BIOTERRORISM: Beware of animal diseases in Bioterrorism

Written by Dr. Sam Sewagudde
Thursday, 01 July 2010 11:05
The suspected outbreak of anthrax in hippos in Western Uganda in the past weeks has yet again reminded us of some of the ignored facts about animal diseases. I overheard someone on the streets of Kampala inform a colleague ignorantly that anthrax was a disease of those who live with or stay near animals in the villages. This totally shocked me and I felt like going over to him and giving a lecture of a lifetime. I, however, restrained myself and just thought about how they didn’t know that the same disease could be brought right at their footsteps in their so-called city. They were possibly unaware of what we call bioterrorism.It is possible for unscrupulous people to use known lethal animal disease agents as weapons of mass destruction. This is known as bioterrorism. Anthrax is indeed one of the microorganisms that can be used as biological weapons of mass destruction. The other significant animal diseases in that group include; Botulism, Plague, Tularaemia, Ebola and Marburg diseases. These diseases are of great public health importance because:The host animals or carriers that are sources of infection often show little or no sign of disease at all.The disease agents have mechanisms of propagation that allow infection to move from one individual to another.Their effects result in high mortality rates and have the potential for a major impact on the public.They can cause public panic and social disruption.They require special action when they occur and also need public health preparedness in order to limit their progress.Anthrax is clearly documented as one of the diseases whose agents have been used in the past for bioterrorism. This can be alternatively spread through spraying in the air, mailed packages and release in the ventilation systems of public buildings.In the wake of the September 11th, attacks on the USA, some people were reported to have been exposed to anthrax in powder form that had been sent to them as mail in envelopes. This incident, a classic example of how an animal disease can find you in the comfort of your office, sparked off a major public health awareness campaign on bioterrorism that got many US citizens and others around the world to be alert about such diseases.As for Ugandans, even though we are far from the USA, and that we probably have far less enemies, we should not ignore the likelihood of such events happening.
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9109:animal-health-beware-of-animal-diseases-in-bioterrorism&catid=58:health-living&Itemid=89