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Biologic weapons used to infect people are bacterial, not viral. Anthrax is a great example of one of these. Getting people worried about dry parcels being viable vectors of this virus does far more harm than any good. I won't be gloving up and wearing a mask to unpack my Chinese parcels as that is just not reasonable. Won't be trying to disinfect them either.
That is wrong paul.
Biological warfare (BW)—also known as germ warfare—is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with the intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war.
Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever (Marburg HF) is caused by Marburg virus of the filovirus family, which also includes the Ebola virus. Marburg virus is also a Category A bio-warfare agent identified by the CDC’s classification system and is hosted in African fruit bat. The virus can be isolated and produced as a biological weapon.
The Soviet Union conducted experimentations with the Marburg virus in aerosol form to transform it into a strategic-operational biological weapon. Soviet scientists were reported to have preferred Marburg to Coxiella burnetii (Q fever) as Marburg has a high case fatality rate of up to 90%.
The Bunyaviridae family of viruses includes three viruses – Nairovirus, Phlebovirus and Hantavirus. Korean haemorrhagic fever caused by Hantavirus broke out during the Korean War when an estimated 3,000 American and Korean soldiers became infected with the disease.
Bunyavirus causes human infections such as Hanta Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), Rift Valley fever and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever. It is transmitted by arthropods and rodents and occasionally infects humans too. The Hanta virus causing HPS causes a mortality rate of up to 50% .
Agent | Incubation Period | Triage/Provider Guidelines | Treatment Recommendations |
---|---|---|---|
Anthrax | 2–4 days | Standard universal precautions | Ciprofloxacin or doxycycline† |
Smallpox | 10–12 days | Airborne/contact precautions | Vaccinia immune globulin, cedofivir |
Plague | 2–4 days | Airborne (droplet) precautions | Streptomycin or gentamicin |
Tularemia | 3–5 days | Standard universal precautions | Streptomycin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin |
Hemorrhagic fever viruses | 2–21 days | Airborne/contact precautions | Consider ribavirin |
Botulinum | 12–36 hrs | Standard universal precautions | Botulinum antitoxin |
Ricin* | 4–8 hrs‡ | Standard universal precautions | Supportive only |
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