Bio-Terrorism and Bio-Defence

The use of biological weapons in warfare is as old as history itself. Several countries have used them in the last century. What is new at this juncture, especially after 9/11, is fears that biological weapons might be used to cause mass disruption, if not mass destruction, and against very difficulty defensible targets like agricultural crops and livestock. Epidemiologists are also aware that new diseases are constantly appearing due to changes in either the ecology or human behaviour, compounding the problems of their prevention and cure. They could also be artificially manufactured by state and non-state actors, which is becoming progressively easier due to the rapid advances being made in bio-technology like gene manipulation. Terrorist groups are known to be interested in developing and using biological weapons. Several countries are also known to be currently researching into these weapons. Regrettably, international efforts to develop a regime to verify the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention have failed, and the present attempts to establish and alternate system simply lack credibility. The technological, legal and political challenges to stopping the proliferation of biological weapons are, however, intricate and immense. This volume seeks to address these issues of bio-terrorism and bio-defence. They are grouped under three major heads relating to national and international efforts to combat biological weapons, bio-terrorism and bio-defence. A fourth section deals with investigations into SARS and bird flue, a chronology of important cases relating to the use of these weapons, and a bibliography of the important literature on the subject.