Portal:Biological warfare

Topics Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Nature People Philosophy Religion Society Technology Science History of science    Philosophy of science    Systems science    Mathematics    Biology    Chemistry    Physics    Earth sciences    Technology     War and the military Military of  Ancient Rome  Australia Bangladesh Canada Germany  Greece Pakistan Turkey United Kingdom (British Army Royal Air Force Royal Navy) United States ( Army Marine Corps Navy Air Force Coast Guard) … Military history of  Africa France the Ottoman Empire …… American Civil War American Revolutionary War Cold War Crusades Italian Wars Napoleonic Wars War of 1812 World War I World War II …… Battleships Biological warfare Submarine Tank Weapons of mass destruction …… NATO  Terrorism Biohazard sign Biological warfare (BW), also known as germ warfare, is the use of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, other disease-causing biological agents, or the toxins produced by them as biological weapons (or bioweapons). There is a clear overlap between biological warfare and chemical warfare, as the use of toxins produced by living organisms is considered under the provisions of both the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention. Toxins, which are of organic origin, are often called "midspectrum agents". A biological weapon may be intended to kill, incapacitate, or seriously impair a person, group of people, or even an entire population. It may also be defined as the material or defense against such employment. Biological warfare is a military technique that can be used by nation-states or non-national groups. In the latter case, or if a nation-state uses it clandestinely, it may also be considered bioterrorism.The Geneva convention restricts the use of biological and chemical weapons as it is against human rights to use them. More about Biological warfare... The 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack was the food poisoning of more than 750 individuals in The Dalles, Oregon, United States through the deliberate contamination of salad bars at ten local restaurants with salmonella. A leading group of followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (now known as Osho) had hoped to incapacitate the voting population of the city so that their own candidates would win the 1984 Wasco County elections. The incident was the first bioterrorism attack in the United States, and the single largest bioterrorist attack in United States history. The attack is one of only two confirmed terrorist uses of biological weapons to harm humans. Having previously gained political control of Antelope, Oregon, Rajneesh's followers based in nearby Rajneeshpuram sought election to two of the three seats on the Wasco County Circuit Court which were up for election in November 1984. Fearing they would not gain enough votes, Rajneeshpuram officials decided to incapacitate voters in The Dalles, the largest population center in Wasco County. The chosen biological agent was Salmonella enterica Typhimurium, which was first delivered through glasses of water to two county commissioners, and then delivered on a larger scale at salad bars and in salad dressing. Seven hundred and fifty-one people contracted salmonellosis as a result of the attack, of whom 45 were hospitalized. There were no fatalities. Oregon Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer set up an interagency task force between the Oregon State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and executed search warrants in Rajneeshpuram. A sample of bacteria matching the contaminant that had sickened the town residents was found in a Rajneeshpuram medical laboratory. Two leading Rajneeshpuram officials were indicted and served 29 months in a minimum-security federal prison. Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Japanese personnel. More anniversaries... Ebola is the virus Ebolavirus (EBOV), a viral genus, and the disease Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), a viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF). There are four recognised species within the ebolavirus genus, which have a number specific strains. The Zaire virus is the type species, which is also the first discovered and the most lethal. Electron micrographs show long filaments, characteristic of the Filoviridae viral family. The virus interferes with the endothelial cells lining the interior surface of blood vessels and coagulation. As the blood vessel walls become damaged and the platelets are unable to coagulate, patients succumb to hypovolemic shock. Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids. Skin and conjunctiva exposure may also lead to transmission, but to a lesser extent. Ebola first emerged in 1976 in Zaire. It, however, remained largely obscure until 1989 with a widely publicized outbreak in Reston, Virginia, USA. ... that the U.S. Army continued production of staphylococcus enterotoxin type B (pictured) for several months after a 1969 policy statement ended the biological warfare program? ... that the U.S. Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 provided penalties ranging from a life sentence to a term of any number of years for violators? ▼ Biological warfare ► Bioterrorism ► Biological weapons Parent projects Biology Military history Related projects Crime Terrorism Task forces Military technology and engineering task force Weaponry task force What are WikiProjects? Biological warfare (Wikipedia book) Concepts Bacteria Biocontainment Biological hazard Bioterrorism Decontamination Entomological warfare Infectious disease Virus Toxin Terrorism Biological agents Anthrax Avian influenza Botulinum toxin Brucellosis Burkholderia pseudomallei Chlamydophila psittaci Coxiella burnetii Ebola Eastern equine encephalitis virus Western equine encephalitis virus Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus Foodborne illness Fungi Glanders Hantavirus Henipavirus Legionnaires' disease Marburg virus Mold Plague Ricin Salmonella enterica Salmonellosis Salmonella typhi Smallpox Staphylococcus Tularemia Typhus Viral hemorrhagic fever Modern bioterrorist incidents 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack 2001 anthrax attacks 2003 ricin letters Prevention and response Australia Group Center for Biosecurity Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Threat Reduction Agency European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Global Health Security Initiative Health Threat Unit Laboratory Response Network National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases Template:/box-footer Featured articles: Featured class articles, Biology, Featured class articles, Crime, Featured class articles, Military history, Featured class articles, Terrorism Join a related WikiProject: Biology, Crime, Military history, Terrorism Deletion discussions: listed at Crime, Military, Science, Terrorism Rate the Unassessed articles in WikiProjects: Biology, Crime, Military history, Terrorism Requested articles: Toxicological profile, Journal of Forensic Science, Forensic serology Stubs: Biology, Crime, Military history, Terrorism See also: Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Open tasks Biology Biotechnology Criminal justice Medicine Molecular and Cellular Biology Weapons of mass destruction War What are portals? 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