Transmissible method of using bacteriological weapons. Bacteriological weapons and their types. Types and properties of the main bacteriological agents

Bacteriological weapons are a means mass destruction people, farm animals and plants. Its action is based on the use of the pathogenic properties of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, rickettsia, fungi, as well as toxins produced by some bacteria). Bacteriological weapons include formulations of disease-causing organisms.

Bacteriological weapons are capable of causing mass diseases of people and animals over vast territories, they have a damaging effect for a long time, and have a long latent (incubation) period of action.

Microbes and toxins are difficult to detect in the external environment, they can penetrate with the air into unsealed shelters and rooms and infect people and animals in them.

Signs of the use of bacteriological weapons are:

1) deaf, unusual for conventional ammunition, the sound of exploding shells and bombs;

2) the presence of large fragments and separate parts of ammunition in places of ruptures;

3) the appearance of drops of liquid or powdery substances on the ground;

4) an unusual accumulation of insects and mites in places where ammunition bursts and containers fall;

5) mass diseases of people and animals.

The use of bacterial agents can be determined using laboratory tests.

Ways to use bacterial agents

As a rule, methods of using bacteriological weapons are:

aircraft bombs

Artillery mines and shells

Packages (bags, boxes, containers) dropped from aircraft

Special devices that disperse insects from aircraft.

diversionary methods.

In some cases, to spread infectious diseases

the enemy can leave contaminated household items during the withdrawal: clothes, food, cigarettes, etc. The disease in this case can occur as a result of direct contact with contaminated objects.

It is also possible that such a form of spread of pathogens as

deliberate abandonment of infectious patients during the withdrawal so that they become a source of infection among the troops and the population.

When munitions filled with a bacterial formulation burst,

a bacterial cloud is formed, consisting of tiny droplets of liquid or solid particles suspended in the air. Cloud spreading across

wind, disperses and settles on the ground, forming an infected area, the area of ​​which depends on the amount of the formulation, its properties and speed

Features of damage by bacterial agents

When affected by bacterial agents, the disease does not occur

immediately, there is almost always a latent (incubation) period, during

which the disease does not manifest itself outward signs, and the affected person does not lose combat capability. Some diseases (plague, smallpox, cholera) can be transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person and, spreading rapidly, cause epidemics.

It is quite difficult to establish the fact of the use of bacterial agents and determine the type of pathogen, since neither microbes nor toxins have any color, smell or taste, and the effect of their action can appear after a long period of time. Detection of bacterial agents is possible only through special laboratory studies, which require considerable time, and this makes it difficult to take timely measures to prevent epidemic diseases.

Characteristics of bacterial agents, methods of protection against them.

As bacterial agents, pathogens of various infectious diseases can be used: plague, anthrax, brucellosis, glanders, tularemia, cholera, yellow and other types of fever, spring-summer encephalitis, typhus and typhoid fever, influenza, malaria, dysentery, smallpox and others. In addition, botulinum toxin can be used, which causes severe poisoning of the human body.

To defeat animals, along with pathogens of anthrax and glanders, it is possible to use foot-and-mouth disease viruses, plague cattle and birds, swine cholera, etc.; for the defeat of agricultural plants - pathogens of rust of cereals, late blight, potatoes and some other diseases.

Infection of people and animals occurs as a result of inhalation of contaminated air, contact with microbes and toxins on the mucous membrane and damaged skin, ingestion of contaminated food and water, bites of infected insects and ticks, contact with a contaminated object, injury from fragments of ammunition filled with bacterial agents, and also as a result of direct contact with sick people (animals). A number of diseases are quickly transmitted from sick people to healthy people and cause epidemics (plague, cholera, typhoid, influenza, etc.).

A ) Plague- acute infectious disease. The causative agent is a microbe that does not have a high resistance outside the body; in human sputum, it remains viable for up to 10 days. The incubation period is 1 - 3 days. The disease begins acutely: there is a general weakness, chills, headache, the temperature rises rapidly, consciousness is darkened.

The most dangerous is the so-called pneumonic form of plague. Illness with her

possible by inhalation of air containing the plague pathogen. Signs of the disease: along with severe general condition there is pain in the chest and a cough with a large amount of sputum with plague bacteria; the patient's strength quickly falls, loss of consciousness occurs; death occurs as a result of increasing cardiovascular weakness. The disease lasts from 2 to 4 days.

b) Cholera- an acute infectious disease characterized by a severe course and a tendency to spread rapidly. The causative agent of cholera - vibrio cholerae - is not resistant to the external environment, it remains in water for several months. The incubation period for cholera lasts from several hours to 6 days, on average 1 to 3 days.

