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Biological Warfare : Biological Terrorism : Emerging Diseases

Botulinum, BT

Botulinum toxin (BT) is a protein. C botulinum secretes it in order break down the cells of dead organisms, allowing it to feed. Thus this toxin often appears in poorly-preserved foods. When an unlucky or careless human ingests such food, botulism is the usual result. Food-ingestion is the typical way a human gets botulism, although the bacteria can sometimes also directly infect an open wound.

Botulism is quite deadly. Symptoms include double or blurred vision, slurred speech, trouble swallowing and overall muscle weakness. Left untreated, symptoms progress to paralysis. Death comes from respiratory failure. Botulism is particularly dangerous to infants and elderly people.

If diagnosed early botulism can sometimes be managed by induced vomiting, which helps purge the toxin from the body before it can be fully absorbed. An antitoxin serum is also available. However, even if caught early, full recovery from botulism can take weeks or months of intensive medical care.

Botulinum toxin attracted early interest from bioweaponeers. The pioneers were the Japanese, who started growing BT in the 1930s. The toxin was then tested on prisoners-of-wars, with universally horrific effect. Pleased with these positive results, toxin was weaponized and then used on Chinese civilians during the years prior to World War 2. No account of casualties was kept, although it's believed that the results were quite positive from the Japanese perspective.

After the war, picking up where the Japanese left off, the Soviet Union and the United States weaponized large amounts of toxin and greatly improved the aerosolization and dispersion technology. The Soviets were particularly fond of BT and folded it into a number of different delivery vehicles.

Beyond being exceptionally deadly, botulinum toxin has certain other advantages. For one thing, it is extremely easy to mass-produce. C botulinum is not a finicky organism and will grow quickly if given the slightest encouragement. In addition, the bacteria are ubiquitous in the environment and thus very easy to procure. In fact, if you take a shovel of dirt from your yard you will likely have sufficient bacteria to start your own biological weapons factory.

These facts have not been lost on rogue regimes and terrorists. BT has therefore been produced by a number of states. Iraq, Syria and North Korea are known to have very large quantities. Mounted on a missile and delivered to a city, BT has the potential of killing hundreds of thousands of people.

Meanwhile terrorists haven't waited; they've already tried to use the toxin. Between 1990 and 1995 the Japanese Aum cult attempted a number of attacks on US military installations and Japanese civilian centers. All these attacks failed, in fact, they passed unnoticed. Apparently Aum made a number of basic mistakes, including using a relatively benign bacterium as the source of their toxin. Their aerosol-generating equipment probably wasn't up to the job either.

It's believed that other cults and terrorist groups have or are procuring the toxin. Al Qaeda has expressed a special interest. Manuals for the production of BT were discovered in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, countries with more advanced biotechnology are investigating new avenues. In particular, it's known that the Soviets were able to isolate the BT gene and then insert this gene into other microorganisms. This allowed them to turn common benign bacteria, such as E. Coli, into killers. It's believed that a number of other nations and groups are now following up with their own efforts in this arena.

Link: Excellent In-Depth Technical Overview Of BT and BioTerrorism
Link: Botulism Toxin, Symtoms and Use in Terrorism
Link: Botulism, Symptoms, Reporting and Treatment
Link: Possible new antidote to Botulism
Link: BT Virulence And Technical Factors