Historical Uses of Biological Agents as Weapons

Using biological agents to infect an enemy or other target is not a new concept. It is thought that Assyrians in the sixth century BC poisoned enemy wells with rye ergot—causing hallucinations, severe gastrointestinal problems, a burning sensation in limbs and extremities (Saint Anthony's Fire), and a variant of gangrene. ¹ Reports indicate that, in the Middle Ages, Tartar armies in what is now Ukraine hurled plague-infected corpses into a city under siege (Kaffa, now Feodosia) to create pervasive and devastating illness and death. ² The victims of this attack ended up carrying the plague back to Italy from where it spread throughout Europe as the "Black Death" and killed almost one-third of the medieval European population. ³ The plague in Europe also provided a convenient mechanism for blaming a country's enemies for increasing health problems. In fourteenth century Europe, for example, some Christian religious leaders alleged that Jews were causing plague by poisoning wells. These allegations sparked violent pogroms against Jewish communities. ⁴

There are several instances in history of smallpox being used as a biological weapon. It is believed that in the fifteenth century, the Spanish explorer Pizarro gave smallpox-contaminated articles of clothing to natives in South America. ⁵ Two centuries later, in North America, the British armies during the French and Indian War gave smallpox-infested blankets to Native Americans, decimating the tribes; some have argued that this aided the successful British attack on Fort Carillon. ⁶

The 20^th century's first use of bioweapons occurred during World War I when German undercover agents are reported to have used glanders ⁷ to infect livestock being transported to France. ⁸ Beginning in the 1930's, Japan experimented with biological agents on more than 10,000 prisoners of war and others in China—and used anthrax, cholera, and plague in attacks on a dozen Chinese cities. Some reports have suggested that the Soviet Union attempted to use tularemia against the German forces during the battle of Stalingrad. ⁹

Work in the United States on a biological weapons program began in 1943, investigating the use of anthrax, plague, tularemia, Q fever, botulinum toxin, brucellosis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, and other pathogens. All research on the use of biological agents for offensive purposes, however, was discontinued in 1969. In 1972, the U.S.—along with more than 100 other nations—signed the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC), a treaty banning an entire class of weapons. The treaty prohibits stockpiling or possession of biological agents except for those used in defensive research.

Although the former Soviet Union had signed the BWC, their research and development of biological weapons continued into the 1990's. In 1979, a biological weapons plant in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) in the former Soviet Union accidentally released airborne anthrax spores; in 1992, Russia acknowledged that the release and human and animal deaths were indeed related to military microbiology research. ¹⁰

In a famous incident in London in 1978, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was stabbed with a weapon disguised as an umbrella which injected ricin toxin into his leg as he waited for a bus. He died after several days. The assassination, it was later revealed, had been carried out by the Bulgarian secret service. ¹¹ In Japan, Aum Shinrikyo, the apocalyptic religious sect responsible for the sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway system in 1995, was also pursuing biological weapons. They had previously attempted to disperse botulinum toxin and anthrax in Tokyo's city center.

The U.S. in the 20^th century has not been immune to deadly attacks using biological agents. In 1984, followers of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh used salmonella to contaminate salad bars in Oregon in an attempt to influence the outcome of a local election. No one died, although 750 people became ill. ¹² The attack was not seen as intentional for more than a year. ¹³ Most recently, the anthrax attacks in 2001 killed five, sickened...