Anthrax use for military purposes. Anthrax. The term "biological weapons" tends to conjure up mental images associated with sterile government laboratories. Is it easy to grow a bacillus

Among the whole set of rocks of the Earth, the main group is igneous, which were formed over millions of years in the thickness earth's crust from volcanic lava. These breeds include one of the main

building materials - granite. The properties of this stone have long been studied by people. This led to the fact that it was widely used in construction in the past, it is still used today. A huge number of monuments and structures of antiquity have survived to our times due to the fact that they were made of granite. Its unique composition, beautiful grain structure and beneficial features make this stone a very popular building material.

Granite deposits

This rock as a result of the solidification of magma at great depths. It has an impact on heat, pressure, rising from the thickness of the earth's crust gases and evaporation. Under the influence of these factors, such a unique structure is obtained, the play of light and shadow that we observe in this stone. Most often it happens gray color, but sometimes red or green granite is mined. Its properties depend on the size of its constituent grains. It is coarse-grained, medium-grained and fine-grained (the most

lasting).

This rock usually lies at great depths, but sometimes comes to the surface. Granite deposits are found on all continents and in almost all countries, but most of them are in Siberia, Karelia, Finland, India and Brazil. Its extraction is quite expensive, as it lies in the form of huge layers, often stretching for several kilometers.

The composition of this stone

Granite refers to polymineral rocks formed by several substances. Most of all in its composition is feldspar, which determines its color. Almost a quarter is occupied by quartz, which is an inclusion of translucent bluish grains. Granite also contains other minerals (for example,

up to 10% it can contain tourmaline, up to 20% mica), as well as inclusions of iron, manganese, monazite or ilmenite.

The main properties of granite

The advantages of this stone allow us to admire the architectural structures made from it in antiquity even now. What properties of granite determine its widespread use?

1. Durability. Fine-grained varieties of granite show the first signs of abrasion only after 500 years. Therefore, sometimes it is called the eternal stone.

2. Strength. Granite is considered the most durable substance after diamond. It is resistant to compression and friction. This is due to the properties of quartz, which is part of it. In addition, it becomes clear why this rock is so strong, after finding the answer to the question of what it is actually very high - almost three tons per cubic meter.

3. Weather resistance. Granite can withstand temperatures from minus 60 to plus 50. This is very important in a cold climate. Studies have proven that granite products do not lose their properties after 300 freezing and thawing.

4. Waterproof. It is thanks to this property that granite is so

frost-resistant. Therefore, it is ideal for facing embankments.

5. Ecological purity. Granite is not radioactive at all and is therefore safe for any construction work.

6. Fire resistance. This material begins to melt only at 700-800 degrees Celsius. Therefore, tiling a house with them is not only beautiful, but also safe.

7. Ease of processing, compatibility with any building materials and the richness of textures and colors make it indispensable for interior design.

8. Resistance to acids and fungi.

Granite processing

Despite the strength and high density of the rock, this stone is easy to process. It is quite easy to cut and polish. Usually large granite blocks, slabs or granite chips and crushed stone go on sale. It is used to make tiles, countertops and paving stones. The richness of the textures of this natural stone makes the use of granite acceptable for decorating any interior. Looks very nice well absorbing light. Polished to a shine, it shows all its virtues and the beauty of mica inclusions. When processing the rock by chipping, a relief structure is obtained with a decorative effect of the play of chiaroscuro. And some types of gray granite become milky white after heat treatment.

Types of granites

Based on what minerals are included in it, it is especially worth paying attention to the dark-colored components. These are divided into several groups: alaskite, leucogranite, biotite, pyroxene, alkali and others. These breeds are also different in structure:

Porphyritic granite, which contains elongated inclusions of minerals;

Pegmatoid - differs in uniform grain size of quartz and;

Gneissic is a uniform fine-grained stone;

Finnish granite, which is also called rapakivi, has round blotches of red;

Written - a very interesting variety, in it particles of feldspar are arranged in the form of wedge-shaped strips, similar to ancient letters.

