EBOLA AS A BIOLOGICAL WEAPON

Given my fondness for Stephen King’s The Stand , you would think that I would be a big conspiracy theorist or someone who strongly suspects that Ebola has been unleashed purposefully on an unknowing and ill‑prepared world. I’m not. That doesn’t mean I would be surprised if Ebola virus samples turned up in some country’s secret laboratory, but it does mean that I can critically evaluate whether it is really that amenable to weaponization.

As I discuss on my website, biological warfare is the use of infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, or their by‑products to wreak death and havoc among a specific population. The user’s goal is to achieve control over an area or a segment of the population by weakening the ability to resist. Biological weapons don’t necessarily have to kill directly: unleashing a horde of locusts to destroy crops or agents that kill an area’s livestock can be just as effective.

The perfect biological weapon would have these characteristics:

• Be infectious and contagious in a large percentage of those exposed

• Cause severe long‑term debilitation or death of the infected organism

• Have few available antidotes, preventives, or cures

• Be easily deliverable to the area or population targeted

• Have low likelihood of causing damage to those using the agent

From my research, Ebola virus doesn’t make the grade. Ebola virus is very sensitive to its environment and just doesn’t last long outside a host. It doesn’t tolerate sunlight and needs high temperature and humidity to survive. Most cities in developed countries don’t have the climate conducive to Ebola’s survival.

Viruses live in hosts, and with commercial air travel, I would guess that it’s possible that an Ebola patient in Texas or Florida could travel with the virus to North Dakota or Minnesota. The fact is, however, that no epidemic outbreak of Ebola has ever spontaneously occurred outside of a hot, humid region.

TIP

Most cities in developed countries don’t have the climate conducive to Ebola’s survival.

Ebola is also not easy to work with. Even if a terrorist kidnapped an Ebola victim to get viral samples, working with the virus in anything less than an advanced microbiology lab (called a “Biosafety Level 4”) would likely result in the terrorist dying from the disease. As well, Ebola virus is too sensitive to survive the complex process of refining, enriching, and so on that is necessary for weaponization.

So don’t panic the next time you read about “Ebola Gas” or “Ebola Bombs.” Be aware of the virus, have supplies available that will help in a crisis, and use your most important survival tool: your mind. Do your research and get the facts to come to a conclusion.