PerspectivesAre you interested in submitting a Perspective Article? Be sure to read The Science Advisory Board's Editorial Guides for Perspective Articles. Click here. Bioweapon: The Emperor’s New Suit! by Sergey N. Rumyantsev M.D., Ph.D. The fear of epidemics—both emerging and re-emerging—is a high-priority concern for governments, media, epidemiologists, physicians and citizens. This old fear is now extraordinary aggravated by the ever-present threat of bioweapons. The apprehension of Iraqi's mass annihilating bioweapons had recently been the number one problem discussed at all levels of world-wide society. Bioweapons are unanimously considered among the most lethal weapons ever devised. According to unanimous position of a plethora of experts, (e.g., officials from the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency), bioweapons can rival thermonuclear weapons—possibly producing hundreds of thousands to several millions of casualties in a single incident. Mortality levels from a biological attack, both by living microbes and toxins could also exceed that of a large nuclear explosion [1]. One of the newest mathematical scenarios states that following the aerosolized release of anthrax by plane over a city (with a population of one million to five million), the number of exposed people would be 500,000, the number of diseased people would be 300,000 (i.e. 60% of exposed citizens), and the number of fatalities would be 250,000 (i.e. 50% of exposed people and 80% of the diseased people) [2]. On March 17, 2003, President Bush confirmed that, “the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.” To counteract the forecasted threat many extraordinary efforts have been undertaken to develop, produce and distribute new vaccines and treatments for actual infectious diseases. In 2003, the U.S. administration proposed a special federal funding bill coined, BioShield. The program is unparalleled in history. It would provide $5.8 billion towards defending homeland biological security. Moreover, BioShield gives the National Institutes of Health (NIH) extraordinary authority to bypass traditional procedures when awarding urgently needed research and development grants and contracts. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be given unprecedented authority to distribute experimental vaccines and drugs in case of a bioterrorist attack or other emergency. Meanwhile, since Baghdad fell on April 9, 2003, U.S. forces have been unable to find this kind of a weapon. The fear has been changed to embarrassment. What is the matter? Recent achievements in the discovery of constitutional (genetic) immunity allow me to attempt to explain. All arguments about bioweapons’ very high mass annihilation capability were based on a couple of the most impressive data sets selected from the ancient history of epidemics and on the abstract supposition that all people are constitutionally susceptible to any infectious agents. But the entire history of epidemics, clinical and genetic observations, as well as data from experiments and recent results of accidental, and real exploitation of bio-weapon does not confirm this all-encompassing destruction capability. For instance, information about the effectiveness of professionally created weaponized anthrax does not concur with the worst-case scenario of human devastation. In 1979 an accident inside a biological weapons production factory in Sverdlovsk, U.S.S.R., caused military-grade anthrax to waft out in a plume over a city of 1.2 million people. The aerosol cloud proceeded from the military facility over 60 km to the suburbs [3]. Approximately 7,000 people lived or worked in a zone of doubtless deadly concentration of aerosolized anthrax spores. Only 79 of them (approximately 1.1 %) contracted the disease. The zone extended up to one km wide by four km long from the source of the aerosol to the city limits. In the distance between four km and 60 km, the deadly cloud killed only sheep [3], which are more susceptible to anthrax infection than human, dogs and pigs. The October 2001 anthrax incidents in the USA were the result of the dispersal of anthrax spores by means of the postal mail system [4;5]. This route of transmission caused 22 cases of anthrax in residents of seven states, i.e. on the territory stretched out for over 1000 km along the East coast of the United States. Thus, the major bioterror event induced 22 cases of anthrax (five people were killed and 17 other people became ill) [5]. Although the quantity of dispersed anthrax is not certain, the epidemiology of the illnesses and deaths implies that the deadly concentrations of anthrax spores were situated not only in the mail envelopes, but also in the air of different postal, governmental and media offices. Most