Table 4.
Epidemiology of bioweapons and bioterrorism
| Time Period | Class | Agent(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prehistoric | Insect | Bees, wasps, ants | Stinging insects would be used in direct attacks on enemies by throwing nests into a cave or shelter to drive out the enemy so they could be attacked. Evidence exists to suggest that prehistoric people had learned that smoke calms bees and that they had specific sacks or baskets designed to carry the nest |
| Toxin | Larvae | There is evidence in Africa that ancient tribes extracted poisons from insect larvae to poison their arrows | |
| Biblical | Insects | Bees, wasps, and other stinging insects | Biblical references to using hornets to dislodge entrenched enemies. The Mayans filled the heads of decoys with bees, and when the enemy unwittingly smashed the decoy's head the bees were released. In the Middle East, pottery hives were created to produce bee grenades used by both armies and navies in battles. The Greeks also have reports of using bees to flush enemies out of tunnels |
| Roman | Insects | Assassin bugs | Assassin bugs in earthenware vessels catapulted over enemy lines |
| Insect | Serpents | 184 bc: Carthaginian soldiers under Hannibal used earthen pots filled with serpents flung onto decks of enemy ships | |
| Toxin | Bees | Contaminated honey produced by having bees forage on a poisonous plant was used to incapacitate an enemy army, facilitating their slaughter | |
| Middle Ages | Insect | Bees, wasps | Many examples of bees used to repulse invaders. Some castles were built with places for beehives in their walls |
| Bacteria | Plague and others | Corpses of animals and humans who died of disease were catapulted into enemy encampments in siege warfare | |
| Nineteenth century | Insect | Mosquito vector (malaria) | In the US Civil War, as a strategic move, a Confederate general steered Union troops into malaria-ridden areas to infect and weaken their force before attacking |
| Insect | Agroterrorism (harlequin bug) | In the civil war, Union soldiers imported the harlequin bug from Mexico to destroy the South's crops | |
| Virus | Smallpox | Smallpox used against South and North American indigenous peoples | |
| Pre-World War I | Bacteria | Agroterrorism (glanders and anthrax) | Germany is reported to have shipped infected livestock to the Allied countries in attempts to disrupt the food chain before World War I began |
| World War I | There is little evidence to support the use of biological weapons during WWI although there is some suggestion that Germany may have been conducting research with biological weapons | ||
| World War II | Insect | Flea vector (plague) | Japanese Army Unit 731 developed the Uji bomb filled with pathogenic bacteria and fleas and used in battles against the Allies. Fleas infected with plague were also sprayed by Japanese aircraft, initiating an outbreak that lasted 6 y and killed 50,000 people. Several other similar attacks are believed to have resulted in a total of more than 100,000 casualties |
| Insect | Agroterrorism: potato beetle | Europeans (French and German) attempted to use insects such as the potato beetle to destroy crops, and the Canadian military conducted research on using fruit flies to destroy crops, and screwworm flies to damage livestock | |
| Insect | Lice vector (typhus) | The Soviets used typhus-infected lice against German troops | |
| Insect | Mosquito vector (yellow fever) | The Canadian military conducted research on using Aedes aegypti to transmit yellow fever | |
| Bacteria | Anthrax and waterborne organism | Japanese Army Units 731 and 100 said to have experimented on humans with aerosolized anthrax and with contamination of food/water sources with enteric pathogens | |
| Bacteria | Tularemia | Allegations of Soviet use against Germans | |
| Korean War | Toxin | T2 mycotoxin | Allegation of US use against North Korea in 1952 |
| Cold War | Insect | Vectors | US and Canadian military research and development on the use of fleas, flies, and mosquitoes to transmit infection to the enemy |
| Bacteria | Plague and tularemia | US and Russia developed techniques for aerosolizing plague and tularemia | |
| Toxin | Ricin | Assassination of George Markov (Bulgarian writer and BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation] correspondent) in 1978 in London, UK by Russian spy using a ricin-filled dart | |
| Bacteria | Anthrax | April 1979: an outbreak of inhalational anthrax was reported near the Soviet Institute of Microbiology and Virology at Sverdlovsk, USSR. The 77 identified cases, including 66 deaths, comprise the largest reported epidemic of inhalational anthrax. More recent estimates are that the release may have resulted in up to 250 cases, with 100 deaths | |
| Toxin | T2 mycotoxin | Allegation of Soviet/Vietnamese use in Cambodia and Laos in 1975–1981 | |
| Toxin | Aflatoxin | Iraq 1980: evidence to suggest work to weaponize aflatoxin | |
| Present | Bacteria | Anthrax | Japan 1990–1995: Aum Shunrikyo sect attempts to develop aerosolized anthrax and botulinum toxin |
| Bacteria | Anthrax | United States, 2001: 22 cases of inhalational and cutaneous anthrax (5 deaths) from contaminated letters | |
| Toxin | Ricin | United States, 2003: ricin-tainted letter delivered to White House mailroom | |
| Bacteria | Salmonella | United States, 2004: Rajneesh Sect causes >750 cases of salmonellosis (45 people hospitalized) by contaminating a salad bar | |
| Toxin | Ricin | United States, 2004: ricin-tainted letter sent to the Senate Majority House leader | |
| Toxin | Ricin | United States, November 1, 2011: 3 men arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation for planning a ricin attack on US government offices | |
| Toxin | Ricin | United States, April 2013: Letters containing ricin mailed by an unknown perpetrator to President and a Senator intercepted before delivery to their recipients |