The main signs of cholera damage: vomiting, diarrhea; convulsions; emetic

masses and feces of a cholera patient take the form of rice water. WITH

liquid stools and vomiting, the patient loses a large number of liquid, quickly loses weight, his body temperature drops to 35 degrees. IN severe cases the disease may end in death.

c) Anthrax is an acute disease that mainly affects

farm animals, and from them can be transmitted to humans. The causative agent of anthrax enters the body through the respiratory tract, digestive tract, damaged skin. The disease occurs in 1 - 3 days; it proceeds in three forms: pulmonary, intestinal and skin.

The pulmonary form of anthrax is a kind of inflammation of the lungs: the body temperature rises sharply, a cough appears with

division of bloody sputum, cardiac activity weakens and

Without treatment, death occurs within 2 to 3 days.

Bacteriological weapons are a means of mass destruction of people and other living organisms. Its action is to use bacterial agents. These include various microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc.). Sometimes insects are used to undermine the economic stability of the enemy, which destroy agricultural crops.

Bacteriological weapons are divided into several types depending on the means used.

This means of mass destruction is a special ammunition or projectile, which is based on a biological substance.

The following types of bacteria and viruses are used to infect the population, which lead to mass diseases: plague, cholera, brucellosis, Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis, spotted fever, histoplasmosis, etc.

In order to have an effect on animals, pathogens of foot-and-mouth disease, plague, glanders, anthrax, false rabies, etc. are used.

To destroy vegetation, rust pathogens of cereals, as well as insects, herbicides, defoliants, etc. are used.

All weapons have a hidden duration. That is, from the moment of infection until the onset of symptoms, a sufficiently long period can pass. At this time, the carrier of the virus may not be aware of the danger that it poses to others. This is how the virus spreads and the mass infection of people occurs. The latent period can last from a few hours to two weeks.

Chemical and biological weapons delivered in the same ways that are used in any other type of weapon. It can be aviation bombs, mines, shells and rockets. In addition, this type of weapon is delivered by sabotage.

One of the most popular ways in which bacteriological weapons spread is by contaminating the layer of air closer to the ground. This happens when the projectile explodes. Generators are triggered, which contribute to the formation of an aerosol cloud. As this cloud moves, infection of living organisms occurs.

Another method of spread is through the use of infected animals (mainly rodents, ticks and insects).

The use of bacteriological weapons can be recognized by the following signs.

1. When a projectile breaks, a cloud of smoke or fog is formed above the ground. The sound when the weapon is triggered is less harsh.

2. If a streak of smoke appears for a short time behind an enemy aircraft, this indicates that a bacteriological weapon was used.

3. Small drops of liquid or deposits form on the ground, vegetation and objects at the places of projectile explosions.

4. Shell fragments have unusual details in the form of pistons that allow you to create an aerosol effect.

5. Unusual large cluster for local insects, rodents or mites.

In order to prevent the use of biological weapons and promptly eliminate their consequences, it is necessary to take a number of measures. This is, first of all, the implementation of reconnaissance operations in order to identify the enemy's intentions to use this type of weapon. This is followed by constant monitoring of the state of air, water and the area as a whole and identifying signs of infection. Monitoring the well-being of people and taking preventive measures. Timely detection of the extent of infection and the use of means for protection.

Bacteriological weapons and their use are under the control of the entire world community. Some countries have signed an agreement on its non-use.

Biological (bacteriological) weapons is a means of mass destruction of people, animals and plants. Its action is based on the use of the pathogenic properties of microorganisms (bacteria, rickettsia, fungi, as well as toxins produced by some bacteria). Biological weapons include formulations of pathogens and means of delivering them to the target (missiles, aerial bombs and containers, aerosol dispensers, artillery shells, etc.).

The damaging factor of biological weapons is the pathogenic effect, i.e. their ability to cause disease in humans, animals and plants (pathogenicity). The quantitative characteristic (parameter) of pathogenicity is virulence (degree of pathogenicity).

