Hidden threat: the use of bacteriological weapons.
Hidden threat: the use of bacteriological weapons
What is this type of weapon, and what is its danger?
Bacteriological biological weapons
Bacterial organisms, namely: bacteria, viruses, rickettsia, fungi and toxic products of their vital activity, used for military purposes with the help of live infected carriers of diseases (insects, rodents, ticks, etc.) or in the form of suspensions and powders — this is what operates on.bacterial biological weapons. The spread of the pathogen can be absolutely any way: from animals to plants. In any case, this is a dangerous threat to humans. Bacterial agents can be used with the help of special missiles, artillery shells, air bombs and other ammunition. Bacterial biological weaponshas high combat effectiveness, allowing to affect large areas with a small expenditure of forces and resources. It causes damage to the body, getting even in negligible quantities. Infectious diseases caused by the use of some types of their pathogens, under certain conditions, can spread from one source of infection to another, causing an epidemic. The damaging effect manifests itself after a certain time. By timely determining the type of pathogen, it is possible to reduce the consequences of using this type of weapon to a minimum, however, even under favorable circumstances, traces remain in the form of complications.
Use of bacteriological weapons
According to Article 23 of the Appendix to the 4th Hague Convention of 1907 and according to the Geneva Protocol, use of bacteriological weaponsis not allowed. However, not all countries have ratified this official ban. This gives rise to concern for the future of humanity, since the development of technology for the creation of destructive substances is proceeding by leaps and bounds. Even despite the ban, the use of bacteriological biological weapons has already been carried out more than once. You don’t have to go far for examples: the First and Second World Wars. It is also known that after the Second World War, the development of bacteriological weapons, as well as methods and means of their use, received powerful development in the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Israel and some other countries. These countries are planning to use bacteriological weaponsalong with nuclear and chemical weapons. The United States has declared its desire to create low-cost and highly effective means of armed struggle that would allow it to injure a person without destroying material assets. Most likely, these plans have already been put into practice. The constant threat of using bacteriological weapons forces us to take the most serious measures: creating a system of anti-epidemic, sanitary-hygienic and medical measures, familiarizing the population and military personnel with measures to protect against infections, providing the population with specially equipped shelters, protecting food, water, plants and animals. The classification of personal protective equipment also includes some methods of resisting danger, although for a short time. The main method of using bacteriological weapons is to contaminate the ground layer of air. When ammunition explodes or generators are triggered, an aerosol cloud is formed, along the path of which toxic particles contaminate the area.
Damaging factors of bacteriological weapons
Mainly, damaging factors of bacteriological weaponsare the pathogenic properties of pathogenic microorganisms and toxic products of their vital activity. The main threat is the impossibility of detecting damage to the body at the initial stage of infection, since the first period of action is latent. During the latent period of action, the affected person does not notice negative changes and continues to function as before. Unlike a household gas explosion, the leak of which can be felt by yourself or a detector will react to it, the appearance of toxic substances of biological weapons cannot be recorded in any way. The damaging factors of bacteriological weapons make themselves known only after some time with the sudden manifestation of symptoms of the disease. The following are used as bacterial agents to affect people: causative agents of bacterial diseases — plague, tularemia, brucellosis, anthrax, cholera; causative agents of viral diseases — smallpox, yellow fever, Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis; causative agents of rickettsiosis — typhus, spotted fever; pathogens of fungal diseases — coccidioidomycosis, pocardiosis, histoplasmosis. Delivery of bacterial biological agents is carried out in the same ways as for nuclear and chemical weapons: aerial bombs, shells, mines, missiles, aerosol generators and other devices.