History of Biological Agents as Weapons

The deliberate use of biological agents and the emergence of infectious diseases which can produce harm to human health and give effects to the public health and security are well recognised. A few years back, an attack of biological agents would be the most unthinkable situation to happen. However, the threat of bioterrorism is real and it is growing. It continues to be a major challenge today and the possibility of bioterrorism is undeniable as it is increasingly defined globally as ‘not if, but when’. Therefore, this paper attempts to give a brief explanation on the threat of bioterrorism as to the emergence of infectious diseases and the legal history of international law on bioterrorism. The main objective of this paper is to find out the need for bioterrorism law in Malaysian i.e. a legal approach. The study is a social legal research, which uses a qualitative approach. Thus, due to lack of materials and publications in Malaysia, in order to achieve the objectives, the methodology used was based on a semi structured interviews conducted with three respected experts in public health and security to explore the real situation in Malaysia. The authors found out that the finding of this study had established that an outbreak of infectious diseases can now be viewed as a threat that may result to bioterrorism if there is no preparation to handle it. Keywords: Bioterrorism, biological agents, infectious diseases, legal and preparedness

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FRI0350 FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH PERIPHERAL EROSIVE RADIOGRAPHIC DISEASE IN A CONSECUTIVE SERIES OF 794 PSA PATIENTS

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases ◽

10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-eular.6088 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽

pp. 770-771

Author(s):

M. G. Catanoso ◽

P. Macchioni ◽

A. Marchesoni ◽

S. D’angelo ◽

R. Ramonda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Laboratory ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Laboratory Data ◽

Diagnostic Delay ◽

Disease Diagnosis ◽

Biological Agents ◽

Consecutive Series ◽

Imaging Data ◽

Erosive Disease ◽

History Of

Background:Few studies have examined the correlation between clinical demographic and laboratory parameters with peripherical radiological erosive disease in PsA pts.Objectives:To examine the association between clinical, demographical and laboratory data and the presence of radiographic erosions (RE) in the peripheral joints of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) pts.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted in consecutive patients with PsA afferring 7 rheumatological italian tertiary care centers. Demographical, clinical, laboratory and imaging data were collected according to a standardized protocol. A patient was considered as affected by erosive disease (ED) if at least one joint presented radiographic erosions at hand and/or feet rx examination. Patients with ED at early rx examination (before 5 y from disease diagnosis) were considered as early ED (EED) pts and pts without ED at 6 y or more rx examination from disease diagnosis were considered as not EED (NEED).The association between the presence of joint erosions and demographical, clinical and laboratory data was assessed using logistic regression analysis. The results were expressed in terms odds ratios (OR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI).Results:Rx hand and feet examination were available for analysis in 492/794 (39.9 % females, mean age 53.3 ± 13.2 y, mean PsA duration 16.9 ± 16.8 y, ED 171 pts). 48 pts had EED and 133 pts had NEED. At univariate analyses factors significantly associated with EED (p < 0.20) were PsA duration (OR=0.979,95%CI 0.953-1.006, p = 0.119), diagnostic delay (OR=1.077, 95%CI 1.018-1.138, p = 0.009), history of peripheral enthesitis (OR=2.308,95%CI 0.904-5.888, p= 0.080), hypertrigliceridemia (OR=2.756,95%CI 0.997-7.618, p = 0.0.051), hypercholesterolemia (OR=1.687, 95%CI 0.777-3.661, p = 0.186), hyperuricemia (OR=0.450, 95%CI 0.174-1.166, p = 0.10), use of biological agents (OR=1.712, 95%CI 0.873-3.355, p=0.118). Factors significantly associated with EED at multivariate regression analyses were diagnostic delay (OR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.22), history of enthesitis (OR = 3.15, 95% CI: 1.23, 8.22), use of therapy with biological agents (OR = 3.60, 95% CI: 1.31, 9.85) with protective effect of hyperuricemia (OR = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.90).Conclusion:The presence of EED in a group of consecutive PsA patients is correlated to diagnostic delay and history of enthesitis. Longitudinal study may confirm these associations.Disclosure of Interests:Maria Grazia Catanoso: None declared, Pierluigi Macchioni: None declared, Antonio Marchesoni Speakers bureau: Abbvie, Pfizer, UCB, Novartis, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Salvatore D’Angelo Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Biogen, BMS, Celgene, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, and UCB, Roberta Ramonda Speakers bureau: Novartis, Celgene, Janssen, Pfizer, Abbvie, Lilly, Alberto Cauli: None declared, fabio perrotta: None declared, Roberto Bortolotti: None declared, mariana lofrano: None declared, laura rotunno: None declared, maria grazia lorenzin: None declared, Guido Valesini: None declared, giovanni mathieu: None declared, Giuseppe Paolazzi: None declared, Carlo Salvarani Grant/research support from: consulting and investigator fees from Abbvie, Pfizer, MSD, Roche, Celgene, Novartis, Consultant of: consulting and investigator fees from Abbvie, Pfizer, MSD, Roche, Celgene, Novartis

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A short history of anti-rheumatic therapy - VII. Biological agents

Reumatismo ◽

10.4081/reumatismo.2011.185 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 63 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

G. Pasero ◽

P. Marson ◽

B. Gatto

Keyword(s):

Biological Agents ◽

Short History ◽

History Of

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Biological agents in potable water

International Review of Applied Sciences and Engineering ◽

10.1556/irase.5.2014.1.6 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 47-51

Author(s):

E. Kovács ◽

P. Tóth ◽

Cs. Juhász ◽

J. TamáS

Keyword(s):

Water Supply ◽

Biological Agents ◽

Chlamydia Psittaci ◽

Detection Methods ◽

Water Supply Systems ◽

Trichothecene Mycotoxin ◽

Adequate Knowledge ◽

Risk Assessment Models ◽

History Of ◽

Staphylococcus Enterotoxin B

Abstract There are numerous biological agents including bacteria such as Brucella suis, B. abortus, Francisella tularensis, Burkholderia mallei, Coxiella burnetii, Yersina pestis, Bacillus anthracis and Chlamydia psittaci, viruses such as Variola major and V. minor, Flavivirus and Hantavirus, and toxins such as Botulinum toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, Staphylococcus enterotoxin B and Trichothecene mycotoxin reported to have potential to cause illness via water consumption. In the recent years, biological threat prevention for urban water supply systems has been of special interest worldwide, thus, protection against biological agents requires adequate knowledge, available water treatment technologies and preparedness. In this review, the history of biological threat via public water supply, as well as selected early detection methods, prevention strategies and risk assessment models are detailed.

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