Features of biological weapons

Biological weapons have a number of specific features, the most important of which are:

• epidemic - the possibility of mass destruction of people in vast areas in a short time;
• high toxicity, far exceeding toxicity (1 cm 3 suspension of the psittacosis virus contains 2x10 10 doses that infect humans);
• contagiousness - the ability to be transmitted through contact with a person, animal, objects, etc.;
• incubation period, reaching several days;
• the possibility of preservation of microorganisms, in which their viability in the dried state is maintained for 5-10 years;
• range of propagation - simulators of biological aerosols during tests penetrated at distances of up to 700 km;
• difficulty of indication, reaching several hours;
• strong psychological impact(panic, fear, etc.).

As biological means the enemy can use pathogens of various infectious diseases: plague, anthrax, brucellosis, glanders, tularemia, cholera, yellow and other types of fever, spring-summer encephalitis, typhus and typhoid fever, influenza, malaria, dysentery, smallpox, etc. In addition , botulinum toxin can be used, causing severe poisoning of the human body. For the defeat of animals, along with the pathogens of anthrax and glanders, it is possible to use foot-and-mouth disease viruses, plague of cattle and birds, swine cholera, etc.; for the defeat of agricultural plants - pathogens of rust of cereals, late blight of potatoes and other diseases, as well as various pests of agricultural crops.

Infection of people and animals occurs as a result of inhalation of air, contact with microbes or toxins on the mucous membrane and damaged skin, ingestion of contaminated food and water, insect and tick bites, contact with contaminated objects, injury from fragments of ammunition filled with biological agents, as well as as a result of direct contact with sick people (animals). A number of diseases are quickly transmitted from sick people to healthy people and cause epidemics (plague, cholera, typhoid, influenza, etc.).

The main ways of using biological weapons are aerosol, transmissible (the use of insects, ticks and rodents) and sabotage.

Means of protecting the population from biological weapons

The main means of protecting the population from biological weapons include: vaccine-serum preparations, antibiotics, sulfonamides and other medicinal substances used for special and emergency prevention of infectious diseases, means of individual and collective protection, chemical substances used to neutralize pathogens of infectious diseases.

If signs of the use of biological weapons by the enemy are detected, they immediately put on gas masks (respirators, masks), as well as skin protection and report this to the nearest civil defense headquarters, the director of the institution, the head of the enterprise, organization.

As a result of the use of biological weapons, zones of biological contamination and foci of biological damage. A zone of biological contamination is an area of ​​terrain (water area) or an area of ​​​​airspace infected with pathogens within dangerous limits for the population. The focus of biological damage is the territory within which, as a result of the use of biological agents, mass diseases of people, farm animals and plants have occurred. The size of the focus of biological damage depends on the type of biological agents, the extent and methods of their application.

To prevent the spread of infectious diseases among the population in the lesion, a complex of anti-epidemic and sanitary-hygienic measures is carried out: emergency prevention; observation and quarantine; sanitary treatment of the population; disinfection of various infected objects. If necessary, destroy insects, ticks and rodents (disinfestation, deratation).

Study questions

1. Brief historical background

The causative agents of infectious diseases have been used for military purposes for a very long time. For example, in 1346, an epidemic of plague arose among the Genoese during the siege of the fortress of Kafa (on the site of the present city of Feodosia) by throwing the besiegers of the corpses of people who died from the plague over the ramparts of the fortress.

The idea of ​​using pathogenic microorganisms as a means of defeat arose due to the fact that infectious diseases constantly carried away a lot of human lives, and the epidemics that accompanied wars caused heavy losses among the troops, sometimes prejudging the outcome of battles or even entire campaigns. For example, out of 27 thousand English soldiers who participated in 1741 in the aggressive campaigns in Mexico and Peru. 20 thousand died from yellow fever. From 1733 to 1865, 8 million people died in wars in Europe, of which only 1.5 million were combat losses, and 6.5 million died from infectious diseases.

In our time, it is difficult even to imagine the consequences of the deliberate spread of pathogens of infectious diseases, if the population does not know the measures of control and protection, and clearly and consistently implement them. For this, it is worth recalling examples of epidemic diseases, for example, the tragedy of the year. Then, out of 500 million people who fell ill with influenza, 20 million died, that is, almost 2 times more than were killed during the entire First World War.

In the years preceding the Second World War, the most intensive work in the field of creating bacteriological weapons was carried out by the Japanese. In the occupied territory of Manchuria, they created two large research centers that had experimental sites where biological agents were tested not only on laboratory animals, but also on prisoners of war and the civilian population of China.

