Biological agent

The former United States biological weapons program (1943–1969) categorized its weaponized anti-personnel bio-agents as either "lethal agents" (Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis, Botulinum toxin) or "incapacitating agents" (Brucella suis, Coxiella burnetii, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, staphylococcal enterotoxin B).Headquarters, Departments of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, and Commandant, Marine Corps (17 July 2000), Field Manual: Treatment of Biological Warfare Casualties (Army FM 8-284/Navy NAVMED P-5042/Air Force AFMAN (I) 44-156/Marine Corps MCRP 4-11.1C), para 1-4 (pg 1-3).

Since 1997, United States law has declared a list of bio-agents designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or the U.S. Department of Agriculture that have the "potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety" to be officially defined as "select agents" and possession or transportation of them are tightly controlled as such.Additional Requirements for Facilities Transferring or Receiving Select Agents, Title 42 CFR Part 72 and Appendix A; 15 April 1997 (DHHS). Select agents are divided into "HHS select agents and toxins", "USDA select agents and toxins" and "Overlap select agents and toxins".

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) breaks biological agents into three categories: Category A, Category B, and Category C. Category A agents pose the greatest threat to the US. Criteria for being a Category "A" agent include high rates of morbidity and mortality, ease of dissemination and communicability, ability to cause a public panic, and special action required by public health officials to respond. Category A agents include anthrax, botulism, plague, smallpox, and viral hemorrhagic fevers.

:The following pathogens and toxins were weaponized by one nation or another at some time. NATO abbreviations are included where applicable.

Simulants are organisms or substances which mimic physical or biological properties of real biological agents, without being pathogenic. They are used to study the efficiency of various dissemination techniques or the risks caused by the use of biological agents in bioterrorism.{{Cite news|url=https://nightferry.wordpress.com/biological-warfare-bw-simulants-%E2%80%93-bacillus-globigii-bg/|title=Biological Warfare (BW) Simulants – Bacillus globigii (BG)|date=2010-02-05|work=The Night Ferry|access-date=2017-04-03|language=en-US}} To simulate dispersal, attachment or the penetration depth in human or animal lungs, simulants must have particle sizes, specific weight and surface properties, similar to the simulated biological agent.

The typical size of simulants (1–5 μm) enables it to enter buildings with closed windows and doors and penetrate deep into the lungs. This bears a significant health risk, even if the biological agent is normally not pathogenic.

• Bacillus globigii (historically named Bacillus subtilis in the context of bio-agent simulants) (BG, BS, or U)
• Serratia marcescens (SM or P)
• Aspergillus fumigatus mutant C-2 (AF)
• Escherichia coli (EC)
• Bacillus thuringiensis (BT)
• Erwinia herbicola (current accepted name: Pantoea agglomerans) (EH)
• Fluorescent particles such as zinc cadmium sulfide, ZnCdS (FP)

File:Biological Weapons Convention original document.png

{{Main|Geneva Protocol|Biological Weapons Convention}}

While the history of biological weapons use goes back more than six centuries to the siege of Caffa in 1346,{{Cite journal|last=Wheelis|first=Mark|date=September 2002|title=Biological Warfare at the 1346 Siege of Caffa|journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases|language=en-us|volume=8|issue=9|pages=971–975 |doi=10.3201/eid0809.010536|pmid=12194776 |pmc=2732530 |doi-access=free}} international restrictions on biological weapons began only with the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which prohibits the use but not the possession or development of chemical and biological weapons in international armed conflicts.{{Cite web|title=Text of the 1925 Geneva Protocol|url=http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/1925/text|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-02|publisher=United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408104523/http://disarmament.un.org:80/treaties/t/1925/text |archive-date=2015-04-08 }} Upon ratification of the Geneva Protocol, several countries made reservations regarding its applicability and use in retaliation.{{Cite web|title=Disarmament Treaties Database: 1925 Geneva Protocol|url=http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/1925|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-02|publisher=United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825083028/http://disarmament.un.org:80/treaties/t/1925 |archive-date=2013-08-25 }} Due to these reservations, it was in practice a "no-first-use" agreement only.{{Cite journal|last=Beard|first=Jack M.|date=April 2007|title=The Shortcomings of Indeterminacy in Arms Control Regimes: The Case of the Biological Weapons Convention|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/abs/shortcomings-of-indeterminacy-in-arms-control-regimes-the-case-of-the-biological-weapons-convention/F0FCA907A496B488DEE91630C812C6DE|journal=American Journal of International Law|language=en|volume=101|issue=2|pages=277|doi=10.1017/S0002930000030098|s2cid=8354600 |issn=0002-9300|url-access=subscription}}

