History of Biological Warfare - Globally

• 1925 Geneva Protocol

• 1972 Biological Weapons

Convention

»signed by 103 nations

• 1975 Geneva Conventions

Ratified

PROTOCOL FOR THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE IN WAR OF ASPHYXIATING,

POISONOUS OR OTHER GASES, AND OF BACTERIOLOGICAL METHODS OF

WARFARE

Opened for signature: 17 June 1925, entered into force: 8

February 1928

Geneva Protocol

ПРОТОКОЛ О ЗАПРЕЩЕНИИ ПРИМЕНЕНИЯ НА ВОЙНЕ УДУШАЮЩИХ,

ЯДОВИТЫХ ИЛИ ДРУГИХ ПОДОБНЫХ ГАЗОВ И БАКТЕРИОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ

СРЕДСТВ

Женева, 17 июня 1925 года

Biological Weapons Convention

Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of

Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction

Signed at Washington, London, and Moscow April 10, 1972

Joint Statement by President George W. Bush and

President Vladimir on Cooperation Against Bioterrorism November 13, 2001

At Shanghai, we resolved to enhance cooperation in combating new terrorist threats, including those involving

weapons of mass destruction.We agree that, as a key element of our cooperation to

counter the threat of terrorist use of biological materials, officials and experts of the United States and Russia will

work together on means for countering the threat of bioterrorism, now faced by all nations, and on related

health measures, including preventive ones, treatment and possible consequence management.

What role can Russia play in Combating

Infectious Diseases And Bioterrorism Threats

The threat of biological weapons and their use in bioterrorism have increased. At the same

time there are huge improvements in the knowledge of infectious diseases. How do we contain the threat of biological warfare (BW)

and bioterrorism and continue to make progress in eliminating and treating infectious

diseases?

S.V. Netesov, L.S. Sandakhchiev, VECTOR, Novosibirsk

In the past 20 years, more than 30 previously

unknown infectious agents have been identified. They causing such diseases as AIDS, hemorrhagic

fevers, antibiotic resistant bacterial strains, hepatitis C, etc., A significant part of these infectious diseases result

from the ability of microorganisms to mutate and adapt to humans and their medical treatment

environment of medical prophylaxes and treatments. These properties, combined with increasing human

mobility and migration and the increasing number of people with suppressed immunity, and several other

factors, make the emergence of new diseases and variants more likely.

Biological Warfare Nonproliferation and Threat Reduction

The issues of nonproliferation and threat reduction of biological weapons based on

infectious agents are different from other weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

We believe that the major nonproliferation and threat reduction efforts should focus on already

working with emerging pathogens research centers, which might present a source of expertise

for potential bioterrorists.

Russia’s Role in Infectious Disease Research and International Cooperation

Russia has great potential in the area of infectious disease research, as well as in development and manufacture of therapeutic and prophylactic

preparations at facilities of the Russian Ministry of Public Health, those of BIOPREPARAT and of local

public health establishments. Two large State Research Centers of the Russian Ministry of Public Health — for

Applied Microbiology (Obolensk, European region) and Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR (Koltsovo, eastern region) — were involved in biological defense

programs of the former Soviet Union before 1990.

VECTOR The State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR, operated by the Russian Ministry of Public Health, is a large research and production complex,

whose primary activities are focused on basic and applied

research in the theoretical virology, molecular biology,

virology, immunology, aerobiology, epidemiology,

and biotechnology. VECTOR also develops and

manufactures preventive, therapeutical and diagnostic

preparations.

VECTOR is one of two scientific and experimental facilities in Russia mainly focusing on virus infection research. The State Research Center for Applied Microbiology, Russian Ministry of Public Health (Obolensk, Moscow Oblast), is a

similar scientific and experimental center, involved in bacterial infections research. VECTOR and Obolensk are the only institutions in both Russia and the rest of the CIS countries in which studies of highly dangerous pathogens

can be done at an up-to-date level.

VECTOR VECTOR’s research and production facilities amount to more than 250,000

m2 on over 8,000 hectares (19,768 acres). The research and experimental facilities at VECTOR are equipped for up-to-date scientific work with highly pathogenic human and animal viruses, under conditions of complete biosafety.

Several buildings meet special biosafety requirements for high

containment facilities (BSL 2, 3, and 4): an air-tight external perimeter,

negative pressure in the working zone, complete sterilization (liquid, and

solid) or reliable filtration (air) of all types of discharge.

VECTOR The research and technical

staff of the Center are highly qualified personnel,

specializing in the field of genetic engineering, molecular biology, virology, theoretical

virology, immunology, epidemiology, and ecology. The staff has extensive experience in

highly dangerous viruses research and in production of diagnostic and prophylactic

preparations for public health and veterinary needs.

VECTOR The Collection of Cultures of Microorganisms in VECTOR contains over 10,000 deposit entries: various viral strains,

including the national collection of variola virus strains and

strains of BSL-4 viral pathogens; recombinant viral strains; strains

of microorganisms, including producer strains. The Collection

received international recognition in 1995 when it was affiliated with the European Culture Collection

Organization (ECCO).

VECTOR VECTOR also houses one of the two WHO Collaborating Centers for orthopoxvirus diagnosis and

repository for variola virus strains and their DNA. The other WHO Collaborating Center for

smallpox and other poxvirus infections is at the CDC in Atlanta, USA. As a WHO

Collaborating Center, VECTOR preserves and studies the Russian collection of variola virus isolates.

The research collaboration between these two Centers is promising in terms of basic

science and confidence building.

VECTOR VECTOR’s Breeding and

Holding Facility for laboratory animals, which includes one of only two

monkey breeding facilities operating in Russia, is used for testing therapeutic and

diagnostic preparations. Facilities for the

performance of preclinical and clinical trials of new

medicinal preparations are available at VECTOR.