Since 1941, work has been actively carried out in the United States on the creation and possible use of biological agents for military purposes, a special military scientific research service has been created, large research laboratories, experimental laboratories in the state of Mississippi, and enterprises for the production of biological agents and their storage in the state of Arkansas have been built. , a test site in Utah and a number of other facilities. Most of the work on the creation of bacteriological weapons was carried out in the strictest secrecy.

The adoption in 1972 of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological Weapons and on Their Destruction was a great victory for the progressive forces of the whole world.

It is necessary to emphasize such a feature of biological weapons as the possibility reverse action. The use of a number of the most virulent pathogens of contagious (contagious) diseases creates the danger of defeating friendly troops and the population. For this reason, for example, the expediency of using the plague agent and some others is questioned. More acceptable are anthrax, yellow fever, tularemia, brucellosis, Q fever and Venezuelan encephalomyelitis. From anthrax and yellow fever, people without treatment usually die within a few weeks. Brucellosis, Q fever, and Venezuelan encephalomyelitis rarely cause lethal outcome however, the diseases they cause last more than 2-3 months.

2. Bacteriological (biological) weapons

Bacteriological (biological) weapons (BW) are weapons of mass destruction and are designed to kill people, farm animals and plants, to contaminate food, fodder and water supplies.

Bacteriological weapons can be used with the help of aircraft, missiles, artillery shells, mines and sabotage in the form of liquid or dry (powder) formulations, aerosols containing pathogens various diseases, as well as by the spread of insects, rodents.

The most likely objects for the use of BW can be: large administrative and industrial centers, railway junctions and stations, sea and river ports, water supply sources; food bases and warehouses, etc.

People can be affected by inhaling contaminated air, by contact with microbes and toxins on the mucous membranes, by eating contaminated food and water, as well as by the bites of infected insects (rodents) and direct contact with sick people.

The main signs of the use of BO are: the trail of a low-flying aircraft, deaf explosions of bombs (shells) with the formation of a cloud, droplets or powdery substance on the soil, the appearance of a significant number of insects or their varieties that have not previously been found in the area, as well as mass disease people or death of animals. With the sabotage use of BW, infection occurs secretly, without obvious external signs. The latent period ranges from several hours to several days and depends on the type of disease.

TO characteristic features BOs include:

The ability to infect people and animals in negligible doses;

The presence of a latent period of the disease;

Long duration to maintain damaging properties;

The ability of many diseases to be transmitted from a sick person to a healthy body;

Difficulty in detecting pathogens of infectious diseases;

Strong psychological impact, etc.

basis damaging effect bacteriological weapons are bacterial agents: pathogenic microbes (bacteria, viruses, rickettsia, fungi) and toxins (poisons) produced by some bacteria.

Bacteria - microorganisms of plant origin, invisible to the naked eye, multiply very quickly by simple division and are capable of causing severe epidemiological diseases. Bacteria are killed by exposure to sunlight, disinfectants and boiling.

Toxins - strong acting poisons produced by bacteria.

As bacterial agents, only those microbes that are resistant to drying, have the ability to infect in minimal doses, quickly cause severe diseases, and are difficult to recognize and, therefore, to treat, can be used.

These include pathogens: plague, anthrax, tularemia, brucellosis, glanders, melisodosis, smallpox, botulinum toxin and other especially dangerous infectious diseases.

When using aerosols, the air becomes infected, forming a bacterial cloud, which, under the influence of wind, can spread over considerable distances, creating vast areas of infection with an area of ​​several hundred square kilometers.

Bacteria-infected terrain and all objects external environment can be dangerous for hours, days or even weeks. Settled aerosols can rise again by ascending air currents and be retained for some time in the surface layers of the atmosphere. Due to their small size, biological aerosols, like coal dust, can easily enter the room through cracks in windows, open vents or loosely closed doors.

Through the respiratory tract, a person can become infected with many infections, even those that are not transmitted through the air during natural spread.

3. Characteristics of infectious diseases

Plague- an acute contagious disease of humans and some animals. The causative agent of plague is the plague microbe (wand). Under natural conditions, this is a disease of wild rodents (ground squirrels, jerboas, rats, etc.), which is spread among animals by fleas. Having drunk the blood of a sick animal, they become contagious. Periodically arising among wild rodents in certain places, the plague persists in these primary natural foci. The transfer of infection to rats and mice, as well as to domestic animals, the release of plague from a natural focus and spread beyond it is dangerous for people.

