BIO WEAPONS OPERATIONS :SWINE FLU VACCINE WORSE THAN THE VIRUS: April 2009

On Jan. 28, Bush announced that he will ask for $6 billion in his fiscal 2004 budget to launch "Project Bioshield," a major research and production effort to make sure effective vaccines and treatments against bioterrorism agents are available.

Weapons:
Anthrax, botulinum toxin, plague, ricin, smallpox, tularemia and viral hemorrhagic fevers are on the top of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's list of biological weapons, considered "Category A" weapons most likely to be used in an attack.

"Category B" weapons are second-highest priority to the CDC, because they are fairly easy to disseminate, cause moderate amounts of disease and low fatality rates. But these weapons require specific public-health action such as improved diagnostic and detection systems. These agents include: Q fever, brucellosis, glanders, ricin, Enterotoxin B, viral encephalitis, food safety threats, water safety threats, meliodosis, psittacosis and typhus fever.

"Category C" weapons, described by the CDC as "emerging infectious disease threats," are fairly easy to obtain, produce and disseminate and can produce high rates of disease and mortality. These include the Nipah virus and Hantavirus.

Other agents some nations may use as weapons include: aflatoxin, trichothecene mycotoxins, multi-drug tuberculosis, bacteria such as trench fever and scrub typhus, viruses such as influenza and various forms of hemorrhagic fever, fungi and protozoa.

Agricultural bioterrorism could produce famine or widespread malnutrition. These include foot-and-mouth disease, mad cow disease, swine fever and karnal bunt of wheat.

Delivery Systems:
Biological weapons can be aerosolized, meaning they can be easily spread into the air and inhaled by humans. These weapons can also be put into food or water supplies, where they would be ingested. Many will also cause harm if they contact human skin.

Symptoms: Symptoms can include flu-like symptoms, exhaustion, pneumonia, weight loss, stomach pain, diarrhea, respiratory failure and shock.

Treatment:
Biological weapons often take weeks or months to take their toll. Public health systems often can't pinpoint bioterrorism right away, because symptoms often mirror ones exhibited by a person with the common cold or the flu.

Treatments include antidotes, antibiotics, vaccines and pumping of the stomach.

Who Has It:
Russia is known to have stockpiles of various biological weapons. The United States studies some substances, such as anthrax, in laboratories. Iraq, North Korea and Syria are a few nations thought to still possess biological weapons.