of the victims became ill after exposure in places where they worked, or had visited, yet, hundreds of co-workers and other visitors did not become ill. For instance, 170 employees were present inside the Mail Processing and Distribution Center (New Jersey) when the B. anthracis-contaminated envelopes were sorted, but only two of them (1.2%) became ill [[4]]. Thus, the October 2001 terrorist release of anthrax also failed to cause mass annihilation. But the resulting wave of general hysteria established beyond a doubt that these microorganisms are remarkably successful as psychogenic instruments of terror against unprepared societies. People are very diverse in terms of their natural susceptibility to any infectious disease. Many people possess constitutional (genetic) immunity formed by natural selection during the anti-infectious struggle of many previous human generations [6]. Only a small part of a population can be affected today by a potential bioweapon agent (anthrax, smallpox or botulism). Biological features of anthrax, smallpox and botulism do not allow them to become a potent weapon of mass annihilation. Like many other infectious agents they could only serve as a weapon of local terror against uninformed populations (potential bioterrorists have very large choice here). Also, the last ones cannot be successful as instruments of individual terror. Thus, in reality "Emperor has nothing on at all! " The bioweapon is the Emperor’s new suit [6]. That is why most of former Russian bioweapons specialists are now out of work or toiling at menial jobs. The top secret facilities that were the proving grounds for the open-air testing of bioweapons (Vozrozhdeniye Island, Aral Sea) do not exist now. Two leading agents of the Russian system for development and production of bioweapons arrived in England (V.A.Pasechnik, 1989) and the USA (K.Alibekov, 1992) to alert the world to the danger of biological weapons. Thus, the belief in the high annihilation capacity of bioweapons was aroused either by a profound world-wide delusion or by the ill-intentioned hoax distributed presumably by the so named Al Qaeda. Unfortunately, so many people and authorities were hypnotised by this misinformation. But Suddam Hussein did not trust. Nevertheless the government authorities as well as our newspapers and the Internet continue to insist on the coming Day of the Last Judgment. One can regret that the admission of the real situation will lead to radical changes in many biodefense programs and biotechnological enterprises. We should admit it and the sooner, the better. That it is a time now to rain in the horses and to alter cardinally our system of anti-epidemic defense. The routine strategy of total compulsory prophylactic should be changed by principle of personalized prophylactic dictated by individual genetic indications. Now researchers have enough genetic information available to begin applying the knowledge gained [7]. The main goal of modern prophylactic medicine should be the identification and defense of the defenseless ones. The available tests for identification can be run for a fraction of the cost when compared with classical screening tests [8]. The means and tools for identifying of genetically susceptible individuals could be presented to the market during next decade. Before this can be done, we must state the goal as a priority and begin to move forward. ### Sergey N. Rumyantsev, M.D., Ph.D, A Member Since April 2002 Discuss this Perspective with your colleagues and share your insights on chemical and biological weapons in The SAB Discussion Forum. Reference List 1. Hasenauer H: Anthrax update. Soldier 1998; 53: 16-17. 2. Davis LE, LaTourrette T, Mosher DE, Davis LM, Howell DR: Individual Preparedness Response to Chemical, Radiological, Nuclear, and Biological Terrorist Attacks . 2003; 1-203. 3. Meselson M, Guillemin J, Hugh-Jones M, et al: The Sverdlovsk anthrax outbreak of 1979. Science 1994; 266: 1202-1208. 4. Greene CM, Reefhuis J, Tan C, et al: Epidemiologic investigstions of bio-trrrorism related anthraxx, New Jersey, 2001. Emerg Infect Dis 2002; 8: 1048-1055. 5. Hughes JM, Gerberding JL: Anthrax Bioterrorism: Lessons Learned and Future Directions. Emerg Infect Dis 2002; 8: 1019-1028. 6. Rumyantsev SN: The best defence against bioweapons has already been invented by evolution. Infection Genetics and evolution 2004 7. Rumyantsev SN. Defend only the defenceless. Genetic variation and vaccination. HMS Beagle, The BioMedNet Magazine (http://ny.hmsbeagle/54/viewpts/op_ed). 1999. 8. Rumyantsev, S. N. Constitutional and non-specific immunity to infection. Rev.sci.tech.Off.int.Epiz. 17(1), 26-42. 1998. ### << Previous Next >> [ View All Perspectives ] |
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