Army Chemical Review presents professional information about Chemical Corps functions related to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, smoke, flame, and civil support operations.
Issue link: https://chemical.epubxp.com/i/141522
By Ralph F. Kerr, Ph.D. T he interest in Africa's possible role in bioterrorism has resulted in the expansion of U.S. government efforts to help improve biosafety, biosecurity, and biosurveillance capacities on the continent. In November 2010, Senator Richard Lugar and a group of Department of Defense (DOD) offcials visited the Republics of Kenya and Uganda to observe research laboratories and "to highlight the regional bioterrorism threat."1 Mr. Andrew Weber, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs, described the situation as a "nexus between active terrorist groups, ungoverned spaces, and human and animal health laboratories working on endemic diseases, some of which are rare and exotic."2 He went on to explain, "We want to make sure that the pathogens that could be used by terrorists are better secured and that there's an enhanced capability to monitor infectious disease outbreaks."3 This article explains why U.S. government offcials are concerned about the potential biothreat emerging from Africa, provides a historical perspective of biothreat-related events on the continent, and describes efforts that are underway to improve biodefense capabilities there. The African Biothreat Concern Senior government offcials are concerned that terrorists may gain control of some of the world's deadliest diseases (anthrax, Ebola, Marburg, plague, Rift Valley fever) due to lax security at a number of the laboratories where samples of disease-causing bacteria and viruses are studied and stored.4 Two examples of deadly diseases—anthrax (caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis) and Ebola (hemorrhagic fever virus [HFV])—illustrate why these disease-causing agents are of so much concern. Anthrax is a natural pathogen that commonly affects hoofed, grazing animals such as cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, and goats. It has long been associated with tanners and the wool-processing industry. About 300 hippopotamuses were killed in an anthrax outbreak in Queen Elizabeth Park, Uganda, in 2004; the deaths of four people were attributed to contaminated meat from that outbreak.5, 6 During that same year in Zimbabwe, about 1,500 animals and at least three people died from anthrax when the disease was passed from livestock to humans.7 However, anthrax is very rare in developed countries so any outbreak would be highly suspect for terrorism.8 Anthrax is the most studied of all biological warfare agents.9 Numerous countries have investigated its potential use as a biological weapon; it was the centerpiece of the biological warfare programs for the United States and the former Soviet Union.10 And the possible use of anthrax by terrorists is of major concern to government offcials, public leaders, and health care providers—especially in light of the 52 2001 Amerithrax mail attacks,11, 12 which resulted in 22 cases of anthrax and led to fve deaths.13, 14 These anthrax letter attacks produced public fear and caused signifcant economic loss due to cleanup costs.15 Senator Lugar's offce was located in the Hart Senate Offce Building, just two foors below the area where one of the anthrax-laced letters was opened in 2001. The incident, which resulted in a 3-month shutdown of the building,16 may partially explain Senator Lugar's commitment to the expansion of biosafety, biosecurity, and biosurveillance efforts in Africa through the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Act.17 Ebola—named after the river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Africa, where the disease was frst recognized—is a severe, often fatal disease that affects humans and other primates (monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees). The disease was initially acknowledged in 1976 and has appeared sporadically ever since. The exact origin, locations, and natural habitat of Ebola remain a mystery; but based on available evidence and the nature of similar viruses, researchers believe that it is zoonotic (animal-borne), with four of the fve subtypes occurring in hosts that are native to Africa. A ffth subtype (Ebola-Reston) was isolated from infected monkeys that were imported to the United States from the Philippines.18, 19 Since it was frst recognized in 1976, 2,288 human cases of Ebola have been reported and 1,532 deaths have occurred (resulting in an overall death rate of 67 percent).20 During the past decade, nine separate outbreaks of Ebola have occurred in Africa, resulting in a total of 745 human cases and 506 deaths (an overall death rate of 68 percent).21 Cases of Ebola have been confrmed in several African countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Sudan, the Ivory Coast, Uganda, and the Republic of the Congo. Ebola may be the primary biothreat in Africa; its effects on humans are gruesome: Within days of infection, Ebola patients suffer from soaring temperature and excruciating pain. The throat is so sore that swallowing anything, including one's own saliva, is intolerable. The connective tissue liquefes. The skin becomes like soft bread—it can be spread apart with one's fngers, and blood oozes out. Victims choke as the sloughed-off surfaces of their tongues and throats slide into their windpipes. Every body orifce bleeds. Even the eyeballs fll with blood that leaks down the cheeks. ... In the fnal stages, victims become convulsive, splashing blood all around as they twitch, shake, and thrash to their deaths. ... For Ebola, there is no cure, no treatment.22 Ebola is just one of several HFVs that are considered signifcant threats for use as biological weapons, due to their Army Chemical Review