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What is a biological weapon?

• Biological weapons are defined as any infectious agent such as a bacterium or virus used intentionally to inflict harm upon others.

 

When are biological weapons used?

• Biological Warfare-When a BWA is used for targeting troops and their support points.
• Bioterrorism- When a BWA is used for targeting civilians to cause terror rather than casualties.

 

Why are biological weapons used?

• Mortality Rate- to cause a high number of deaths from a specific disease.
• Morbidity Rate- to cause a high number of infections from a specific disease.

 

What makes a good BWA?

• Infective via aerosol
• Stable in aerosol
• Low dose is very effective
• Low immunity in target
• Short incubation time, but long enough for escape
• High threat force protection
• Target's treatment and protection is ineffective or expensive
• Detection and identification is difficult
• Highly communicable

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© 2003 Jay Farmer, J.P. Oehrtman, and Tim Maluvac. All rights reserved, except for the images, which retain their own copyrights.

This site is designed by Jay Farmer, J.P. Oehrtman, and Tim Maluvac for MBI 699.W.

Last modified: August 7, 2003

background courtesy of: http://bt.swmed.edu