Viruses as biological warfare agents
A virus has to meet certain criteria to be classified as a biological warfare agent:
- It can be produced in large quantities.
- It is of high tenacity (can survive in the environment outside a host cell), which makes it easy to deploy.
- It causes highly contagious human diseases with a high lethality and thus has serious consequences for public health.
- An outbreak can cause public panic.
- It can be weaponised (warheads) and/or dispersed in aerosol form.
Viruses which meet these criteria belong to Risk Groups 3 and 4.
Most of the viruses with the potential to be used as biological warfare agent are enveloped RNA viruses (with the exception of orthopox viruses).
These viruses are transmitted by insect or rodent bites, excrements or aerosols. Most (though not all) are simple to grow, and cause generally highly fatal diseases. Symptoms may include high fever, bleeding and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).
Haemorrhagic fever viruses:
Diseases caused by these viruses (e.g. Ebola or Lassa) are associated with the following symptoms: fever, headaches, muscle pain, inflammation of the eyes, sore throat, as well as bleeding from the mucous membranes (e.g. from the gastrointestinal or genital tracts). The fatality rate may be high.
Smallpox:
Smallpox is caused by Variola major, a virus of the orthopox family. Prior to its eradication in 1977 (thanks to global efforts coordinated by the WHO), smallpox was one of the worst epidemics known to man and killed up to 40% of a population. Nowadays, people under the age of 25 are no longer vaccinated against smallpox.
Equine encephalitis:
VEE - Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis is caused by the VEE virus.
Although this disease is hardly fatal, it completely incapacitates the enemy. Over several days, those infected will suffer from high fever, severe headaches and chills, followed by two weeks of fatigue
and malaise.
Currently no therapy exists to treat VEE.