AT recent times also began to use artificial granite created by firing clay with minerals. Such a stone is called porcelain stoneware and is almost not inferior in properties to natural.

Types of breed by color

The properties and use of granite also depend on its color. On this basis, several breed groups are distinguished:

Amazonite granite, due to its green feldspar, has a pleasant bluish-green color;

Rose red and Leznikovsky red are the most durable;

Gray rocks are very common, and they got their names from the places of extraction: Korninsky, Sofievsky, Zhezhelevsky;

Rare is white granite. This variety includes colors from pale green to pearl gray.

Application of granite

This stone has been used in construction for many centuries and this is due to the fact that its fine-grained varieties begin to collapse only after 500 years. It is impact resistant and very durable. These basic properties of granite allow it to be widely used in construction. Where is the mineral used?

1. Most of the monuments and monuments are made from it.

2. Its strength and resistance to abrasion make it possible to use the stone for the manufacture of steps, flooring, porches and even pavements.

3. In cold climates, the most demanded building material is granite. Its properties make it possible to clad buildings and even embankments where

there are harsh winters.

4. This stone can transform your home both inside and out. Designers successfully use it to make columns, stairs, skirting boards, countertops and railings. They also cover the walls of houses.

5. The use of granite in swimming pools, bathrooms and fountains is due to the fact that it does not let water through at all. And also does not collapse under its influence.

Granite in the interior

AT last years This stone was widely used for interior decoration. It combines beautifully with all materials - wood, metal and ceramics - and suits the design of any home. In addition to wall and floor cladding, granite can also be used in many places in the apartment. Its properties make this stone indispensable for the manufacture of window sills and countertops in the kitchen. They are easy to care for, they are durable and do not deteriorate from exposure to moisture and high temperatures.

Granite is also widely used in landscape design. A walkway or gazebo lined with this stone will not be afraid of weathering and will not crack over time. The flower beds decorated by him, for example, in style or in the form of a terrace, look beautiful. It is very convenient to use granite for the manufacture of curbs and stairs.

The properties and uses of this stone have long been studied. And it has been used by man since antiquity. With the advent of new processing technologies, granite began to be used even more often, because it became possible to improve its decorative properties.

By the end of the 1980s, the Soviet VBC achieved fundamental results in the creation of the most important types of biological weapons.

In the military biological centers of the USSR, effective combat strains of the most dangerous pathogenic bacteria and viruses were created. These combat strains ensured the complete mortality of people, even in the case of the use of the entire arsenal of antibacterial protection. In particular, resistance to commonly used antibiotics was instilled in these pathogens. Well-preserved recipes and ammunition were also developed for their use against the troops and population of the "probable enemy" - the days of fussing with stocks of insects and rats are a thing of the past. Variants of combined biological weapons (viruses and bacteria, various strains of the same pathogen, etc.) were tested and the most effective combinations were selected.

The necessary research was carried out in yet another direction - in the secret part of the science of aerosols (its recognized center is Novosibirsk), that is, the science of how to create and control aerosols (smoke, fog). They ended with the creation of efficient aerosol generators adapted for installation in various ammunition - missile warheads, air bombs, etc.

It will probably be especially interesting for our nationalists to know that their pink dreams: workers of the most humane profession worked out the most diverse types of selectivity of Soviet biological weapons - by sex, age, race and other anthropological signs of the manpower of the "probable enemy".

The United States overslept unconditional Soviet leadership in preparation for offensive biological warfare - such was the unannounced asymmetric response of the Land of the Soviets to the cessation in the United States in 1969 of the production of biological and chemical weapons. Against this background, the statement of General S.V. Petrov looks like the highest form of shamelessness, that supposedly "We reached parity with the Americans by the mid-eighties". We repeat - we can not talk about parity, but about the obvious military-biological superiority of the USSR over the USA. And also military-chemical.

