Typhoid Fever: Global Incidence & History of Use as BW - Essay Sample

Introduction

Typhoid or typhoid fever is an illness caused by a bacterium known as Salmonella enterica. Globally, the incidence of typhoid fever totals to 26.9 million cases and already causing death to 200,000 within a year (Akullian, 2015). As a chemical corps historical subject, typhoid fever was first used by the Japanese people during World War II as a biological weapon. Typhoid causing microorganism is a bacterial agent used by terrorists due to their small cell size capable of living in human beings for a long time. The remarkable adaptability of the Salmonella Typhi bacteria to extreme environments makes it an ideal agent for weaponization (Romano & Baum, 2017). As a biological weapon, typhoid that has already been used in different countries all over the world, including Iran, Iraq, Russia, America, Israel and Oregon, among others. Typhoid was used as a biological weapon during wartime to fight and defeat the enemies. The success of typhoid fever as a biological weapon to defeat enemies during the war was made possible by using the Salmonella typhi bacteria against the targets to inject people, contaminate drinking water and food, soil salads, food processing, and in the aerosolized form.

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Injecting People

Typhoid can be used as a biological weapon by injecting the targets with the Salmonella typhi bacteria. In China, Russia, Korea and America, prisoners were inoculated with the Salmonella typhi bacteria for study purposes (Global Security.org, 2019). The success of the biological weapon was not determined due to the invasion of the Soviet Union in1939. The first attempt to inject prisoners with the Salmonella typhi bacteria did not succeed. Other ways of using typhoid as a biological weapon, including contaminating water and food, were successful in different regions of the world.

Contaminating Drinking Water and Food

The Japanese were the first people to use the Salmonella typhi bacteria in their biological weapons program Unit 731 through the contamination of drinking water supplies. During World War II, the Japanese infected the rivers between Manchuria and the Soviet Union with the Salmonella typhi bacteria from the year 1932 to 1945 (Global Security.org, 2019). The Japanese terrorists also contaminated food items with the Salmonella typhi bacteria.

In their first use of Salmonella bacteria as a bioterrorist weapon in China, the Japanese troops used the strategic potential of tossing cultures of the germ into homes as well as spraying from aircraft. During the summer of 1942, the Japanese retreat in the Chekiang campaign, Unit 731 agents poisoned water sources using microbial culture. Grounds were sprayed with the cultures and foodstuffs infected for the Chinese army to eat. Since they were not well trained and lacked the equipment to deal with the effects, the Chinese and Japanese armies experienced a high number of casualties. In a second attack in the territory through contamination of food and water by the Japanese troops, an intestinal disease outbreak occurred causing about ten thousand injuries and seventeen hundred deaths (Chevrier, Chomiczewski, Garrigue, Granasztoi, Dando, & Pearson, 2004).

In 1948, Israel forces released the Salmonella bacteria into the water supply of the city which caused a typhoid outbreak within the town a few days before its fall. Evidence shows that the Israel Soldiers in Gaza carried typhoid bacteria and dysentery liquid as the biological weapons that they used to contaminate the wells (Global Security.org, 2019). A similar incident occurred in the U.S. in the year 1972 with the Order of the Rising Sun group spreading typhoid cultures in water suppliers with the Midwestern cities in America such as Chicago and St. Louis.

Between the years 1990 and 1915, Mary Mallon was considered as an immigrant terrorist to America. Mary continued handling food used by people and causing many deaths by causing typhoid fever to many of the people within the country. In the New York City, Mary Mallon was given the name 'Typhoid Mary' because of spreading typhoid fever to forty-seven citizens with three of them dying after eating the food handled by the lady (Sandoval-Peck, 2016). After tests were conducted and determination that Mary Mallon was a carrier of the Salmonella typhi bacteria, an order was given to stop handling food. However, Mary continued preparing food for people in homes and restaurants, causing more deaths to the nation during that period. America considered Mary Mallon as the most dangerous woman living due to subsequently infecting households with typhoid fever. Contamination of food salads was another method of using typhoid as a weapon in the U.S. soil.

