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[Smallpox and bioterrorism].

T Debord
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Abstract

The variola virus was the first biological agent to be used as a military weapon. It is considered as one of the main agents that could potentially be used in the context of bioterrorism. Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980. So, in case of a confirmed or suspected case of smallpox, a deliberate, intentional origin must be considered. The early diagnosis of the first case is essential for initiating an epidemiological alert. All physicians should be well informed of the epidemiological, clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of smallpox.

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BioterrorismHumansSmallpoxEnglish AbstractJournal ArticleReview

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T Debord. 2004. [Smallpox and bioterrorism].. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medmal.2003.09.009

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PubMed2005

For debate: is disinfection of specimens, which may contain unknown or bio-terrorist organisms, essential before electron microscopic examination?

Severe and unexpected infections may be due to bioterrorism (BT), or the natural emergence of novel micro-organisms. Whatever the cause, there will be an urgent need to identify it for several reasons: defusing public anxiety, providing logical management and countermeasures, etc. For viruses and some bacteria, electron microscopy provides the fastest answers and identifying the cause quickly may eliminate BT. In the interests of safety, many would recommend that the specimen be disinfected at some stage before examination, but with unknown agents, however, reliable disinfection cannot be guaranteed and attempting to do so may also impair structure sufficiently to make recognition difficult or even impossible. As a basis for debate, this paper discusses the pros and cons of disinfecting such specimens.

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