The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention supplements the Geneva Protocol by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological weapons.{{Cite web|title=Biological Weapons Convention|url=https://www.un.org/disarmament/biological-weapons/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215200800/https://www.un.org/disarmament/biological-weapons|archive-date=2021-02-15|access-date=2021-03-02|publisher=United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs|language=en-US}} Having entered into force on 26 March 1975, this agreement was the first multilateral disarmament treaty to ban the production of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. As of March 2021, 183 states have become party to the treaty.{{Cite web|title=Disarmament Treaties Database: Biological Weapons Convention|url=http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/bwc|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-02|publisher=United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303154241/http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/bwc/ |archive-date=2013-03-03 }} The treaty is considered to have established a strong global norm against biological weapons,{{Cite journal|last1=Cross|first1=Glenn|last2=Klotz|first2=Lynn|date=2020-07-03|title=Twenty-first century perspectives on the Biological Weapon Convention: Continued relevance or toothless paper tiger|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|volume=76|issue=4|pages=185–191|doi=10.1080/00963402.2020.1778365|bibcode=2020BuAtS..76d.185C |issn=0096-3402|doi-access=free}} which is reflected in the treaty's preamble, stating that the use of biological weapons would be "repugnant to the conscience of mankind".{{Cite web|title=Preamble, Biological Weapons Convention|url=http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/bwc/text|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-02|publisher=United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306222659/http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/bwc/text |archive-date=2014-03-06 }} However, its effectiveness has been limited due to insufficient institutional support and the absence of any formal verification regime to monitor compliance.{{Cite book|last=Dando|first=Malcolm|title=Chapter 9: The Failure of Arms Control, In Bioterror and Biowarfare: A Beginner's Guide|publisher=Oneworld|year=2006|isbn=9781851684472|pages=146–165}}

In 1985, the Australia Group was established, a multilateral export control regime of 43 countries aiming to prevent the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons.{{Cite web|title=The Origins of the Australia Group|url=https://www.dfat.gov.au/publications/minisite/theaustraliagroupnet/site/en/origins.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302091850/https://www.dfat.gov.au/publications/minisite/theaustraliagroupnet/site/en/index.html|archive-date=2021-03-02|access-date=2021-03-02|publisher=Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade}}

In 2004, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1540, which obligates all UN Member States to develop and enforce appropriate legal and regulatory measures against the proliferation of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons and their means of delivery, in particular, to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction to non-state actors.{{Cite web|title=1540 Committee|url=https://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/about-1540-committee/general-information.shtml|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220050416/https://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/about-1540-committee/general-information.shtml|archive-date=2020-02-20|access-date=2021-03-02|publisher=United Nations|language=en}}

{{main|Biological warfare in popular culture}}

• Biological hazard
• Biological contamination
• Laboratory Response Network
• Pulsed ultraviolet light

{{Reflist}}

• Rafał L. Górny, [https://oshwiki.eu/wiki/Biological_agents Biological agents], [https://oshwiki.eu/wiki/OSHwiki:About OSHwiki] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130221701/https://oshwiki.eu/wiki/OSHwiki:About |date=2023-01-30 }})
• [https://www.osha.gov/biological-agents Biological Agents], OSHA
• [https://www.selectagents.gov/sat/list.htm Select Agents and Toxins], Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• [https://nonproliferation-elearning.eu/learningunits/biological-weapons/ Biological weapons e-learning module in the EU's non-proliferation and disarmament course] (taught by Filippa Lentzos)

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Category:Biological contamination