Bio-terrorism: Threats, Responses and

Impact in aviation

Dr. Walter Gaber Budapest 2016

1925 Geneva Protocol

1972 Biological Weapons Convention:

Parties agree never to produce stockpile,

acquire or retain any bilogical agent for

other than peaceful purposes

International Agreement

Biological Warefare:

International use of viruses, bacteria,

fungi or toxins derived from living

organism to produce death or disease

in humans, animals or plants

Impact for Airlines/Airports.......

Terror

Overwhelms capacity

Need personal protective equipment

Disposal of deceased

·

·

·

·

·

·

·

Variola major

Bacillus anthracis

Yersinia pestis

Cl. botulinum-Toxin

Francisella

tularensis

Filoviren

Arenaviren

Kategorie A Kategorie B

· Coxiella burnetti

· Brucella species

· Burkholderia mallei

· Alphaviren

· Ricin-Toxin

· Cl. perfringens-

Toxin

· Staphyloccocus-

Enterotoxin B

· Vibrio cholerae

· Salmonella species

· Nipahvirus

· Hantavirus

· Gelbfiebervirus

· Tuberkulose (MDR)

· andere Viren

Biological Agents for

„Biowaffen“

(Quelle: CDC)

Kategorie C

Source: Gottschalk

can disseminate at great distance

agent clouds invisible Aircondition /Airports/underground

detection quite difficult

first sign is illness

overwhelms medical capabilities

simple threat creates panic

perpetrators escape before effects

ideal terrorist weapon ?

Advantages of BW: (Are Biologicals the Ultimate Weapon ?)

Strategic

•Cover large populations / geographic areas

Tactical

* Limitations due to incubation times

* Possibly effective vs. fixed positions

Terrorist

* Easy to deliver, difficult to detect

Biological Warfare Agents as Threats

Biological Terrorism - A New Trend ? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* 1984 Oregon, Salmonella

* 1991 Minnesota, Ricin toxin

* 1994 Tokyo, Sarin and biological attacks

* 1995 Indiana, bubonic plague

* 1997 Washington DC, Anthrax

* 1998 Nevada, nonlethal strain of B. anthracis

1998 Numerous Anthrax

E.g..........

BW Proliferation and the Changing World

Increasing number of countries developing BW capability at

least 5-6 countries are implicated as sponsors of international

terrorism

Regional aggressors and terrorist groups

Groups or individuals who seek revenge against the

government or society, extremist groups, religous fanaticism

State Sponsored vs. non-State Sponsored

Samples* of International Biological Weapons

Programs

Known Probable Possible

Iraq China Cuba

Russia Iran Egypt

....... North- Israel

Korea .........

Libya

Syria

Taiwan ......

* Does change every year

Bioterrorism: Potential Routes of Exposure

Aerosol

Food

Water

Medicine / devices / blood

Special Features

Potential for mass casualties

Short window for effective intervention

Use of rare or unusual organisms:

> Variola major,

> genetically manipulated organisms

> antibiotic - resistant organism

Requires different agency coordination and

integration

Availability

Ease of Production

Lethal or Incapacitating

Stability in storage

Infectivity / Toxicity

Stable / deliverable in aerosol

What Makes A Good BioWeapon Candidate ?

Cost Comparsion

Cost per square km (USA,1999)

Agents Costs ($$)

BW Agents 1

Nerve Agents 600

Nuclear Weapons 800

Conventional Weapons 2000

Highest Threat

• Dispersed in aerosol

• Highly lethal

• Production capability / knowledge

• available

• Lack of treatment or vaccine

• Communicable

• Mere threat of use creates panic

Business Continuity Plans : Goal

With so many potential crises out

there, we want our business

continuity plans to enable :

– Early incident / crisis detection

– Reduce :

• SCOPE (Umfang)

• SCALE (Mass….)

• DURATION (Dauer)

Time

Bu

sin

es

s F

low

Dis

rup

tio

ns

Incidents

Crisis

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Preparedness and Response

• Security concerns

• Training and education

• Medical emergency response plan

• Use of chemical and biological agents

• Crowd control of mass hysteria

• Definition of responsibilities

Biological Terrorism

What´s Important to aviation ?

* Awareness of the Risk

The real threat (!)... Not just the popular threat

* Education

What we don´t know can hurt us !

* Readiness for the Unexpected

Drugs and Vaccines, Diagnostics, Planning,

Exercises

* A strong Public Health Infrastructure and Tech Base

The consequences of lack of preparedness are

unacceptable

Public Health Response to

Bioterrorism

• Detecion & surveillance

• Rapid laboratory dignosis

• Epidemiologic investigations

• Implementation of control measures

Where Are We Going ?

• Flexibility to deal with a wide range of threats

• Expand emergency public health capacities

• Increase public health infrastructure

• Multi - agency linkage

20

Conclusion:

Be aware....

Train you team....

Keep you team „safe“....

Be informed......

National/internation networking (CAPSCA e.g.)

RISK communication for your team, for public

Be aware of panic....

Vielen Dank für Ihre

Aufmerksamkeit!

Thank you for your attention