Nature's biological weapon

Smallpox as a Biological Weapon Medical and Public Health Management

THIS IS THE SECOND ARTICLE IN a series entitled Medical and Public Health Management Following the Use of a Biological Weapon: Consensus Statements of the Working Group on Civilian Biodefense. The working group has identified a limited number of widely known organisms that could cause disease and deaths in sufficient numbers to cripple a city or region. Smallpox is one of the most serious of th...

The Natures of Nonconfigurationality

Anthrax – a natural disease and a biological weapon

Introduction The bacterium that causes anthrax, Bacillus anthracis, has been with us throughout recorded history. The organism is unique because it is the only aerobic spore forming bacterium that appears to be an obligate parasite. It has been suggested that the organism has a natural cycle of replication within the soil1 but there is no evidence that this occurs consistently, if at all, becau...

Population, development, and human natures

At the dawn of this new millennium, the human enterprise is quickly becoming a globally unified one. Yet numerous obstacles and pitfalls remain in the path of a full and fair unification. A substantial fraction of the world’s population is well-off and increasingly connected through trade and communications systems. But an even larger fraction is struggling to make ends meet and is only sketchi...

Tularemia as a biological weapon: medical and public health management.

OBJECTIVE The Working Group on Civilian Biodefense has developed consensus-based recommendations for measures to be taken by medical and public health professionals if tularemia is used as a biological weapon against a civilian population. PARTICIPANTS The working group included 25 representatives from academic medical centers, civilian and military governmental agencies, and other public hea...