Real life is weird. And real fate different types biological weapons evolved in different ways.

2.4.1. BACTERIA

bacteria(anthrax, plague, tularemia, and others) were easier to turn into weapons than other types of pathogens. Although it took a lot of effort. Consider, next, specific pathogens.

Plague found its place as a weapon not immediately. The Americans abandoned the use of plague as a weapon due to its rapid loss of virulence, leaving the aerosols, in their opinion, essentially useless. Unlike the USA, Soviet Union prepared plague for active use as early as the 1940s and has always kept it in its area of ​​interest - it can be easily grown in a wide range of temperatures and environments. In addition, they managed to learn how to use the plague in the form of an aerosol without losing their "combat" qualities. In Kirov, production facilities for the production of 20 tons of plague pathogens per year were maintained. The production and storage of weapons based on the plague bacteria was carried out from the time of the war until 1992.

anthrax - a subject of special predilection for Soviet military biologists. As already mentioned, the issue of setting up weapons based on anthrax arose at the turn of 1933-1934. At the turn of the 1970-1980s, there were three production of weapons based on anthrax - this was already a more effective strain, created in the 1950s "together" with the rats of the city of Kirov. The release of weapons in the dungeon of Sverdlovsk-19 went on continuously, and it was he who ended tragically for the city in 1979. Well, the production facilities in Penza (the "Biosintez" plant) and in Kurgan ("Sintez") existed in a "sleep" mode - their mobilization capacities were in a state of constant readiness. The transfer of duties for the release of anthrax spores from Sverdlovsk to Stepnogorsk, carried out within a few years after the release in 1981 of the corresponding resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR, did not change total number factories.

As already mentioned, the last - most effective - anthrax formulation was tested in 1987. As of 1987, the total capacity of production lines for anthrax was: at the plant in Penza - 500 tons per year, at the plant in Kurgan - 1000 tons per year, at the plant in Stepnogorsk it was possible to produce up to 2 tons of anthrax formulation per day. The required seed was stocked in cold stores. Reactors for growing large quantities of spores through fermentation were on alert. The technical documentation also rested in the appropriate repositories.

The anthrax strain, which was put on stream at the plant in Stepnogorsk in 1989, had a fantastic combat effectiveness - 3 times higher than the standard combat strain 836. Each reactor could grow from 20 to 60 tons of biomass. At the exit from the factory, an amber-gray finest powder was obtained, which scatters in the form of invisible particles capable of drifting through the air in search of a "probable enemy" for many kilometers without falling to the ground. This strain ensured overcoming the consequences of continuous vaccinations of troops and the population with known anthrax vaccines, as well as overcoming the immune system of people. The loss of the plant in Stepnogorsk, which followed the collapse of the USSR, changed little. In Penza and Kurgan, shops for the production of dry forms of anthrax remained in mobilization readiness in the 20th century.

It is known that, in contrast to the plague, pneumonic anthrax and glanders, human mortality from tularemia did not reach 100%. And a strain of tularemia with this deficiency was baptized in 1942 on the battlefields Patriotic War. Subsequently, this "shortcoming" was corrected, and the strains of all pathogens chosen by our military already ensured complete mortality. And so that the "probable adversary" did not rely on future treatment, these strains were genetically instilled with resistance to antibiotics. Weapons based on such trouble-free tularemia were tested on Vozrozhdeniye Island in 1982-1983. The production of combat formulations was launched at the plant in Omutninsk. Stocks were stored here, on the territory of the Kirov region, most likely in Strizhi.

2.4.2. VIRUSES

As already mentioned, compared with bacteria, pathogens viral nature is much more difficult to use as a weapon.

