29 April 2004 01:45
Russian military warn of bioweapons attacks
Moscow, 29 April: Russian military virologists think that it is highly likely that pathogenic organisms of infectious
diseases could be used in acts of terrorism. The consequences can be extremely dangerous. The head of the virology
centre of the Russian Defence Industry's Microbiology Scientific Research Institute, colonel of the medical
service, Vladimir Maksimov, stated this in an interview published today in the weekly Voyenno-Promyshlennyy Kuryer
[Military Industrial Courier].
"The pathogens which can be used by terrorists are viruses and bacteria, which cause serious infectious
illnesses in people, the death rate of which may reach 80-90 per cent," Maksimov stressed.
In his assessment, "the scale of bioterrorism is unpredictable". "For example, in the case of the so
called contagious infections (which are able to be passed on easily) people themselves will infect one another in big
cities and where there is constant migration of the population," Maksimov stressed. "Not to mention the fact
that it will have an overwhelmingly negative psychological effect [on people]." The scientist thinks that "the
terrorist acts using anthrax spores in postal correspondence carried out in the USA in autumn 2001, when there were 22
cases of people being infected with anthrax, are evidence of this".
At the same time, Maksimov thinks, "biological weapons are rather complicated, and it is highly unlikely that
they can be made in cottage industry conditions".
Moreover, he stressed that the system of monitoring biological substances in scientific institutions of the Russian
Defence Ministry rules out the potential threat of biological weapons being made by terrorist organizations. There are
sufficient forces and means to prevent individuals from entering [laboratories] without permission and stealing
biological materials from institutions," the medical service colonel concluded.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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