[1][3], 1993 the Aum Shinrikyo cult released anthrax spores from the roof of an eight-story building in downtown Tokyo. [1][2][3] Over 100 nations signed the treaty, including the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Iraq. [4], Outside of the initial threat to individuals there are the costs of economic disruption, decontamination and treatment from such an event. Rapid detection in the atmosphere is not yet technologically effective. [1][12], Programs were expanded during the Korean war in order to protect troops against biological agents, where a program was added for the development of vaccines and other treatments. [12], Anthrax spores are not only able to be used as a weapon to directly infect humans.

[3], The passive dispersal of anthrax spores aerially has occurred from rooftops (Aum Shinrikyo.
[4] Vaccination of military personal and first responders is vital to sustain a post attack response. [12][10] In the case of Gruinard island testing N-bomb cluster munition containing anthrax spores contaminated the island from 1942 until a decontamination effort in 1986. [4][7] The cost to decontaminate the Hart Senate Office Building after the 2001 anthrax attacks cost approximately 23 million dollars, with approximately 2 grams of anthrax spores present. [4] The economic costs of the 2001 anthrax attacks resulted in over 100 million dollars being spent to decontaminate postal plants. [13], As a response to the biological and chemical atrocities of the First World War, the Geneva protocol was created. [4], A mathematical model of a simulated large-scale airborne anthrax attack in a large city (1 kg anthrax spores in a city of 10 million people) was created, which takes into account the dispersion of spores, the age-dependent dose-response, the dynamics of disease progression and the timing and organization of medical intervention. However, it has since been used in bioterrorism. [4] The symptoms present as a common cold or flu, and may take weeks before appearing.

[3]), from aircraft (Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night[1][9]) or potentially, as suggested in 2002, by United States' President George W. Bush, "a small container and one terrorist"[4], An intercontinental ballistic missile warhead containing anthrax may be able to effectively disperse anthrax spores. [1][3] 43 people tested positive to anthrax exposure and 22 cases of anthrax illness were diagnosed, where 11 were inhalation anthrax and 11 were cutaneous anthrax. [1] More interest in Gruinard Island came in the early 1980s when a survey discovered that there was still anthrax contamination in the environment, showing the long term effects of anthrax use as a biological weapon.

As a biological weapon, anthrax has been used in biowarfare and bioterrorism since 1914. The system put in place on 22 January 2003 to assist in detecting an airborne anthrax attack by the United States is the U.S. Bio-watch Surveillance Network, which is able to detect airborne anthrax within 24–48 hours, however with some false positives and false negatives, leading to severe lag in detection and critical time lost for prevention and treatment. [1] 96 cases of anthrax infection were reported where 79 were gastrointestinal anthrax and 17 were cutaneous, of these cases 64 out of the 96 infected people died in a period of weeks.
[1] This led to the destruction of the biological weapons arsenal and the termination of research and production of biological weapons. The Germans used it to contaminate animal feed and livestock but, unlike chemical gases, it was not employed directly against enemy troops. [18] However this treaty did not prohibit the production or the research of biological agents, and inevitably amendments were made to allow the use of biological weapons in retaliation. [4][5] Likely delivery methods of weaponized anthrax include aerial dispersal or dispersal through livestock, notable bioterrorism uses include the 2001 anthrax attacks and an incident in 1993 by the Aum Shinrikyo group in Japan. However, in 1975 the Biological Weapons Convention prohibited the "development, production and stockpiling" of biological weapons. [4] They are able to reach deep into the lungs when inhaled, once the spores are in the lungs they are then able to replicate in blood, travel to the lymph nodes, and produce toxins which lead to death. [3], Concentrated anthrax spores, and not necessarily the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, pose the biggest risk as a biological weapon to humans. Powdered anthrax spores were sent via letters in U.S. mail. [4] The results of this model with the most efficient medical response resulted in more than 100,000 deaths, which increases by a factor of 7 with slower antibiotic distribution. The inhalation form presents with fever, chest pain, and shortness of breath.

[12][19] 80 sheep were placed on the island prior to the dispersal of aerosol anthrax; all of them died. By Nick Caistor, BBC News Online . Senators' offices and several media agencies containing a powdered form of anthrax. [1], An executive order by United States president Richard Nixon in 1969 terminated the United States' biological weapons program. [1][12], In 1942 and 1943 n-bomb cluster munition, containing anthrax spores were detonated over Gruinard Island, as a joint research program between the United States, Canada and Great Britain. They are also able to target livestock, which may lead to transmission of anthrax between both animals and humans. [4], Detection of airborne anthrax requires 24–48 hours.