Sprinkling Salads

Typhoid fever can be used as a biological weapon by sprinkling on salads. History shows that war troops used the salmonella bacteria to soil salads in different parts of the world during wartime. In the year 1984, the Rajneesh cult used the Salmonella enterica to soil local salad bars in Antelope, Oregon (Global Security.org, 2019). The Bagwan Shee Rajneesh followers who lived on a selected ranch in Oregon tested the crude bioweapon within the city. Ten salad bars in Oregon were affected, and seven hundred and fifty people became sick (Chevrier et al., 2004). Even though there were no fatalities, hundreds of people in Antelope, Oregon were infected with the Salmonella typhi causing forty-five of them to be hospitalized. The invasion of the Rajneeshees' is the first massive bioterrorism attack in the U.S.

The aim of soiling salads at the local bars by the Bagwan Shee Rajneesh followers was to influence the elections that were ongoing within the city. The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh followers intended to prevent the local voters not to participate in an upcoming election. Their hope was the Rajneeshis to be the majority winners within the country government, which would enable them to change zones and policies of land use (Chevrier et al., 2004). Another method of how typhoid can be used a weapon is through the aerosolized procedure.

Aerosolized Form

Aircraft have been used to spread typhoid fever as a biological weapon. Iran and Iraq troops undertook experiments on the aerosolized form of typhoid as a biological weapon. The results show that typhoid fever is a possible biological weapon agent. War troops use aircraft to distribute the Salmonella typhi bacteria-infested in contaminated tanks by spraying on a particular target. Iraq used the biological weapons program in 1985 to produce diseases such as anthrax, aflatoxin and botulinum toxin. The war troops had spray tanks fitted in their aircraft during the Persian Gulf War (Onyenekenwa, 2012). The same method can be used to spread typhoid fever to people. Food processing has also been established as a possible way of using typhoid as a weapon.

During Food Processing

Typhoid causing bacteria can be used in food when processing. Heat-stable toxins of biological agents that can survive the packaging process have been identified in processed foods. For instance, some of the hard to clean vegetables and fruits can easily be contaminated with the Salmonella typhi bacteria. Terrorists can use the Salmonella bacteria as agricultural bioweapons to cause harm to the enemy states and people. During the 1984 attack in Oregon, the Bagwan Shee Rajneesh grew cultures of the Salmonella typhimurium in the ranch infirmary and used it to sprinkle on food salads in restaurants (Chevrier et al., 2004).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the use of typhoid as a weapon is historical, with many war troops in different countries have used the disease-causing bacteria to contaminate food, water, and salads. Other army forces used typhoid causing bacteria, Salmonella typhi during food processing, agriculture and in aerosolized form. Nations such as China, Japan, Oregon, and the U.S. have experienced the effects of typhoid fever as a biological weapon. The discussion affirms that typhoid can be used as a biological weapon to infect the consumable products used by human beings. The intention is to harm the enemies and influence political activities within the target nation.

References

Akullian, A., Ng' eno, E., Matehson, A., Cosmas, L., Macharia, D., Fields, B., ... & Montgometry, J. (2015). Environmental transmission of typhoid fever in an urban slum. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 10(1), e0004353. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004353.

Chevrier, M., Chomiczewski, K., Garrigue, H., Granasztoi, G., Dando, M., & Pearson, G. (2004). The implementation of legally binding measures to strengthen the biological and toxin weapons convention. Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Global Security.org. (2019). Weapons of mass destruction (WMD): Typhoid. Retrieved from https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/intro/bio-typhoid.htm

Onyenekenwa, C. (2012). Biological weapons-agents for life and environmental damage. Research Journal of Environmental Toxicology, 6, 65-87. DOI: 10.3923/rjet.2012.65.87

Romano, A., & Baum, M. (2017). Germ warfare: Germs disease-causing organisms. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

Sandoval-Peck, C. (2016). From "destroying angel" to "the most dangerous woman in America": A study of Mary Mallon's depiction in popular culture. The University of Washington Tacoma. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1023&context=history_theses