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If some worst - event scenario are to be believed , then terrorist groups could use the recent outbreak of Ebola in Africa to their advantage . By using the Ebola computer virus as a biologic weapon , the story goes , these groups could wreak havoc around the globe .
But the estimation that Ebola could be used as a biologic weapon should be view with heavy scepticism , according to biological terrorism experts . Although baneful , Ebola is notoriously unstable when removed from a human or fauna server , pee-pee weaponization of the computer virus unlikely , two expert told Live Science .
Ebola virus
That ’s not the view posited by Peter Walsh , a biological anthropologist at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom . The humans should be take the threat of an Ebola bomb very seriously , Walsh said in a recent interview with the British tab The Sun . [ 7 Technologies That Transformed Warfare ]
Walsh warn that terrorist could " rein the virus as a powder , " load it into a bomb , and then explode the bomb calorimeter in a extremely populated region , CBS Atlanta reports .
" It could do a large number of horrific death , " Walsh told The Sun .
But the idea of Ebola being harvest for function in a " muddy turkey " vocalize more like science fiction than a real theory to bioterrorism expert .
Dr. Robert Leggiadro , a doc in New York with a background knowledge ininfectious disease and bioterrorism , distinguish Live Science that although Ebola is listed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) as a possible biological terrorism agentive role , that does n’t necessarily mean the computer virus could be used in a bomb .
" Thething about Ebolais that it ’s not easy to work with , " Leggiadro said . " It would be difficult to weaponize . "
And Hamish de Bretton - Gordon , COO of SecureBio , a chemic , biologic , radiological and nuclear certificate firm in the United Kingdom , said that claims like Walsh ’s are an example of fear - mongering .
" The opportunity of the Zaire strain of Ebola being made into a biological weapon is less than nil , " de Bretton - Gordon say , referring to the strain of Ebola that is cause the current outbreak in West Africa . " It ’s just not going to encounter . "
These expert point to three chief reasons why Ebola is n’t potential to be used as a bioterrorism agent anytime in the near time to come .
Weaponization woes
for make Ebola into a biological weapon , a terrorist organization would necessitate to first obtain a hot host infected with the computer virus , either a man or an animal . Only a few animate being serve as Ebola hosts , including archpriest , at-bat and forest antelope , and none of these are particularly gentle to detain .
Once a springy host was captured , it would need to be transport to what de Bretton - Gordon called a " suitably equipped " laboratory , in purchase order to extract the virus . Such laboratories , know as class 4 or Biosafety floor 4 Labs , are not easy to come in by , he said .
In fact , there are less than two 12 Category 4 laboratories in the world , harmonize to theFederation of American Scientists . Failure to work inside one of these science lab when handling the Ebola virus would likely result in the death of whoever is doing the weaponizing , de Bretton - Gordon said .
If a terrorist organization were able to obtain a innkeeper , reach entree to a Category 4 science laboratory and isolate the virus , they still would have a wad of work to do before they could apply Ebola as abiological weapon .
" The cognitive operation to weaponize a biological agent is complex and multi - staged , involve enrichment , refining , toughening , milling and preparation , " de Bretton - Gordon say .
Ebola is not well suitable to any of these process , which are plan to ascertain that the biological factor survives the traumatic experience of being fired from a rocket , dropped from an aircraftand submitted to harsh climatical conditions .
Hardly hardy
There ’s a reason you have n’t heard about Ebola being used as a biological arm in the past : it has n’t been . And that ’s because Ebola , unlike other disease - causing agent , is not very hardy , de Bretton - Gordon said .
" The reason anthrax has been the biological artillery of choice is not for its deathrate rate — when properly weaponize it is similar to Ebola — but for the fact that it is exceptionally hardy , " de Bretton - Gordon said . " Anthrax can and will survive for centuries in the ground , enduring frosts , extremes of temperature , wind , drought and rain before re - emerging . "
In contrast to thehardiness of anthraxbacteria , the Ebola virus is sensitive to climactic conditions , like exposure to sunlight and extreme temperature , de Bretton - Gordon say . Once the virus is dispatch from its host , it requires a very special environment in which to survive , including relatively high-pitched temperature and humidness , he enunciate .
" Assuming a terrorist organization manages to entrance a desirable Ebola host , extract the computer virus , weaponize the virus , transport the computer virus to a populated city and deliver the computer virus , it is entirely likely that the sub - optimal climatical condition of a westerly urban center willkill it off relatively chop-chop , " de Bretton - Gordon say .
sluggish transmission
Many of the deadliest viruses and toxins that the CDC categorise as possible biological terrorism agents can spread from person - to - person through the airwave . These airborne toxins , such as splenic fever or plague , could be released into the environment , through a dirty dud or some other means , and could taint many masses very promptly . [ 7 Devastating infective Diseases ]
But as de Bretton - Gordon explained , that ’s nothow Ebola act upon .
" Contrary to popular myth — in all probability from the picture " Outbreak " — Ebola is not airborne , and relies on contagion through the consumption of contaminated core and direct contact with infected bodily fluid , " de Bretton - Gordon say .
It ’s method acting of contagion makes Ebola less transmissible than airborne virus , and therefore easier to stop , provide that nonindulgent protocols for containment are follow , de Bretton - Gordon said . When the proper protocol is stick to , Ebola is considerably less communicable than unwashed virus , such as measles or the influenza , he say .
