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Plague |
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Yersinia pestis used in an aerosol attack could cause cases of pneumonic plague.
One to six days after becoming infected with the bacteria, people would develop pneumonic plague. Once people have the disease,
the bacteria can spread to others who have close contact with them. Because of the delay between being exposed to the bacteria
and becoming sick, people could travel over a large area before becoming ill and possibly infecting others. Controlling the disease
would then be more difficult. A bioweapon carrying Y. pestis is possible because the bacterium is available and
could be isolated and grown in quantity in a laboratory. Even so, manufacturing an effective weapon using Y. pestis
would require advanced knowledge and technology.
Plague has been identified by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as a "Category A" agent, meaning it has been given high priority
due to its potential threat to national security. The following references provide information on the use of plague as a bioweapon
and associated issues to be considered during a plague outbreak.
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Plague Information.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Contains extensive information
regarding plague as a bioweapon, including fact sheets, overviews, FAQs, diagnosis
and evaluation, infection control, laboratory testing, surveillance and investigation,
selected publications, and education and training materials.
- Plague as a Biological Weapon: Medical and Public Health Management. Inglesby, T.;
Dennis, D.; and Henderson, D. et al. The Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA) Consensus Statement Vol. 283, No. 17 (2000, May 03).
Considers the prospect of an aerosol release of Y. pestis bacteria, and provides
information on epidemiology, infection signs and symptoms, diagnosis and
monitoring, vaccination, medical treatment, infection control, environmental
decontamination, and more.
- Textbook of Military Medicine: Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare - Chapter 23: Plague.
McGovern, T.W. and Friedlander, A.M. Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army (1997), 266 KB
PDF, 24 pages. Provides a thorough review of plague, including
its history and epidemiology, as well as biological warfare and clinical issues.
- USAMRIID's Medical Management of Biological Casualties Handbook, Fifth Edition. U.S. Army Medical
Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) (2004,
August). Provides links to PDF documents
that contain information from this publication, known as the "Bluebook", and
recommendations regarding medical response to a biological warfare attack on a
civilian or military population. Specific information on a number of
potential bioterrorist agents is supplied, including plague.
- Yersinia Pestis (Plague): Bioterrorism Information and References.
Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Includes a comprehensive clinical manual
on plague, as well as other documents and resources.
- BW Agents: Plague. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Center
for Biosecurity (2004). Provides links to fact sheets, FAQs, and other references.
- Plague. Saint Louis University School of Public Health, Institute for
Bio-Security. Provides links to quick reference material, education and training resources, news
and journal articles, and other documents on plague.
- Plague and Bioterrorism. Michigan Department of Community Health,
Bureau of Epidemiology, Division of Communicable Disease and Immunization, 115 KB
PDF, 2 pages. Covers key facts related to plague and bioterrorism,
including disease facts, risk, and treatment.
- Lessons Learned from a Full-Scale Bioterrorism Exercise.
Hoffman, R.E. and Norton, J.E. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), Emerging Infectious Diseases Vol. 6, No. 6 (2000,
November-December). Describes a simulated bioterrorist
attack during the Topoff exercise in 2000. Participants were told that a Yersinia
pestis aerosol had been covertly released, leading to more than 2,000 cases of
pneumonic plague, many deaths, and hundreds of secondary cases resulting in
pneumonic plague.
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