Table 1.

Epidemiological spread of human disease causing pathogens (likely to be used as biological weapons)

Disease	Causal agent	Carriers	Effects on humans	Countries affected	References
Bacterial diseases
Anthrax	Bacillus anthracis	White deer, biting flies, sheep, camels, antelopes, cattle, humans	Sore throat, mild fever, fatigue and muscle aches, mild chest discomfort, shortness of breath, nausea, coughing up blood, painful swallowing	United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, Caribbean, Middle East	Dutta et al. (2011), Jansen et al. (2014)
Brucellosis	Brucella sp.	Goats, sheep, reindeer, pigs, caribou, humans	Fever, back pain, body aches, poor appetite and weight loss, headache, night sweats, weakness, abdominal pain	Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, Arctic and sub-arctic parts of North America	Thavaselvam and Vijayaraghavan (2010)
Botulism	Clostridium botulinum	Fish, birds, snails, earthworms, maggots, nematodes, humans	Difficulty in swallowing or speaking, dry mouth, facial weakness, blurred or double vision, drooping eyelids, trouble breathing, nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps, paralysis	South Africa, United States	Sobel (2005), Jansen et al. (2014)
Enterotoximea	Staphylococcal enterotoxin B	Sheep, goats, worms	Loss of appetite, abdominal discomfort, bloody diarrhea	Middle Asia, Kazakhstan	Spencer and Scardaville (1999), Horn (2003)
Glanders	Burkholeria mallei	Horses, donkeys, mules, humans	Fever, muscle aches, chest pain, muscle tightness, headache	Asian, Middle East	Van Zandt et al. (2013), Go and Sansthan (2014)
Melioidosis	Burkholderia psuedomallei	Rodents, humans	Cough, chest pain during breathing, high fever, headache, muscle soreness, weight loss	Southeast Asia, Australia; Rarely in Tropic and subtropic areas of world	Jansen et al. (2014), Madad (2014)
Plague	Yersinia pestis	Rodents, fleas, humans	Sudden onset of fever, headache, chills, weakness, swollen, tender, and painful lymph nodes	Europe, North Africa	Christie (1982), Jansen et al. (2014)
Q fever	Coxiella burnetii	Birds, ticks, sheep, cattle, goats, cats, rabbits, humans	High fever, chills or sweats, cough, chest pain, headache, clay-colored stools, diarrhea, nausea	Worldwide except New Zealand	Maurin and Raoult (1999)
Tularemia	Francisella tularensis	Arthropods, aquatic rodents, rabbits, humans	Skin ulcer, swollen lymph nodes, severe headaches, fever, chills, fatigue	United States	Gürcan (2014)
Toxicosis	Ricin	Humans	Weight loss, anxiety, intolerance to heat, fatigue, hair loss, weakness, hyperactivity, irritability, apathy, depression, sweating	United States	Jansen et al. (2014)
Viral diseases
Dengue	Flavivirus	Mosquitos	High fever, severe headaches, pain behind the eyes, severe joint and muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting	America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia	Murray et al. (2013)
Ebola	Ebolavirus/filovirus	Bats, monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees, humans	Fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, loss of appetite	Africa, Europe	Jansen et al. (2014), Madad (2014)
Hepatitis	Viruses	Humans	Fatigue, dark urine, pale stool, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, weight loss	Africa and Asia	Lemoine et al. (2013)
HIV	Lentivirus	Humans	Headache, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, aching muscles, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes	Asia, United States	Fettig et al. (2014), Maartens et al. (2014)
Influenza Type A (Spanish Flu H1N1and Swine Flu)	Influenza virus	Humans	Fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue	Asia, Europe	Taubenberger and Morens (2008), Zimmer and Burke (2009)
Lassa virus	Arenavirus	Rodents, humans	Fever, general weakness, headache, sore throat, muscle pain, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cough	Africa	Raabe and Koehler (2017)
Measles	Morbillivirus	Humans	Fever, dry cough, runny nose, sore throat, inflamed eyes	Africa, Asia, Europe, United States	Abad and Safdar (2015)
Rabies	Lyssaviruses rabies virus and Australian bat lyssavirus		Fever, headache, muscle aches, loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue		Yousaf et al. (2012)
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)	Coronavirus	Animals, humans	Fever, headache, loss of appetite, diarrhea, dry cough, fatigue, breathing problems	China, Canada, United Kingdom	Vijayanand et al. (2004)
Smallpox	Variola virus	Humans	Skin rash, severe headache, backache, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea.	Europe, North Africa, United States	Henderson et al. (1999)
Venezuelan equine encephalitis	Alphavirus	Rodents, bats, birds, mosquitoes, horses, humans	High fevers and headaches, central nervous system disorders	United States, Canada, Argentina	Weaver et al. (2004)
Yellow fever	Flavivirus	Mosquitoes	Fever, headache, nausea and vomiting. Serious cases may cause fatal heart, liver, and kidney conditions. Fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains, particularly in the back, headaches	Africa, Asia, South America	Gardner and Ryman (2010), Monath and Vasconcelos (2015)