Production of biological weapons based on the virus smallpox was organized in Zagorsk-6. In the underground part, powerful production lines for the production of ammunition were in mobilization readiness. The standard Soviet stock of "arms-grade smallpox" at Zagorsk-6 was 20 tons. The production line in Building 15, built at the institute in Koltsovo in 1990, was capable of producing 80 to 100 tons of smallpox virus per year. Knowledgeable people they assure that work has even been carried out to overcome the protection against smallpox, in respect of which WHO announced to the world that it had been eradicated throughout the globe.

In Stepnogorsk in the winter of 1989-1990, combat effectiveness new weapon based on the hemorrhagic virus marburg fever created at the institute in Koltsovo. In the early 1990s, the creation of viral weapons was completed in Zagorsk - based on monkeypox, as well as hemorrhagic viruses Lassa fever and Ebola . These types of weapons were especially attractive to our military. Among the ways of spreading Lassa fever are not only airborne and contact (from person to person), but also food. Ways to use weapons based on Lassa and Ebola - spraying the formulation in the air.

2.4.3. BIOLOGICAL WAR INDUSTRY

All these dangerous pathogens were not only put into service with the army. Was organized by them mass industrial production. The following table, prepared on the basis of the book's data, gives an idea of ​​the combat capabilities of Soviet industry. It is based, of course, on information of Soviet origin.

Capabilities of the industry of the USSR and the USA for the manufacture of biological warfare agents (dry forms of pathogens)

There are, however, comments on this table.

It has already been mentioned above that for achievements in the creation of biological weapons based on Q fever, General N.N. Urakov received an award. But the industrial release was too tough for that team.

The same can be said, apparently, about toxin weapons. Although the Zagorsk-6 Institute and General A.A. Vorobyov personally tried to organize the industrial production of toxin weapons, the local military biologists most likely did not cope with this. This did not prevent, however, from considering this type of weapon as a terrorist one. In the latter case, only the state, and not only the Soviet one, could be a terrorist, given that ampoules with botulinum toxin were discovered during the first Chechen campaign in 1994-1995.

However, let's be fair, the world only benefited from the failure of these generals.

Biological weapons are not cucumbers, there was no need to pickle for the future. An order was enough to start a conveyor for filling ammunition with dry forms of pathogenic pathogens of the most monstrous species, including unknown ones. Ammunition, including cluster ammunition, was also at the ready. Scientific and technical documentation, which is necessary for the resumption of the production of biological weapons, was laid for a long wait in special secure storage facilities.

Pathogenic bacteria such as anthrax and plague were prepared to be placed in strategic missiles ah with 10 separable warheads, each of which has its own purpose. Cooling systems keep the pathogen alive when entering earth's atmosphere. At a certain height, a rain of cluster elements erupts from each warhead. In turn, these elements scatter over some distance and open up, releasing a cloud of biological particles.

2.4.4. MEANS AND METHODS OF ATTACK

In a relationship application techniques Let's confine ourselves to a couple of examples.

Suitable munitions have been developed for effective and well-stored bioweapon formulations created in military biological centers. Therefore, one way or another, all these works ended in Sverdlovsk.

It has already been said above that at the Research Institute of Highly Pure Biological Products (St. Petersburg) a calculation was made of the effectiveness of the use of combat aerosols from cruise missiles. It was about tanks in which combat mixtures were to be dropped over the target. One of the ways to deliver the recipe to the target is the use of Kh-22 (AS-4 Kitchen) cruise missiles. They were launched over long distances from strategic bombers TU-22M. The start of work on the X-22 rocket was set by the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 426-201 of June 17, 1958. The missiles were developed in two versions - against point targets, as well as for area shooting, which is closer to the hearts of "biologists" and "chemists". The firing range over the areas depends on the speed and height of the carrier aircraft and could be 400-550 km, the weight of the warhead (warhead) - 1000 kg. The length of the X-22 missile is 12 m, the maximum diameter is 0.84 m, the swept wing, the wingspan is 3.0 m. cruise missiles were intended for strikes against ground targets without entering the zone of destruction of enemy air defense forces. The manufacturer of all modifications of missiles is OKB Raduga. In the second half of the 1970s, Kh-22 missiles began to equip Tu-22M2 and Tu-22M3 supersonic aircraft, which could carry three missiles each. Modifications of missiles that were designed for firing at areas were put into service in 1971-1976.

