Biodefense

With the increasing concern about possible biological warfare attacks in recent years, many governments have been involved in developing “biodefense” techniques to protect military combatants and civilians from biological attacks. Biological warfare has been practiced since ancient times, when people sometimes poisoned the water supplies of their rivals. There were also cases when the bodies of people who had died of the plague were catapulted into besieged cities, and on some occasions, attempts were made to infect letters by bringing them into contact with the body of a plague victim in the hope that the disease might then be transmitted to the political leaders they were sent to. Although both of these techniques provoked fear, neither could be successful unless the diseased fleas that carried the plague were also transmitted. Later, biological warfare involved attacks on water supplies and food supplies of particular countries or city states, and there have been attempts to spread disease to the domesticated animals of enemy countries.

The term biodefense includes attempts by a government or organization to prevent such attacks, but it may also include prevention of the spread of disease of plants and domesticated animals through use of quarantine laws. Some countries, especially island nations, have introduced strict laws, with the British Isles having tough quarantine restrictions on the importing of animals, including pets such as dogs that may suffer from rabies. Australia and [Page 229]New Zealand continue to maintain strict quarantine regulations banning the import of all animals, plants, and plant materials except under very stringent conditions.

However, the media's focus on biodefense is largely concerned with the possibility of a biohazard terrorist attack, often known by the term bioterrorism. Whereas soldiers on the battlefield often have methods of protection against both chemical and biological warfare, the civilian population is generally regarded as unprotected. Although some news organizations have engendered fear in the public about possible widespread biological terrorism, the use of biological weapons has always been extremely hazardous. A small attack with anthrax occurred in the United States in the early 2000s, but there has also been the fear of the spreading of diseases such as smallpox, the plague, and others. The result has been that some governments have stockpiled vaccines to deal with these diseases. In Australia in recent years, these vaccines have been useful in dealing with small outbreaks of anthrax that occurred along some old stock routes, and also equine encephalitis, although the number of people affected has been small, and none of these incidents were bioterrorism.

Mention should also be made of diseases that have been deliberately spread by governments, such as myxomatosis, which existed naturally in some parts of South America, being first observed in Uruguay in the early 1900s, and was introduced in western Europe and Australia in 1950 to control the rabbit population. It was very effective, but gradually some rabbits managed to build up natural defenses and it is now ineffective. In 1996 the calicivirus, also known as the rabbit hemorrhagic disease, was also developed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia for the same purposes.

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