Talk:Biological warfare

Treatments

I corrected the "5% sodium hypochlorite solution" comment in the "Protective Measures" section to reflect the modern standards per MCWP 3-37.3 w/change 1. I could flush out this section with more information, but it would just end up needing to have its own section. I am not exactly sure why there is a treatment section at all in an encyclopedic entry about bio Weapons in the first place - NBCD Chief

Citation for earliest documented use of biological weapons

"The earliest documented incident of the intention to use biological weapons is recorded in Hittite texts of 1500–1200 BCE, in which victims of tularemia were driven into enemy lands, causing an epidemic.[citation needed] "

Probably a good citation is https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2007.03.012 I can't read the whole text, but the summary is already to the point.

-188.194.61.45 (talk) 18:07, 12 February 2021 (UTC)

Agreed and  Done. Thanks 188.194.61.45. Adrian J. Hunter^{(talk•contribs)} 00:47, 13 February 2021 (UTC)

Can we identify this lab and the director?

I was offered a "black Ph.D." at the Navy's biological warfare laboratory in Alameda, Ca in the summer of 1975, more than a year after the Biological Weapons Convention was signed. I toured the lab, but declined the offer. I have searched in vain for the past 45 years to find any evidence of the lab's existence. The lab was in a large wood frame building with a typical home-style front door. However, it was under negative pressure and the lab's air exited via a torch. The active work area of the lab was entirely contained within plexiglass glove boxes with double-door autoclaves at both ends. The ceiling was sufficiently high such that another area of the lab housed what looked like a common, farm grain storage silo constructed of galvanized metal. I was told this was used to suspend anthrax spores, and ports in the silo accommodated animal cages. I was shown a petri dish container which consisted of two metal halves and was told it could only be opened by a machine. The lab was completely empty when I toured, except for the director who commented that he had some concern for me being in the lab without an anthrax vaccination. He was also somewhat miffed that I did not recognize his name, saying: "How soon people forget". For that reason I have tried to search names for some of the founding men in microbial molecular biology. The spellings I have used include, "Demereck" , "Dimick", "Demeritz", and various other similar sounding names. I still do not know who he was. It is my belief this installation might have been involved in Operation Sea-Spray, a 1950 U.S. Navy secret experiment in which Serratia marcescens and Bacillus globigii bacteria were sprayed over the San Francisco Bay Area. I made no agreements nor signed any documents concerning disclosure of what I saw on this lab tour. Charles Juvon (talk) 17:28, 30 May 2021 (UTC)

Sign - Logo - Symbol - Emblem

I noticed there really wasn't one on a Google Image search, so I patched together this one. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Charles Juvon (talk • contribs)

File:No Bioweapons.jpg

Thanks, but we don't really need any such logo for our article, certainly not a self-invented one. Fut.Perf. ☼ 08:43, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

Assyrians

The article states "Although the Assyrians knew of ergot, a parasitic fungus of rye which produces ergotism when ingested, there is no evidence that they poisoned enemy wells with the fungus, as has been claimed." There is no source for this, begging the question "who claims they did?" However, thinking that editor may have meant for the reference for the next statement, (about the Scythians), to apply, I checked it out. That source (Croddy, Eric; Perez-Armendariz, Clarissa; Hart, John (2002). Chemical and biological warfare : a comprehensive survey for the concerned citizen. Copernicus Books. p. 219. ISBN 0387950761.) does cover this on page 214, but only to say that the Assyrians did poison the wells: "In the sixth century B.C., the Assyrians put rye ergot fungus in the water wells of their enemies. While the actual effects of using ergot (wheat rust) in such a manner are not clear, the intent was probably to inflict damage upon their enemies' agriculture." Since the editor considers this source adequate for the statement about the Scythians and Romans, I'm going to change the bit about the Assyrians to match the source. alacarte (talk) 20:59, 12 August 2021 (UTC)