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TITLE: Bioarmageddon

AUTHOR: MACKENZIE, DEBORA

JOURNAL: New Scientist

CITATION: September 19, 1998, 159(2152): 42-46.

YEAR: 1998

PUB TYPE: Article

IDENTIFIERS: BIOLOGICAL WARFARE; TERRORISM; ANTHRAX; EMERGENCY

PREPAREDNESS; CIVIL DEFENSE; BIOWEAPONS; VACCINES; DRUGS

ABSTRACT: A recent test of emergency preparedness in San

Francisco revealed the vulnerability of American

communities to the devastating effects of a

terrorist

attack with biological weapons. In the simulation, a

plane spewed anthrax bacteria over the city. The

projected results were disturbing: More than 1

million of

the city's 6.5 million residents would die. That

terrorists will, if able, use bioweaponry is no

longer

doubted by most experts. The big question in the

mind of

policymakers now is how best to minimize the effects

or

even prevent such a disaster.

Several strategies are being developed by both

military and civilian researchers. The Defense

Advanced

Research Projects (DARPA) is working to develop

better

diagnostic techniques, so that a terrorist-induced

epidemic is speedily detected. Researchers at s

Hopkins University in Baltimore have developed a

suit-

case-size mass spectrometry system able to

distinguish

among a variety of pathogens that can be used in the

field. Other researchers are hoping to create an

electronic chip containing live neurons that can

detect

the presence of minute amounts of toxins in the air.

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have

developed a device called the XM-94, which uses a

laser

radar to sense toxins in the air. The device would

be

mounted on a Blackhawk helicopter.

Although vaccines are the best form of

prevention,

at present there is not enough vaccine available to

make

even a small dent in the potential need for such

protection. Even if everyone in the country were

vaccinated against a particular pathogen, terrorists

could simply introduce a genetically-altered strain

impervious to the vaccine. To address this problem,

researchers are developing drugs that will work

against a

wide variety of infections and can be used even

before a

definitive diagnosis is made. Other strategies

include

drugs that reduce the inflammatory reaction that

kills

people infected with certain pathogens and agents

that

block the ability of pathogens to inject human cells

with

toxins. Among the pathogens likely to be used in

bioweaponry are anthrax, smallpox, Ebola virus,

salmonella, and plague.

Although the U.S. has a long way to go in

creating

an effective line of defense against bioterrorism,

it has

taken more steps in this direction than most

European

countries, where few take the threat of biological

attack

seriously.