Biological agents that botulinum toxins

This section addresses the toxin forms of biological agents that would most likely be considered by terrorists. These agents include C. botulinum, C. perfringens, S. enterotoxin B, ricin, saxitoxins, and trichothecene mycotoxins (T-2). 

At the conclusion of the Gulf War, the Iraqis reported that they produced 19,000 L of pure botulinum toxin to a UN team. A total of 19,000 L of botulinum toxin is estimated, just arithmetically, to be sufficient to kill three times the current human population by inhalation. Overall, 10,000L of the toxin had been loaded into weapons. They loaded botulinum toxin into thirteen 600-km missiles and one hundred 400-lb bombs. Some of the toxin has not been accounted for. The JAMA consensus statement points out that it is noteworthy that Iraq chose to weaponize more botulinum toxin than any other of its known biological agents. ... 

Rapid and intense teaching programs helped prepare our medical healthcare providers, so that by the onset of Operation Desert Storm, they were as ready as any military medical personnel might be to go to war. Hundreds of thousands of troops were supplied with chemical pretreatment and therapeutic agents and thousands were immunized against anthrax and the botulinum toxins, the two most likely biological... 

The seven serotypes of botulinum toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum are the most toxic substances known. They are associated with lethal food poisoning after the consumption of canned foods. This family of toxins was evaluated by the United States as a potential biological weapon in the 1960s and is believed to be an agent that could be used against our troops. Unlike other threat toxins, botulinum neurotoxin appears to cause the same disease after inhalation, oral ingestion, or injection. Death results from skeletal muscle paralysis and resultant ventilatory failure. Because of its extreme toxicity, the toxin typically cannot be identified in body fluids, other than nasal... 

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