Biological warfare agent is a general term for pathogenic microorganisms, toxins and other bioactive substances used to kill human beings, animals and plants. It is a decisive factor in the killing power of biological weapons.
1. It can stably maintain its pathogenic ability in the process of production, storage, transportation and release;
2. Only a small dose can cause disease;
3. It must be suitable for mass production;
4. Users have effective measures to protect their own military and civilian;
5. The biological warfare agent must have short durability after being distributed, which is conducive to the attackers to occupy the attacked area.
Biological warfare agents can be divided into infectious warfare agents (such as smallpox virus, Vibrio cholerae, etc.) and non infectious warfare agents (such as tularella);
According to its harm degree, it can be divided into incompetent agents (such as Brucella) and lethal agents (such as Yersinia pestis, yellow fever virus, etc.).
According to their morphology and pathology, they can be divided into six categories: bacteria, viruses, Rickettsia, toxins, chlamydia and fungi.
Bacteria biological warfare agents are mainly Yersinia pestis, Vibrio cholerae, Brucella. Viral biological warfare agents include yellow fever virus, smallpox virus, etc. Rickettsia biological warfare agents include epidemic typhus, Rickettsia and so on. Toxin biological warfare agents include Staphylococcus enterotoxin and so on. Chlamydia biological warfare agents are mainly Chlamydia ornithiasis. Fungal biological warfare agents mainly include coccidiospores, Histoplasma capsulatum and so on.
It can be predicted that biological warfare agents will be the catalyst for future wars.