BW Agent Characteristics
Disease |
Transmit
Man to Man |
Infective
Dose (Aerosol) |
Incubation
Period |
Duration
of Illness |
Lethality
(approx. case fatality rates) |
Persistence
of Organism |
Vaccine
Efficacy (aerosol
exposure) |
Inhalation
anthrax |
No |
8,000-50,000
spores |
1-6
days |
3-5
days (usually fatal if untreated) |
High |
Very
stable - spores remain viable for > 40 years in soil |
2
dose efficacy against up to 1,000 LD50 in monkeys |
Brucellosis |
No |
10
-100 organisms |
5-60
days (usually
1-2 months) |
Weeks
to months |
<5%
untreated |
Very
stable |
No
vaccine |
Cholera |
Rare |
10-500
organisms |
4
hours - 5
days (usually 2-3 days) |
>
1 week |
Low
with treatment, high without |
Unstable
in aerosols & fresh water; stable in salt water |
No
data on aerosol |
Glanders |
Low |
Assumed
low |
10-14
days via aerosol |
Death
in 7-10 days in septicemic form |
>
50% |
Very
stable |
No
vaccine |
Pneumonic
Plague |
High |
100-500
organisms |
2-3
days |
1-6
days (usually
fatal) |
High
unless treated within 12-24 hours |
For
up to 1 year in soil; 270 days in live tissue |
3
doses not protective against 118 LD50 in monkeys |
Tularemia |
No |
10-50
organisms |
2-10
days (average 3-5) |
>
2 weeks |
Moderate
if untreated |
For
months in moist soil or other media |
80%
protection against 1-10
LD50 |
Q
Fever |
Rare |
1-10
organisms |
10-40
days |
2-14
days |
Very
low |
For
months on wood and sand |
94%
protection against 3,500 LD50 in guinea pigs |
Smallpox |
High |
Assumed
low (10-100
organisms) |
7-17
days (average 12) |
4
weeks |
High
to moderate |
Very
stable |
Vaccine
protects against large doses in primates |
Venezuelan
Equine Encephalitis |
Low |
10-100
organisms |
2-6
days |
Days
to weeks |
Low |
Relatively
unstable |
TC
83 protects against 30-500 LD50 in hamsters |
Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers |
Moderate |
1-10
organisms |
4-21
days |
Death
between 7-16 days |
High
for Zaire strain, moderate with Sudan |
Relatively
unstable - depends on agent |
No
vaccine |
Botulism |
No |
0.001
mg/kg
is LD50 for type A |
1-5
days |
Death
in 24-72 hours; lasts months if not lethal |
High
without respiratory support |
For
weeks in nonmoving water and food |
3
dose efficacy 100% against 25-250 LD50 in primates |
Staph
Enterotoxin B |
No |
0.03
mg/person
incapacitation |
3-12
hours after inhalation |
Hours |
<
1% |
Resistant
to freezing |
No
vaccine |
Ricin |
No |
3-5
mg/kg
is LD50 in
mice |
18-24
hours |
Days
- death within 10-12 days for ingestion |
High |
Stable |
No
vaccine |
T-2
Mycotoxins |
No |
Moderate |
2-4
hours |
Days
to months |
Moderate |
For
years at room temperature |
No
vaccine |