The second example belongs to a later era. In the winter of 1988-1989, in the Operational Directorate of the General Staff in in practical terms considered a way to use the combat formulation of anthrax in the warheads of strategic missiles R-36M (SS-18, Satan; warhead weight 8800 kg) in connection with the decision just made to equip these powerful missiles means of biological attack. That winter, the replacement of the R36MUTTKh missiles, which were on combat duty in Dombarovskoye, had just begun ( Orenburg region), on newer R36M2. They had a range of 11,000 km and were equipped with 10 multiple warheads of the 15F173 type (550-750 kg of payload each). Then these rockets stood on combat duty also in three more divisions of the Strategic Missile Forces- in Aleysk ( Altai region), Kartaly (Chelyabinsk region) and in Uzhur ( Krasnoyarsk region) .

Data on cluster bombs equipped with biological formulations have not yet been published in the press. Therefore, we will indicate 3 types of cluster bombs with related - chemical - content, whose production was launched during the period of "perestroika". This is a batch of cluster aviation bombs BKF-P, released in 1983-1987: 12 cluster elements with explosive agents are placed in each bomb, in total, 5.76 kg of explosive agents are filled in the bomb. A batch of BKF-KS bombs was released in 1986-1987: each filled with 2.16 kg of OM. And back in 1987, a batch of one-time RBC-500 bomb clusters was produced, each of which contained 54 cluster elements with OM (a total of 23.5 kg of OM in a bomb).

In the Soviet Union, fundamental steps were taken to change ways of application pathogens.

The course and outcome of the severe epidemic of 1979 in Sverdlovsk showed that new types of biological weapons could only be combined. And these are not only Western theories, as written in a public textbook. After many years, we have to admit that the trouble in Sverdlovsk was not caused by the usual strain of anthrax, which supposedly got out of the control of the military. We are talking about an unknown offensive biological weapon that mainly destroys people by gender - men middle age. The address is obvious - armies made up of professional men. After Vietnam, this is how the US Army was built.

The combination could be both mechanical and genetic.

For example, we could talk about a combat recipe in which different pathogens were mechanically connected. In any case, the pulmonary form of anthrax, which is usually referred to when mentioning the tragedy in Sverdlovsk-19 (let us leave the skin form of anthrax, which comes from the meat of a dead cow, on the conscience of generals P.N. Burgasov and V.I. Evstigneev - let entertain themselves with these tales further), could be only one of the components of this weapon. Moreover, the ammunition could contain not one strain of anthrax, but several.

The very idea of ​​simultaneous use of several strains of the same pathogen in a biological munition, which makes it possible to drastically complicate the anti-epidemic measures carried out by the "probable adversary", was recorded as a secret invention by 1979 (one of the authors is the head of Biopreparat, General Yu.T. Kalinin). The idea did not go to waste - recently, one of the US laboratories proved the presence of several strains of anthrax simultaneously in tissue samples of people who died during the epidemic in Sverdlovsk in 1979.

Another pathogen could have a different nature - it could be a virus (Marburg, Ebola, tick-borne encephalitis, etc.) or rickettsia (Q fever, etc.). The joint effect of viruses and bacteria on people in the process of biological warfare had already been studied by that time, making up the subject of the secret doctoral dissertation of General N.N. Urakov. As for the mentioned viruses, their features were studied at that time in Zagorsk-6 and in Koltsov, and combat properties explored on Vozrozhdeniye Island in the Aral Sea during the annual summer trials. The preparation of tests, therefore, could not bypass the workshops for the creation of biological munitions that existed in Sverdlovsk-19.

