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Animal disease a reminder of bio-terrorism
03/09/2001 14:19 - (SA)
Patricia Reaney
Glasgow - Britain's foot and mouth
crisis shows what can go wrong when a nation cannot deal with a
highly infectious disease and should be a reminder of the
dangers of biological warfare, a Scottish scientist said on
Monday.
Since the disease was first detected in late February more
that 3.7 million farm animals in Britain have been slaughtered
and the country's tourism industry has been badly damaged.
"Foot and mouth disease is a real example of what happens
when a disease gets out of control," Sir William Stewart told
journalists at the launch of a science conference in Scotland. The former chief scientific adviser to the British
government and president of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science (BA) said that fortunately foot and
mouth was a disease with virtually no direct effect on people.
But he feared that advances in molecular biology and the
sequencing of the human genome had led to decreased interest in
microbiology. This could have left Britain ill-prepared to deal
with the threat of bio-terrorism and the 30 conventional
microbes that are considered biological warfare agents.
"There are those who say: the First World War was chemical;
the Second World War was nuclear; and that the Third World War
- God forbid - will be biological," he told the BA science
conference.
Although the use of biological weapons is forbidden by
international convention, Stewart told the week-long conference
that began on Monday that some countries had stockpiled
anthrax, a deadly bacterium.
"If nuclear weapons and space technology dominate the
global defence thinking - what is left for the smaller and
rogue nations without them?" he said. "Are we sufficiently and adequately prepared in the UK?"
Stewart added.
He called for more funding and emphasis on microbiology
because of the increased spread of infectious diseases, as well
as the threat of bio-terrorism.
"It is a timely reminder that we must not forget about
microbiology. Implications of its effect and how it is used go
far beyond the farm gate and countryside," he said.
- Reuters
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