Biological warfare agents are the general name of viruses, deadly microorganisms, toxins and other bioactive substances used to kill people, livestock and destroy crops in military operations. Formerly known as bacterial warfare agents. Biological warfare agent is the decisive factor that constitutes the lethality of biological weapons. Once pathogenic microorganisms enter the body (people, livestock, etc.). ), they can multiply in large numbers, leading to the destruction of body function, illness and even death. It can also destroy plants and crops on a large scale. There are many kinds of biological warfare agents. According to foreign literature, there are about 160 kinds of deadly microorganisms that can be used as biological warfare agents, but not many of them have pathogenic and infectious abilities.

Classification of biological warfare agents

(1) Biological warfare agents can be divided into lethal warfare agents and disabling warfare agents according to their harm to human beings:

(1) lethal warfare agent. The lethal rate of lethal warfare agents is above 10%, even reaching 50% ~ 90%. Bacillus anthracis, fox cholera, rabbit fever Bacillus, typhoid Bacillus, smallpox virus, yellow fever virus, eastern equine encephalitis virus, western equine encephalitis virus, rickettsia typhi, botulinum toxin, etc.

(2) disabling warfare agents. The mortality rate is below 10%, such as Brucella, Q-rickettsia, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, etc.

(2) According to the morphology and pathology of biological warfare agents, it can be divided into:

① Bacterial biological warfare agents. There are anthrax, Yersinia pestis, fox cholera, rabbit fever Bacillus, Brucella and so on.

② Viral biological warfare agents. There are mainly yellow fever virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus and smallpox virus.

③ Rickettsia biological warfare agent. There are mainly rickettsia typhi and rickettsia Q.

④ Chlamydia biological warfare agent. There are mainly chlamydia avium.

⑤ Toxin biological warfare agent. There are mainly botulinum toxin and staphylococcal enterotoxin.

⑥ Fungal biological warfare agents. There are mainly coccidiomycetes and histoplasma capsulatum.

(3) According to the infectivity of biological warfare agents, they can be divided into two categories:

Infectious biological warfare agents, such as smallpox virus, influenza virus, Yersinia pestis and Vibrio cholerae.

② Non-infectious biological warfare agents, such as tularella and botulinum toxin.

With the development of microbiology and related science and technology, new pathogenic microorganisms are constantly being discovered, and the types that may become biological warfare agents are also increasing. In recent years, using the achievements of microbial genetics and genetic engineering, human beings use gene recombination technology to limit the recombination of genetic material and directionally control and change the characteristics of microorganisms, which may produce new and more deadly biological warfare agents.

Four biological warfare agents

Little undercover can kill people.

Bio-terrorist attack is a very destructive and long-standing attack means. Usually airborne bacteria or virus preparations are almost invisible and can't be smelled. Unlike the hero in the novel, ordinary people either cross the small universe or have a sixth sense. When attacked, I often unconsciously inhale this preparation, and I won't realize that I have been poisoned until a few days later when I get sick. At this time, it is too late to rescue and take protective measures.

This concept of using biological agents as weapons can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome. At first, people thought that diseases spread in the air through stench, so in war, rotting animal carcasses were often thrown into the water, which made the enemy sick by polluting the drinking water system of the other side. This was regarded as one of the oldest biological weapons. Later, this method was developed to use human corpses, and it was used until the American Civil War in the19th century.

There are countless vicious examples on record. /kloc-In the 8th century, when Europeans expanded their territory in North America, Lord Jennifer Amster, commander-in-chief of Great Britain and North America, suggested using smallpox to "destroy" the native Indians in North America. Then the British deliberately distributed or left blankets and handkerchiefs used by smallpox patients to Indian tribes in North America. This directly led to the outbreak of smallpox among Indian tribes in the Ohio Valley. In World War II, the most notorious example was the 73 1 Army and Research Institute led by Japanese bacteriologist General Shiro Ishii. In Ping Fan County, northeast of China, 73 1 Army established a germ warfare base camp consisting of 150 buildings and 5,000 researchers. From 1932 to 1945, more than/10 000 China soldiers and civilians died under the clutches of 73 1 troops only through live experiments. They also conducted a large-scale field germ warfare experiment in China 1 1 city, in which more than150,000 fleas were spread by plane each time!

Allied forces also conducted research on offensive biological weapons during World War II. 200 1 Bacillus anthracis, which impressed Americans deeply, was actually studied as early as the 1940s under the leadership of the wartime war reserve bureau. However, the anthrax bomb developed at that time was difficult to be put into production on a large scale because of poor safety measures. However, at the same time, 5,000 bacterial bombs containing anthrax spores have been assembled for the US military.

In the past 30 years, molecular biology technology has developed very rapidly. The reason why people study the mechanism of bacteria and viruses living in humans and animals is to reduce or prevent diseases. But now these research results can be easily used for other purposes to develop more powerful biological weapons. These biological agents include Yersinia pestis, anthrax, tularemia, smallpox or viral hemorrhagic fever virus, and other known or potential terrorist agents. As a tool in people's hands, the combination of molecular biology and virus will produce a new type of pathogenic chimera. Scientists can also use a variety of drug-resistant genes to change existing pathogens and act on organisms. On the other hand, many complete basic data sets of human pathogens have been published in recent years, and those published research results on how to introduce new genes into bacteria have lowered the threshold for terrorists to develop biological weapons. It's really dangerous, so be careful.