Anthrax

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Biological Terrorism - Limitations Placed on Biological Warfare

The 1925 Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare: This treaty prohibited the use of biological weapons. The Geneva Protocol was not ratified by the US until 1975 (4).

1969/1970: President Nixon ordered the termination of the US offensive biological weapons program which included the discontinuation of offensive biological research and the destruction of the biological arsenal. Under the sponsorship of the US Department of Agriculture, the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Departments of Natural Resources of Arkansas, Colorado, and Maryland, the entire stockpile was destroyed between 1971 and 1973. Only a small quantity of these agents were preserved at Fort Detrick to perform experiments related to therapeutic development (4).

1972: Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Biological and Toxin Weapons 

  • Prohibits the development, possession, and stockpiling of pathogens
  • Prohibits the transfer of biological warfare technology to other countries
  • Requires destruction of stocks of biological agents and delivery systems within 9 months of ratifying the treaty
The 1972 Treaty was ratified by more than 100 naitons, including Iraq, the Soviet Union, and the United States. It went into effect in March of 1975. However, the treaty has been ineffective in eradicating biological weapons, because several countries that had signed the treaty, including Iraq and the Soviet Union, have performed acts forbidden under the treaty (4).