Human infection occurs through the skin and mucous membranes upon contact with sick animals (when skinning and butchering carcasses) or when bitten by an infected flea. From person to person, the plague is transmitted through the air (with pulmonary disease), through fleas and infected things of the patient. The source of infection can also be the corpses of people who died from the plague. The incubation (hidden) period is 2-6 days. The disease is accompanied by a general sharp intoxication, damage to the cardiovascular and nervous systems. There are bubonic, skin, pneumonic and septic forms of plague. An exceptional danger to others is a person suffering from its pulmonary form. Patients are hospitalized in special medical institutions.

The population in the focus of bacteriological damage must strictly comply with all the requirements of the civil defense medical service. The speed of elimination of the outbreak largely depends on the organization of the population.

Infectious patients are transported, as a rule, in ambulances or in specially adapted vehicles. It is impossible to transport sick people with the wounded, as well as patients with various infectious diseases on the same car. It is forbidden to transport infectious patients on passing vehicles.

When transporting infectious patients, it is necessary to have dishes for collecting the patient's secretions, disinfectants for disinfecting these secretions and hands, as well as medicines for emergency care. Accompanying infectious patients must strictly observe the precautionary measures: put on dressing gowns over the clothes, bandages on the head; cover the nose and mouth with a respirator or cotton-gauze bandage. Having delivered the patient to a medical institution, the accompanying persons undergo a complete sanitization. Disinfect vehicles in the hospital where the sick person was taken.

5.3 Bacteriological weapons

Bacteriological weapons are pathogenic microbes and bacterial poisons (toxins) intended to infect people, animals, plants and contaminate food supplies and water sources, as well as the ammunition with which they are used.

When affected by bacterial agents, the disease does not occur immediately, there is almost always a latent (incubation) period during which the disease does not manifest itself by external signs, and the affected person does not lose combat capability.

It is quite difficult to establish the fact of the use of bacterial agents and determine the type of pathogen, since neither microbes nor toxins have any color, smell or taste, and the effect of their action can appear after a long period of time.

Detection of bacterial agents is possible only through special laboratory studies, which require considerable time, and this complicates the timely implementation of measures to prevent epidemic diseases.

5.3.1 Types of pathogens

Depending on the structure and biological properties, microbes are divided into bacteria, viruses, rickettsia and fungi.

Bacteria are microorganisms of plant origin, mostly unicellular, visible only with a microscope. Under favorable conditions, they multiply very quickly. simple division every 20-30 min. When exposed to sunlight, disinfectants and boiling, bacteria quickly die, but some of them (anthrax, tetanus, botulism), turning into spores, are highly resistant to these factors. Once in conditions favorable for development, spores germinate and turn into a vegetative (active) form of bacteria. Bacteria are not very sensitive to low temperatures and easily tolerate freezing.

Bacteria cause diseases such as plague, cholera, glanders, anthrax, etc.

Viruses are the smallest organisms, thousands of times smaller than bacteria. Unlike bacteria, viruses reproduce only in living tissues. Many of them withstand drying and temperatures above 100°C. Viruses can cause diseases such as smallpox, influenza, etc.

Rickettsia are close in size and shape to some bacteria, but they develop and live only in the tissues of the organs affected by them. They cause typhus.

Fungi, like bacteria, are of plant origin, but are more perfect in structure. The resistance of fungi to the effects of physicochemical factors is much higher than that of bacteria; they tolerate exposure to sunlight and drying well.

Some microbes, for example, microbes of botulism, tetanus, diphtheria, produce highly effective poisons - toxins that cause severe poisoning.

There are microbes that can cause disease in animals. Among such dangerous infectious diseases are foot-and-mouth disease, rinderpest, swine fever, sheep pox, glanders, anthrax, etc.

The causative agents of some plant diseases are also dangerous, for example, pathogens of stem rust of cereal crops, late blight of potatoes, rice blast, etc.

5.3.2 Methods of using bacteriological weapons

As a rule, methods of using bacteriological weapons are:

• aviation bombs;
• artillery mines and shells;
• packages (bags, boxes, containers) dropped from aircraft;
• special devices that disperse insects from aircraft;
• sabotage methods.

In some cases, in order to spread infectious diseases, the enemy may leave contaminated household items during the withdrawal: clothing, food, cigarettes, etc. The disease in this case can occur as a result of direct contact with contaminated objects.