List of bioterrorist incidents

This is a list of bioterrorist incidents.

Guidelines

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The definitions of bioterrorism for the purpose of this article are:

The following criteria of violence or threat of violence fall outside of the definition of this article:

List

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Date Incident Agent Dead Injured Location Details Perpetrator References
595–585 BC Siege of Kirrha Helleborus
(Hellebore)
Unknown Unknown Cirrha During the siege of Kirrha, Solon of Athens added hellebore to the water of the Pleistos and let it flow into Kirrha. Solon of Athens [1]
1941-1945 Unknown 200 Unknown Poland Unconfirmed reports indicated that the Polish resistance killed 200 German soldiers with biological agents. Polish resistance [1][2]
1952 Euphorbia grantii toxin Unknown Unknown British Kenya During the Mau Mau Uprising, the plant toxin of the African milk bush was used to poison livestock by the Mau Mau. Mau Mau [1]
October, 1981 Operation Dark Harvest Bacillus anthracis Unknown Unknown Porton Down, United Kingdom Dark Harvest Commando, a militant group, demanded the British government decontaminate Gruinard Island, a site which had been used for anthrax weapon testing during World War II, by distributing potentially anthrax-laden soil on the mainland. Dark Harvest Commando [1][2]
August 29–October 10, 1984 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack Salmonella 0 751 The Dalles, United States The Rajneeshee cult spreads salmonella in salad bars at ten restaurants in The Dalles, Oregon to influence a local election. Health officials say that 751 people were sickened and more than 40 hospitalized. Rajneeshee [3]
July–December, 1989 1989 California medfly attack Ceratitis capitata (Medfly) 0 0 Southern California, United States During the summer and fall of 1989, several outbreaks of medflies occurred throughout Southern California, particularly in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The outbreaks devastated crops. "The Breeders"
(Unresolved)
[4]
April 1990 Botulinum toxin 0 0 Japan The religious group Aum Shinrikyo outfitted three vehicles to disseminate botulinum toxin at the National Diet Building, Yokosuka naval base and the Narita International Airport Aum Shinrikyo [2]
June 28–July 2, 1993 Kameido Odor Incident Bacillus anthracis 0 0 Kameido, Tokyo, Japan The religious group Aum Shinrikyo released anthrax in Tokyo. Eyewitnesses reported a foul odor. The attack was a failure, due to the fact that the group used the vaccine strain of the bacterium, and no one was infected. Aum Shinrikyo [5]
September 18–October 12, 2001 2001 anthrax attacks Bacillus anthracis 5 17 United States Letters laced with infectious anthrax were concurrently delivered to news media offices and the U.S Congress, alongside an ambiguously related case in Chile. The letters killed 5. Bruce Edwards Ivins [6]
2003 2003 ricin letters Ricin 0 0 United States Two ricin-laden letters were found on two separate occasions between October and November 2003. One letter was mailed to the White House and intercepted at a processing facility; another was discovered with no address in South Carolina. A February 2004 ricin incident at the Dirksen Senate Office Building was initially connected to the 2003 letters as well. "Fallen Angel"
(Unresolved)
[7]
15–17 April 2013 April 2013 ricin letters Ricin 0 0 Washington, D.C., United States An envelope that preliminarily tested positive for ricin was intercepted at the US Capitol's off-site mail facility in Washington, D.C. According to reports, the envelope was addressed to the office of Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker. James Everett Dutschke [8][9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Curtis E. Cummings; Elisaveta Stikova (1 January 2007). Strengthening National Public Health Preparedness and Response to Chemical, Biological and Radiological Agent Threats. IOS Press. pp. 55–. ISBN 978-1-58603-744-4.
  2. ^ a b c W. Seth Carus; Center for Counterproliferation Research (2002). Bioterrorism and Biocrimes: The Illicit Use of Biological Agents Since 1900. The Minerva Group, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4101-0023-8.
  3. ^ Grossman, Lawrence K. (January–February 2001). "The Story of a Truly Contaminated Election". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on November 19, 2008. Retrieved November 18, 2007.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Johnson, John. "Invasion by Medfly Defies Logic, Scientists Say Infestation: Experts discover peculiar patterns in the spread of the stubborn fruit fly", Los Angeles Times, December 30, 1989, accessed February 21, 2012.
  5. ^ Takahashi H, Keim P, Kaufmann AF, Keys C, Smith KL, Taniguchi K; et al. (2004). "Bacillus anthracis incident, Kameido, Tokyo, 1993". Emerg Infect Dis. 10 (1): 117–20. doi:10.3201/eid1001.030238. PMC 3322761. PMID 15112666.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "U.S. officials declare researcher is anthrax killer". CNN.com. 2008-08-06. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  7. ^ "Ricin Letters Still A Mystery". CBS News. 2004-02-06. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  8. ^ Brooks, Mike; Bash, Dana (April 17, 2013). "Envelope tests positive for ricin at Washington mail facility". CNN. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  9. ^ "Dutschke arrested in ricin case". WTVA. April 27, 2013. Archived from the original on May 6, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2013.