologists have adopted the Western doctrine of T. Rosebery - the main method of using bacteriological (biological) weapons should be aerosol. Soviet general V.I. Evstigneev formulated it this way: “In our opinion, the most reliable way to spread pathogens of infectious diseases will be the creation of an aerosol that carries the pathogen of an infectious disease in each particle. A person inhaling such air immediately becomes infected” [69]. Our military also thought about their goals. Living forces openly located on the ground, as well as those located in unsealed structures and military equipment, are exposed to infection with the help of biological aerosols. Protecting the body from biological aerosols when they penetrate through the respiratory system is more complex than with other methods of application. In addition, pulmonary forms of infectious diseases are usually more severe and are much more likely to result in death. The transfer of biological agents into aerosols is carried out either using an explosion or using spray devices. It is important for the military that biological aerosols do not lose their combat effectiveness during dispersion and remain virulent when traveling over long distances, and in the most unfavorable weather conditions. Special additives added to combat aerosols provide biological agents with the conditions to maintain their destructive effect during long-term storage and combat use [10,76].

So, since bacteria, viruses and other pathogens are usually not very stable in natural conditions, the military prefers to use them in the form of combat formulations , that is, in the form of powders and liquids that are mixtures of a biological agent (agents) with various drugs that provide conditions for maintaining their vitality and destructive ability during storage and use. Bombs, missile warheads, sprayers are stuffed with biological combat formulations and, in this form, are delivered to a potential enemy on a suitable carrier - an airplane, a rocket, etc. [10,76].

In turn, these combat recipes must be unambiguously reproduced without changes at industrial enterprises, subject to technological regulations [10].

A separate art is the cultivation of microorganisms . The nutritional mixture for each type of pathogen must meet many conditions, and then it will multiply quickly. Combat strains of bacteria and viruses intended for placement in ammunition are grown at factories in large fermenters. After reaching the maximum concentration of the strain, the culture is separated from the liquid base in centrifuges, dried in special dryers and ground in special mills to a powder of the required dispersion. It is an aerosol of pathogen powder placed in one or another ammunition that is used in combat conditions [10].

Below is a modest listing of such strains, in the opinion of concerned military biologists.

Weapons against people. Biological agents that cause severe infectious diseases in humans are especially considered. Among the bacteria are the causative agents of anthrax, tularemia, plague, brucellosis, glanders, melioidosis, etc. Among the viruses, the causative agents of smallpox, yellow fever, a number of types of encephalitis (encephalomyelitis), hemorrhagic fevers, etc. are especially often discussed. The list of rickettsiae dangerous to humans includes the causative agents of cool fever, typhus, tsutsugamushi fever, etc. From the class of fungi, these are pathogens coccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis and other deep mycoses. Dangerous bacterial toxins include botulinum toxin and staphylococcal enterotoxin [76].

Weapons against animals. Among the means of killing farm animals, the military is considering several groups of pathogens. Some of them are equally dangerous for both people and animals. These are anthrax, foot and mouth disease, Rift Valley fever and others. Some pathogens only affect animals: rinderpest, African swine fever, etc. [76].

Weapons against plants. The means of damaging agricultural crops include many pathogens of bacterial, viral and fungal nature, including the pathogens of wheat stem rust (Puccinia gramminis tritici), rice blast (Piricularia oryzae), potato late blight (considered the cause of the famine in Ireland in 1845-46) and others [76].

Sources

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2. ↑ 1 2 Mikhail Supotnitsky.
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10. Law of the Russian Federation of April 4, 1992 N 2667-I “On improving pension provision for families of citizens who died due to anthrax in the city of Sverdlovsk in 1979” /
11. Interview with B. N. Yeltsin in the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, May 27, 1992.