Luther E. Lindler & Frank J. Lebeda 
Biological Weapons Defense 
Infectious Disease and Counterbioterrorism

In 2003, the President’s budget for bioterrorism defense totalled more than $5 billion. Today, the nation’s top academic scientists are scrambling to begin work to understand Bacillus anthracis and develop new vaccines and drugs. However, just five years ago, only the US Department of Defense (DOD) seemed concerned about these “exotic” agents. In 1997, the DOD spent approximately $137 million on biodefense to protect the deployed force, while academe, industry, local governments, and most of our federal leadership was oblivious to, and in some cases doubtful of, the seriousness of the threat. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) received the largest budget increase in the organization’s history. Fortunately, during this time of national urgency, a sound base exists on which to build our defenses against this new threat. A relatively small cadre of dedicated scientists within the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) laid this foundation over the past 20 years.

Cuprins

Preparation and Military Support for a Possible Bioterrorism Incident.- Department of Defense Capabilities Supporting Bioterrorism Response.- Modeling for Bioterrorism Incidents.- Biological Weapons Defense.- Medical Countermeasures and Decontamination.- Pathogenesis by Aerosol.- Bacillus anthracis and the Pathogenesis of Anthrax.- Virologic and Pathogenic Aspects of the Variola Virus (Smallpox) as a Bioweapon.- Plague Vaccines.- Medical Protection Against Brucellosis.- Pathogenesis of and Immunity to Coxiella burnetii.- Glanders.- Medical Countermeasures for Filoviruses and Other Viral Agents.- Medical Defense Against Protein Toxin Weapons.- Antimicrobials for Biological Warfare Agents.- Nonspecific Immunomodulator Therapy.- Decontamination.- Emerging Threats and Future Preparation.- Definition and Overview of Emerging Threats.- Department of Defense Global Emerging Infections System Programs in Biodefense.- Information Resources and Database Development for Defense Against Biological Weapons.- Genomic Efforts With Biodefense Pathogens.- Genomics for Biodefense.- Genetic Fingerprinting of Biodefense Pathogens for Epidemiology and Forensic Investigation.- Yersinia pestis as an Emerged Pathogen.- Diagnostic Development for Biowarfare Agents.- Requirements for Biological Threat Identification Systems.- DNA-Based Diagnostic Tests for Detection and Identification of Biological Weapons.- Concepts for the Development of Immunodiagnostic Assays for Detection and Diagnosis of Biothreat Agents.