Experimentation of these bombs occurred in Mississippi, Utah and Gruinard Island. [4][8], Vaccination to anthrax is available, requiring 6 shots over an 18-month period and annual booster shots for full immunity. [1][3], During the first World War, evidence suggests that the German army used anthrax to infect the livestock of Allied Nations,[1] resulting in the death of many livestock intended for trade between allied forces. [1] However, in 1975 the Biological Weapons Convention prohibited the "development, production and stockpiling"[2] of biological weapons. [3][4] The complete vaccination of an entire population can be achieved over a period of years, resulting in the reduction of risk from anthrax comparable to the reduction of risk of nuclear weapons by anti-ballistic missile systems. In 2001, powdered anthrax spores were deliberately put into letters that were mailed through the U.S. postal system. In addition to being widely available—located around the world in soil and in diseased animals and their remains—B. [1], In April and May 1979 in the city of Sverdlovsk (population of 1.2 million[3]), an anthrax outbreak was reported. [13] This epidemic is responsible for 10 738 cattle and 200 human fatalities.

[1][9], As a response to possible attacks from Germany; the United States, Great Britain and Canada started biological weapons programs. Using anthrax as a weapon. The skin form presents with a small blister with surrounding swelling that often turns into a painless ulcer with a black center. [1][2] This treaty was created based on proposals by Great Britain and the Warsaw Pact nations, where it was ratified in April 1972 and went into force in 1975. Anthrax became widely known in 2001 when it was used as a biological weapon. [1][12] In 1986 Great Britain decontaminated the island with a mixture of formaldehyde and seawater, and was passed as safe by a group of scientists led by the secretary of the Agricultural and Food research Council in 1988 after 40 sheep were raised on the island for several months without symptoms of anthrax infection. [13] This method may use another mechanism to infect livestock, where inevitably the livestock become a mechanism to disperse anthrax themselves and also result in the loss of the livestock. [3], After the attacks of September 11 on the United States, letters were delivered to two U.S. [1][3], Anthrax spores can cause infection from inhalation, skin contact, ingestion or injection and when untreated can lead to death.

[4], Once exposure occurs and before the fulminant stage, antibiotic treatment of ciprofloxacin 400 mg or doxycycline 100 mg intravenously twice daily as well as two other antibiotics (clindamycin, vancomycin, imipenem, meropenem, choramphenicol, penicillin, rifampin, clarythromycin) and close clinical observation for a 60-100 day period is recommended.

Twenty-two people, including 12 mail handlers, got anthrax, and five of these 22 people died. [4] When airborne, anthrax spores are not easily detectable, and are several microns in diameter.

[13][14] However, it can also be achieved with direct feeding, such as the "cattle cakes" containing anthrax spores, which were kept on hand by the Royal Air Force for aerial dispersal during the second World War. Anthrax weaponization is the development and deployment of the bacteria Bacillus anthracis or, more commonly, its spore (referred to as Anthrax), as a biological weapon. From this group of people five died. The process of delivering these letters led to the postal facilities and buildings that they passed through being contaminated. [10] The concerns of reentry temperatures and pressure of the anthrax filled warhead are able to be overcome by insulation of the payload. The intestinal form presents with diarrhea which may contain blood, abdominal pains, nausea, a…

North Korea is believed to be conducting tests on anthrax filled warheads which may be deployed on Hwasong-15 missiles, which could be used to contaminate areas, such as military bases, in a time of war for periods of months. Anthrax weaponization is the development and deployment of the bacteria Bacillus anthracis or, more commonly, its spore (referred to as Anthrax), as a biological weapon.

[1], In 1932 Japan tested anthrax as a weapon by infecting prisoners held in Manchuria as a part of Japan's biological weapons program "Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night". [15][16] This was to be used in retaliation to any biological warfare by Germany. Symptom onset occurs between one day to over two months after the infection is contracted. However, it has since been used in bioterrorism. [15][16], The largest anthrax epidemic in the last 200 years occurred in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the 1980s, where there may be evidence of deliberate anthrax releases by Rhodesian and South African forces, and is the progenitor of South Africa's biological weapons program (Project Coast[17]). [3], In 1995 UNSCOM inspectors discovered that Iraq had a biological weapons program, despite an agreement ending the Gulf War in 1991, that all programs involving weapons of mass destruction are accounted for and ended.