Army efforts against biological weapons rapped

Abstract

The Army has spent millions of dollars on research to defend against biological weapons that intelligence agencies do not consider bonafide threats to U.S. forces, according to a new study by the General Accounting Office. On the other hand, charges Sen. John Glenn (D.-Ohio), the Army's efforts to develop a defense against pathogens that Iraq might use in the Persian Gulf war have fallen short. While the BDRP [Biological Defense Research Program] was funding research and development efforts directed against 'exotic' human pathogens in the 1980s, says Glenn, who requested the GAO study, it failed to produce medical countermeasures against many 'conventional' biological agents, such as a vaccine against anthrax. Anthrax and botulin toxin are thought to be two of the weapons in Iraq's arsenal of biological and chemical warfare agents. Cholera, tularemia, and other infectious agents also are considered possible threats. The Department of Defense says allied air attacks have destroyed only about half ...