In confirmation, we point out that it was from Koltsov that the unfinished anti-virus vaccine came, which, it seems, was tested on the inhabitants of Sverdlovsk during the epidemic of 1979 (according to the official version, it was an epidemic not of a viral, but of a bacterial nature). In any case, the anthrax vaccine, developed many years before 1979 and harmless to humans, did not reach them.

It is difficult to give up the idea that genetic combination could also be realized. The basis could be a bacterium of the pulmonary form of anthrax, in which the hereditary DNA molecule was modified, for example, by sewing new pathogenic links into it. In any case, it is already known that although morphological features Sverdlovsk pathogen of 1979 was diagnosed as anthrax unusual shape(the surface of the stick was not smooth, as in nature, but "defective"), specialists had numerous doubts about its specific manifestations, such as growth, reproduction, nutrition.

This is how the Soviet military-biological empire turned out. And this carnival of hers continued until 1991-1992.

And then the Soviet Union disappeared from the world map. And with him the Soviet government.

And general empires began to crumble. The first to be scrapped was the military-biological one. Then came the turn to the military-chemical. And then others began to shrink slowly - military-space, military-nuclear ... Further, everywhere.

It has long been no secret that the anthrax bacillus can be used as a biological weapon. Moreover, as events show last week, not only the military can do this. Experts recognize that anthrax can be used by both a single terrorist and a group, moreover, more likely than many other pathogens. But how easy is it to grow this bacterium? And how effective is this weapon?

It turns out that the bacillus has not been studied enough - simply because the disease has become a rarity, writes the BBC.

Everyone remembers the tragedy of 1995 in the Tokyo subway, when terrorist fanatics resorted to deadly poison gas. What is less known is that the same group attempted to infect the population of Tokyo with anthrax at least eight times. Tried but didn't succeed. No cases of the disease were registered.

On the contrary, anthrax from a Soviet military laboratory in 1979 led to 79 cases of the disease, 68 of which were fatal.

So, it's different. Based on these examples, it is difficult to judge the destructive power of anthrax as a weapon.

Growing anthrax bacteria is not very easy, but many countries can do it. In the 1990s, 17 countries were believed to have biological weapons or the means to manufacture them. But loners or groups, some experts believe, may not be able to cope with this. Not only is the bacillus itself necessary for breeding in the laboratory, a very complicated technique is also needed.

However, it cannot be ruled out that a group with the right connections will overcome these difficulties.

Kenneth Alibek, a former Soviet bioweapons specialist, told us: "We hear that breeding the anthrax bacillus is a difficult task, but I think that for a person who has mastered the basics of microbiology and biotechnology, it is not difficult at all ..." Plus drugs with bacillus can be stored for a long time without spoiling.

The most effective way to spread the bacillus is to spray it into the air, so that potential victims inhale it and become ill with the most severe form of anthrax, the pulmonary form.

But just this is not easy to achieve.

The 9/11 terrorists in New York have been reported to be interested in agricultural spray planes, presumably exploring the possibility of bioweapon proliferation, but experts believe these planes are not entirely unsuitable for the job.

From the pulmonary form of anthrax, 90% of patients die. The use of antibiotics at an early stage of the disease reduces mortality by up to 80%.

But the effectiveness of an ulcer as a weapon depends on the number of bacilli spread and the mode of spread. It is reduced by the fact that this disease is not contagious.

At the rate World Organization Health (1970), if 50 kg of anthrax bacilli are scattered over a city with a population of 5 million, 250 thousand people will fall ill.

According to another estimate (1993), 100 kg of bacilli scattered over Washington DC would kill between 130,000 and three million people.

However, such a quantity of bacterial culture is not so easy to produce. In addition, bacilli will remain in the air only for a certain time, determined by weather conditions and then fall to the ground.

Whether they can become deadly again if the wind lifts them along with the dust is not known for certain. The Soviet catastrophe suggests that this is hardly possible. Almost no decontamination measures were taken there, and no subsequent cases of the disease were recorded.

