The Plague Makers: The Secret World of Biological Warfare

by Barnaby, Wendy

• ISBN13: 9780826412584
• ISBN10: 0826412580
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-08-01
• Publisher: Continuum Intl Pub Group

Summary

Not so long ago, scientists worked towards eradicating viruses and plagues -- seeking to prolong and protect human life. Today, scientists are stockpiling viruses for military use. And, even more terrifying, they have developed new plagues and super-viruses that are resilient to treatment. Ostensibly for defense purposes, these weapons put civilians at risk.

Among this book's revelations is information about the Soviet government's successful development of a combination of smallpox and Ebola. Wendy Barnaby also discusses how the U.S. and South Africa have separately funded biological weapons research targeting specific ethnic groups. Barnaby uncovers startling evidence that scientists and politicians are complacent about the threats that biological weapons pose. Wantonly flouting international safeguards, laboratories around the world continue to endanger the human population.

With the breakdown of the former Soviet Union and the unhalted growth of Iraq's germ warfare program, biological weapons are increasingly available to organizations hostile to the We

Author Biography

Wendy Barnaby is a science writer and broadcaster. She has worked as a journalist in Sweden and Great Britain, where she broadcasts regularly for the BBC and the Australian Broadcasting Company

Table of Contents

Introduction	9	(10)
The Growing Threat	19	(12)
Agents of Biological Warfare	31	(12)
Terrorism	43	(16)
Iraq's Secret Biological Weapons	59	(16)
Brothers in Arms: UK, US and Canadian Programs	75	(26)
Germany, USSR, Japan and South Africa	101	(26)
Scientific Developments and BW	127	(16)
Defense against Biological Warfare	143	(20)
International Regulation	163	(16)
By Opposing End Them	179	(12)
Notes	191	(12)
Index	203