By Bara Vaida
Though developing a bioweapon is a violation of the 1972 U.N. Convention prohibiting the development, production and stockpiling of infectious diseases, national security experts continue to worry that a terrorist or a rogue country could develop and unleash a bioweapon, that could kill or damage people, animals or the food supply.
Most recently, national security officials have expressed concern that North Korea is working on developing a biological weapon and has assembled a team of scientists that may be able to turn a cache of pathogens that could cause smallpox or spread anthrax, the Washington Post reported.
They also worry that countries like North Korea, or other terrorist organizations now can get the recipe for how to build these bioweapons from the Internet. For example, researchers in Canada published a paper in early 2018 in an open scientific journal that described how they manipulated DNA to create a horsepox virus, in an effort to develop a safer smallpox vaccine. Critics fear however, that someone with malevolent intent with the right laboratory skills and computer technology could Google the information and use it to develop a smallpox virus.
In November 2017, a senior White House official told a nonprofit security group, the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, that bioterrorism is of utmost concern and the Trump administration would be releasing a biodefense strategy by the end of 2017 or early in 2018. As of February 2018, a strategy had yet to be released.
Here are resources for reporters who want to get up to speed on bioterrorism.
Further reading:
- Experiment Risks Giving Terrorist the Recipe for Smallpox – And Sends Warning (February 2018)
- Super Bowl Antiterrorism Documents Left On Plane (Feb. 2018)
- A Paper Showing How To Make A Smallpox Cousin Just Got Published: Critics Wonder Why? (January 2017)
- NIH Lifts Ban on Pathogen Research (January 2017)
- Microbes By the Ton: Officials See Weapons Threat As North Korea Gains Biotech Expertise (December 2017)
- North Korea Says ‘It Will Take Revenge’ For US Saying It Is Developing Biological Weapons (December 2017)
- Anthrax Antibodies in North Korea Defector Raise Fears North Korea Is Developing Chemical Weapons (December 2017)
- Pandemic Threat: Is The World Ready for Another Outbreak? (June 2017)
- Bill Gates: Bioterrorism could kill more than nuclear war — but no one is ready to deal with it (Feb. 2017) Microsoft co-Founder Bill Gates warned world leaders in February to prepare for bioterror attacks, which he said are easier to execute than nuclear attacks.
- How Ready Are We For Bioterrorism? (October 2011)
Reports, books, journals, news feeds:
- Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs (March 2017)
- GAO: Federal Efforts To Develop Biological Threat Awareness (October 2017)
- Biodefense Indicators: One Year Later, Events Outpacing Federal Efforts to Defend the National (December 2017)
- White House National Security Strategy (December 2017) Includes one page on bioterrorism
- Journal of Bioterrorism & Defense (Current) Open Source journal
- Global Biodefense (Current) A compilation of top global biosecurity stories
Experts:
- Association of Health Care Journalists expert resource links, including bioterrorism experts
Webcast:
- Blue Ribbon Study Panel: National Biodefense Strategy Implementation and Implications (November 2017) Tim Ziemer, White House Senior Director for Health Security and Biothreats Talks about Trump administration national strategy for preventing bioterrorism