VECTOR Possible research at the proposed International Center could focus on arboviruses, including tick-borne encephalitis virus that is endemic in Russia; HFRS virus, Omsk hemorrhagic fever virus – both endemic in Siberia; filoviruses: Marburg and Ebola; orthopoxviruses: smallpox virus, monkeypox, and cowpox viruses; viruses causing hepatitis A, B, C; paramyxoviruses, rabdoviruses, influenza viruses, etc. This list of viruses could be extended by bacteria and parasites, such as tuberculosis, which is increasing sharply now in Russia, and opisthorchiasis – human parasitic disease affecting the liver. The latter is endemic in Siberia, too.

The aims of the Federal Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology

• Sanitary and Epidemiological measures in case of situation with the outbreaks of infectious diseases or during disasters;

• Statistical monitoring for control of infectious diseases at the federal level, reporting;

The structure of the Federal Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology

• Disaster department

• Epidemiological department

• Laboratory services

The period until 1991

Life expectancy (both sexes)

32

43

59

47

63

47

01020304050607080

1900 1938

Russia

France

USA

The period until 1991

Life expectancy in 1965

64,373,4 74,7

66,873,7

67,3

01020304050607080

Men Women

Russia

France

USA

The health care principles upon which the Soviet health care system was to

be based (Nikolai Semashko):

• government responsibility for health• universal access to free services• a preventive approach to “social diseases”• quality professional care• a close relation between science and

medical practice• continuity of care between health

promotion, treatment and rehabilitation.

Next steps following the establishment of the “Semashko”

model in 1918• The health care system was under the centralized

control of the state, which financed services by general government revenues as part of national social and economic development plans.

• All health care personnel became employees of the centralized state, which paid salaries and provided supplies to all medical institutions.

• The main policy orientation throughout this period was to increase numbers of hospital beds and medical personnel.

Next steps following the establishment of the “Semashko”

model in 1918 (cont.)• Russia made massive strides in arresting the

spread of infectious diseases. • Drastic epidemic control measures were

implemented, particularly in the cases of tuberculosis, typhoid fever, typhus, malaria and cholera.

• These involved community prevention approaches, routine check-ups, improvements in urban sanitation and hygiene, quarantines, etc.

Health crisis

• The diverging paths of Russia and other industrialized nations with respect to health status from the 1960s onward has been attributed to the failure of the Russian health care system to successfully respond to the epidemiological transition.

The leading causes of death in the Russia Federation

• Cardiovascular diseases with rates that are the highest in the European Region.

• External causes of injury and poisoning

• Cancer

CVD

Injury

CancerAverage for 1999-

2001

Source: New York Department of Health

Source: New York Department of Health

WHY was prophylaxis with Ciprofloxacin extended to 60 days?

BECAUSE in Sverdlovsk cases appeared more than 40 days after exposure, and because of data from animal experiments

More on Sverdlovsk

Lidia Tretyakova looks at the tombstone of her father, Lazar Karsayev, at a cemetery in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2001. A mysterious outbreak of anthrax killed at least 68 people, including Karsayev, 22 years ago in the Russian industrial center of Sverdlovsk, today known as Yekaterinburg. At the time, neither the victims nor their families suspected they had been hit by a biological weapon. (AP Photo/Alexei Vladykin)

Laboratory workers at the Sverdlovsk regional epedemiological service put on the special suits they wear when working with anthrax and other dangerous bacteria in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2001

Terrorism

• Is an unlawful act of violence

• Intimidates governments or societies

• Goal is to achieve political, religious or ideological objectives

Arthur H. Garrison

Prevention of Terrorism

• Primary prevention:– Education!!!

– Understand the differences in cultures, religions, beliefs and human behaviors

– Think of the peace, freedom and equality of all human beings, not just “my group of people”

– Eliminate the root of terrorism

Prevention of Terrorism

• Secondary prevention:– Establish surveillance and monitoring

system on terrorism attack

– Improve protective system for citizens

Prevention of Terrorism

• Tertiary prevention– Early detection of the sources

– Prevent the extension of impairments

– Rescue the survivors

– Console the rest of the population

Proportion of death from terrorism in total death in the United States

0.12240462428932001

0.0003253420381990’s

Proportion (%)

From all causes

From terrorism

Average death per year

Risk of Dying

One in 50,000,000Terrorism attack in 1990’s

One in 10,000,000Hit by lightning

One in 100,000Terrorism attack in 2001

One in 100,000Homicide

One in 25,000Playing soccer

One in 8,000Road accident

One in 850All natural causes age 40

One in 200Smoking 10 cigarettes a day

Penguin Books, 1987

Death Rate of Various Causes in 2000 USA and that from Terrorism

One in 50,000,000Terrorism in 1990’s

One in 100,000Terrorism in 2001

One in 20,000Homicide*

One in 10,000Suicide*

One in 4,000Diabetes*

One in 3,000Accidents *

One in 2,000Cerebrovascular diseases*

One in 500Cancer *

One in 400Heart disease*

Why did terrorism draw considerable attention in 2001?

• The risk of dying from terrorism was extremely low in 1990’s, and was still relatively low compared with some diseases in 2001

• But the death rate increased by 500 times in 2001 due to Sept. 11

• Overall the death rate of terrorism has not been high

• Despite the low risk, shock, surprise and fear engulfed the United States and world

Conclusion

• Terrorism is unlawful act• Terrorism has a long history of being used

to achieve political, religious and ideological objectives

• Terrorism can be conducted through firearms, explosive devices and biological, chemical, nuclear materials

• Even through the events of 2001, the risk of dying from terrorism has remained much lower than that from motor vehicles, smoking, and alcoholic beverage.