• Before the 20th century, biological warfare took three main forms: (1) deliberate poisoning of food and water with infectious or toxic material, (2) use of microorganisms or toxins in some form of weapon system, and (3) use of biologically inoculated fabrics. (medscape.com)
  • Biological warfare became more sophisticated against both animals and humans during the 20th century. (medscape.com)
  • During World War I, the Germans developed anthrax, glanders, cholera, and a wheat fungus for use as biological weapons. (medscape.com)
  • The German-American physician Anton Dilger established a secret biological laboratory in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with the intent to grow the causative agents of anthrax and glanders. (medscape.com)
  • China and the DPRK (also referred to as North Korea) accused the United States, under the umbrella of United Nations intervention, of using fleas, flies and other insects that had been deliberately infected with plague, cholera, anthrax and other diseases, to deliver deadly pathogens to Communist troops and civilians. (medium.com)
  • Also, anything Americans bring into a nation, including biological pathogens, is considered as diplomatic content and thus not subject to search or examination. (moonofshanghai.com)
  • The use of bees as guided biological weapons was described in Byzantine written sources, such as Tactica of Emperor Leo VI the Wise in the chapter On Naval Warfare. (wikipedia.org)
  • There are numerous other instances of the use of plant toxins, venoms, and other poisonous substances to create biological weapons in antiquity. (wikipedia.org)
  • Attempts to use biological weapons date back to antiquity. (medscape.com)
  • If a biological lab experiences an accidental or deliberate leak and poisons and kills hundreds of local citizens, the government can do nothing but file a protest with the US Embassy. (moonofshanghai.com)
  • China fought Japan with aid from the Soviet Union and the United States. (wikipedia.org)
  • The earliest documented incident of the intention to use biological weapons is possibly recorded in Hittite texts of 1500-1200 BC, in which victims of tularemia were driven into enemy lands, causing an epidemic. (wikipedia.org)
  • Biological weapons include any organism or toxin found in nature that can be used to incapacitate, kill, or otherwise impede an adversary. (medscape.com)
  • Biological weapons are often characterized by low visibility, high potency, substantial accessibility, and relatively easy delivery. (medscape.com)
  • The use of biological agents is not a new concept, and history is replete with examples of biological weapons use. (medscape.com)
  • It should be apparent that the launching of bio-warfare, as with conventional warfare, is considerably eased by locating military bases and offensive weapons and delivery systems as physically close as possible to one's potential enemies. (moonofshanghai.com)
  • Clearly, the same strategy applies to biological warfare, this capability enhanced by the fact that much of US military bio-weapons research, unethical and illegal as it is, remains undisclosed to both the US Congress and to local authorities despite its being exceedingly dangerous. (moonofshanghai.com)
  • But more to the point, the US military has made no secret of its interest in developing biological weapons, and has been doing this for at least 60 or 70 years, with its research increasingly focusing on race-specific weapons. (moonofshanghai.com)
  • In all of this, we have the not-so-secret military biological laboratories in the US and elsewhere, and considerable evidence that the US has been the main employer of such weapons in the past. (moonofshanghai.com)
  • During World War II, the Japanese operated a secret biological warfare research facility in Manchuria and carried out human experiments on Chinese prisoners. (medscape.com)
  • The picture is confusing because the US has various methods of disguising both military bases and biological laboratories, with some installations kept secret from even the US Congress, and thus subject to neither questions nor oversight. (moonofshanghai.com)
  • This was repeated in 1422 during the Hussite wars in Bohemia at the seige of Karlstejn (now in the Czech Republic) when invading forces hurled plague-striken corpses, dead cows, and 2000 cartloads of excrement at enemy troops. (medscape.com)
  • The potential spectrum of bioterrorism ranges from hoaxes and actual use of agents by individuals or groups against others, to state-sponsored terrorism that employs biological warfare (BW) agents and delivery systems that can produce mass casualties. (medscape.com)
  • This was the first multilateral agreement that extended prohibition of chemical agents to biological agents. (medscape.com)
  • These reports have established that a preponderance of the evidence supports the fact the U.S. did engage in biological warfare during the Korean War. (medium.com)
  • Biological warfare became more sophisticated against both animals and humans during the 20th century. (medscape.com)
  • The biological weapons Ishii sought to develop had humans as their target, and Unit 731 was established with this goal in mind. (apjjf.org)
  • The most common clinical presentation of plague in humans is bubonic plague ( 2 , 3 ). (cdc.gov)
  • In the 14th century AD, during the siege of Kaffa (now Feodosia, Ukraine) the attacking Mongol force hurled the corpses of those who died of plague into the city to attempt to inflict a plague epidemic upon the enemy. (medscape.com)
  • Drawing on Japanese military records, this study documents the deaths of 850 victims in the years up to 1943, the largest number infected with plague, cholera, and epidemic hemorrhagic fever. (apjjf.org)
  • This was repeated in 1422 during the Hussite wars in Bohemia at the seige of Karlstejn (now in the Czech Republic) when invading forces hurled plague-striken corpses, dead cows, and 2000 cartloads of excrement at enemy troops. (medscape.com)
  • Biological weapons include any organism or toxin found in nature that can be used to incapacitate, kill, or otherwise impede an adversary. (medscape.com)
  • Primary clinical presentations of plague include bubonic, pneumonic, septicemic (fever and sepsis without localizing signs), meningeal, and pharyngeal (pharyngitis with or without cervical lymphadenopathy) ( 2 ). (cdc.gov)
  • They also developed a plague biological weapon by breeding fleas fed on plague-infected rats, and releasing millions of fleas in aerial attacks on Chinese cities. (medscape.com)
  • Unit 731 not only conducted tests but also led the way in waging biological warfare on numerous occasions throughout the war, the best documented being attacks on Ningbo and throughout Zhejiang province. (apjjf.org)
  • During World War II, the Japanese operated a secret biological warfare research facility in Manchuria and carried out human experiments on Chinese prisoners. (medscape.com)
  • The experiments tested, among other things, the lethality of biological weapons and sought to determine the ability of the human body to survive in the face of various pathogens and in conditions such as extreme cold. (apjjf.org)
  • To develop a comprehensive set of updated guidelines, CDC conducted a series of systematic literature reviews on human treatment of plague and other relevant topics to collect a broad evidence base for the recommendations in this report. (cdc.gov)
  • CDC considered individual expert input while developing these guidelines, which provide recommended best practices for treatment and prophylaxis of human plague for both naturally occurring disease and following a bioterrorism attack. (cdc.gov)
  • the bacterium that causes plague, leads to naturally occurring disease in the United States and other regions worldwide and is recognized as a potential bioterrorism weapon. (cdc.gov)
  • This was the first multilateral agreement that extended prohibition of chemical agents to biological agents. (medscape.com)