At the same time, the complete disinfection of a vast area will, in the opinion of many, be an impossible task.

British experiments with biological weapons, carried out during the Second World War on one of the Scottish islands, showed that the area remains infectious even decades later. And cleaned it properly. From 1979 to 1987, 280 tons of formaldehyde were consumed on the island.

Their action is not the same. One of the most dangerous types is biological weapons. It represents viruses, fungi and microbes, as well as animals infected with these viruses. The purpose of the application this weapon is the defeat of people, flora and fauna. A biological weapon also includes a means of delivering it to its destination.

Weapons do not harm buildings, objects and materials of value. It affects and infects animals, people, water, vegetation, etc.

Biological weapons are divided into several types depending on the materials used.

The first type is the use of bacteria. These include plague, cholera and other infectious diseases.

The next type is viruses. Here, the causative agents of smallpox, encephalitis, various kinds fever and some other diseases.

The third type is rickettsia. This includes the causative agents of certain types of fever, etc.

And the last - fungi. They cause diseases with histoplasmosis, blastomycosis and some other diseases.

It is the presence of a certain type of pathogen that determines the type to which a biological weapon belongs.

Unlike other species or chemical), this species is a source of infection, entering the body even in minimal doses. Another feature of this weapon is its ability to spread. That is, there is the possibility of transmission of the disease from person to person and from animal to person.

It is also very resistant to destruction. Getting into the soil or into another external environment, it is saved long time. Its action can manifest itself after a certain time period and cause an outbreak of infection.

To the next feature that bioweapons have mass destruction, can be attributed to its secrecy. The period from infection to the first signs of the disease may be asymptomatic, which leads to its spread. It is possible to identify diseases and infections at the initial stage only by laboratory means. This is a very laborious and lengthy process. And if we talk about countering biological weapons, then measures must be taken immediately.

To identify the fact of the use of this type of weapon, one should take into account some features of its structure. Usually, round fragments are found at the application sites. At the moment of rupture, a dull sound is heard. a clear sign is the formation of vapors and clouds, which disappear very quickly. Drops of liquid may also appear on the surface in the area of ​​impact or substances in the form of a powder. A sign of the use of biological weapons is also a trace from a flying aircraft, the appearance of a large number of rodents or insects, which is not typical for a given time or area. Also, a consequence of its use is the mass death of animals and a large number of simultaneously ill people.

The usual method of spreading viruses and bacteria is respiratory system. In this case, aerosol agents are used. They settle on the surface of the skin, clothing, soil, plants and enter the human body through cuts or cuts. Animals and livestock products can also be carriers. Biological weapons are the most dangerous view weapons of mass destruction.

In this regard, humanity is developing means against its effects. Protection against biological weapons must be immediate to prevent their proliferation. These agents include vaccine and serum. Infected animals, objects and foodstuffs are also subject to immediate destruction.

Experts recognize that the anthrax bacillus can serve as a biological weapon for both an individual terrorist and a group, moreover, more likely than many other bacteria. But is it easy to grow this bacillus? And is this weapon effective?

It turns out that the bacillus has not been studied enough - simply because the disease has become a rarity.

Everyone remembers the tragedy of 1995 in the Tokyo subway, when terrorist fanatics resorted to deadly poison gas. What is less known is that the same group attempted to infect the population of Tokyo with anthrax at least eight times. Tried but didn't succeed. No cases of the disease were registered.

On the contrary, the accidental release of the anthrax bacillus from a Soviet military laboratory in 1979 resulted in 79 cases, 68 of which were fatal.

So, it's different. Based on these examples, it is difficult to judge the destructive power of anthrax as a weapon.

Is it easy to grow a bacillus?

Not very easy, but many countries can do it. In the 1990s, 17 countries were believed to have biological weapons or the means to manufacture them. But alone or groups, some experts believe, may not be able to cope with this. Not only is the bacillus itself necessary for its breeding in the laboratory, a very complicated technique is also needed.