Weaponization of Pathogens

The weaponization of pathogens is a concerning issue that has the potential to disrupt international peace and the stability of the world. Some would even say that is a threat to humanity itself seeing the devastation that some epidemics/pandemics have caused in the past. Pathogens include viruses, bacteria, and other microorganisms capable of causing disease. They have been a part of history throughout humanity's existence with a notable example being the black plague during medieval times. While they are natural entities and often viewed as adversaries of human health, they can be transformed into tools of warfare or terror that differ themselves from the use of conventional warfare weapons. The origins of pathogen weaponization date to the early 20th century, with the development of biological weapons during World War I. Since then humanity has witnessed further developments in biological warfare with a major notable example being anthrax. 

The first real use of biological weapons was during World War 1. In this case the biological weapons were not used against humans but rather against animals in an attempt to sabotage allied forces by infecting their horses which at the time were still used in war. Then during World War 2 Japan was by far the biggest user of biological weapons out of all nations in the war. The infamous Japanese Unit 731 infected prisoners of wars with horrible diseases to analyze the effects, lethality, and effectiveness of harmful pathogens. It also dropped plague infested “flea-bombs” on Chinese cities even though the consequences were not catastrophic as the plague was already endemic to the region. These were some of the first mass scale use of biological weapons. 

After World War 2 mainly two nations were investing in the research and development of biological weapons. These were the USA and the Soviet Union. Both nations attempted to enlarge their biological warfare capabilities. The most controversial aspect of the USA’s program was when they purposefully deployed relatively harmless pathogens in US cities to test its effects and how such pathogens would spread. Additionally, the military throughout these programs unintentionally infected 11 civilians out of which one died. In 1969 the US had weaponized anthrax, one of the most common biological weapons thanks to how easy it is to produce and its effectiveness, that is still present to this day. However, in 1975 the US disbanded such programs after signing the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and should in theory to this day no longer possess any form of biological weapon. Similarly, the Soviets also manufactured large amounts of anthrax. In fact an accidental release of it caused 66 deaths. In 1989 they were able to weaponize a virus known as Marburg which causes hemorrhagic fever similar to the one caused by ebola. In 1992 Russia ended all of its biological weapon programs but the fate of the stockpile is still not clear. 

Nowadays because most nations have given up on bio-weapon programs the real threat does not come from a war between nations but rather from bio-terrorism. It has always been a major fear of a number of nations including the US that terrorist organizations could attempt to weaponize pathogens in order to cause large scale bio attacks against a target which could potentially kill hundreds of thousands if not millions of civilians. Some analysts disagree on the fact that terrorists are capable of conducting large scale bio-weapon attacks. For example one of the most recent examples was an anthrax attack on the US in 2001 that only ended up killing 5 people. On the other hand, other experts disagree and believe that bio-terrorism could be one of the greatest threats to humanity. 

One of the major causes of concern is the various methods through which a bio-weapon such as anthrax could be deployed with relative ease as well. Anthrax in particular could be a great option for extremist organizations looking to weaponize pathogens as it requires little expertise to grow and eventually weaponize. There are also a variety of ways that such terrorists could deploy these weapons making the deployment process an easy one as well. The first option would be to contaminate food and water supplies. The second one would be to use bombs and shells that contain the weaponized pathogen and shoot them in the area of interest. Another option would be to simply deploy them through the use of aircraft carrying aerosolized agents containing the pathogen. Other two more direct methods would be through direct injection of the pathogen into individuals or the possible use of “suicide infectees”. This last option would essentially involve sending infected individuals in the area of interest to spread the pathogen to the rest of the population. For example if a crop duster plane full of anthrax flew over a major city it could potentially cause millions of casualties. 

Still bio-terrorism remains more of a psychological weapon rather than an actual physical one. It is still difficult to plan and carry out a bioterrorist attack and its effects remain mostly psychological. For example, in 2001 when an anthrax attack took place in the US only five people died but nevertheless, it caused mass disruptions in the postal service and led to massive new expenses in an attempt to ensure that the issue was contained. This response many would believe is an overreaction so something that only caused five deaths showing how bio-terrorism can have a strong psychological impact. Measures for the prevention of large scale bio attacks are for the most part too expensive and inefficient to be able to be implemented on a large scale. This leaves a vulnerability to such an attack and experts to this day still debate whether a terrorist organization would actually be able to organize an attack of a scale such that it could kill thousands if not millions. 

Throughout history multiple nations and organizations have attempted to weaponize pathogens. While such bio-weapons were rarely deployed in mass, when used, they spread terror throughout the population and even government. Most countries have mostly given up all of their bio-weapon programs after signing various treaties, agreements, and conventions such as the BWC. There are still some countries that are believed to be actively involved in the research and development of bio-weapons while others are believed to still have stockpiles of such weapons. Nevertheless, the weaponization of pathogens is no longer a threat that will derive from nations but rather from extremist organizations looking to spread terror. Analysts are still unsure whether such organizations would be capable of planning and following through with a large-scale biological attack as past attempts from terrorist and extremist cells have for the most part failed in causing mass casualties. Still, the weaponization of pathogens is something that all nations should keep an eye on as it has the potential to cause devastation to humanity thanks to its unpredictable nature and to the unavailability of efficient prevention measures.

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Bibliography

Clark, D. P., & Pazdernik, N. J. (2016). Biological warfare: Infectious disease and bioterrorism. Biotechnology, 687–719. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-385015-7.00022-3.
Biological warfare in a historical perspective. (n.d.). Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 8(8), 450–454. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1469-0691.2002.00501.x.