Terrifying stuff, Thomas -and to any posters wishing to read up on Ebola, may I counsel you that the topic is not for the faint-hearted: this is truly an appalling disease.

I think Simon's avatar is the ebola virus. Indeed scarry stuff - they've detected aids and hepatitis in the blood of suicide bombers - deadly if they were to run down to Africa p/u ebola and come back and blow themselves up in a Tel Aviv Sbarro .

Yes,Simons avatar is the Ebola virus.

The problem with Ebola as an effective biological weapon is that unlike Smallpox it is hard to distribute ie,It does not travel well in the air.Nor does it last long outside of it's victim.
Though ,given a very rum choice,I would rather have Smallpox to Ebola as the survival rates are higher.Ebola because it acts very quickly would be detected relatively soon and victims could be quarantened.Smallpox with an incubation period of 10 to 14 days if distributed similtaneously in JFK,Heathrow,and Charles De Gaul would ensure a pandemic almost before it was discovered.With up to an 80% mortality rate I believe Smallpox is the biggest biological danger to civilian populations around the world.

JB's reasoning is sound. Ebola doesn't travel well and isn't nearly as contageous as smallpox.

Or chicken pox.

Or the flu.

It would appear you's guys did not read the article written by the good doctor. Otherwise, you'd see the airborne dilemma was solved in reference to the dispersement problem for such fevers. It appears man can overcome any obstacle when it comes to killing.

I'd heartily recommend reading all four of the articles by Dr Weeks that are to be found at this llink. And bear in mind that he's been away fro the front line for 20-odd years; so what the spooks are up to now probably does not bear thinking about.
It is, I think, worth bearing in mind that the concept of "terror" is what is at the centre of this.
We all know that Mother Nature can be pretty devastating without any human assistance (post-WWI influenza, for example) and deep down we probably all know that no disease is ever "eradicated" or "cured": the bugs grow smarter.
But this doesn't cast a shadow over every second of our waking lives: we get on with living.
Yet, let the mainstream media step in (witness recent reporting of anthrax and smallpox "threats") and people do get terrified and their reason is impaired.
One might compare the 50's and early 60's obsession with "The Bomb": none were dropped, none were used, Chernobyl -a civilian accident -remains the worst consequence of the bomb since 1945. Indeed, in retrospect we can see that, at that stage, the bomb wasn't ever going to be used. Yet the media of the time played up these fears.
Perhaps our best hope is the fact that 50 years ago, there was considerable trust in the mainstream media (may have been misplaced but it was there) whereas to-day, if Fox or CNN told us to-morrow was Friday, we'd probably get a calendar out to confirm it.

Turning Ebola into a strain which would be airborne is great stuff for TV but in reality is another story. Thomas most antibiotics do not work on such things as anthrax in the first place. Your reference to a "retired" military doctor is not impressive. Perhaps you have some other reference which you can share with us who's credentials are more valid.

Originally posted by Toltec
Turning Ebola into a strain which would be airborne is great stuff for TV but in reality is another story. Thomas most antibiotics do not work on such things as anthrax in the first place. Your reference to a "retired" military doctor is not impressive. Perhaps you have some other reference which you can share with us who's credentials are more valid.

Toltec, find some information on Ken Alibek and the Soviet bioweapon program he headed. They have been experimneting with Ebola for years, one of their scientists Ustinov died of Ebola ( or maybe it was Marbug ). There were also attempts to cross Ebola with
Yersinia Pestis ( Black Plague ).
To turn Ebola into an aerosol weapon, is only a question of devoting adequate resources to it. Trust me on this one.

I am not a Doctor Ms nor do I have a Doctorate degree (PHD)???? But before I jump to any conclusion on whether or not Ebola can be promulgated into an airborne threat. Would like to see more than just a presentation made by a military doctor. You ask me to trust you but can you give me anything specific???

When it comes to viable threats MS I am not into games (Ycons, Brain being an example as well as F16 implications about Iran). I can access approximately 10,000 sites per query MS, with the search engine program I have access to. If you would like trust MS give me something beyond what I already know (everything that is available on the Internet).

Beyond the allegations made by those who seek financial assistance. There is no reason to believe that Ebola is real threat. Prove that wrong and I will listen (to all concerned who have issues My Email is Triad 8888@aol.com).

Well it's hard to find the specific information on the net. I can tell you the name of a book to read though, BIOHAZARD by Ken Alibek.
Any virus or desease can be weaponised even Ebola. The problem with most bioweapons is keeping the bio substance alive after dispersal. The US were able to coat an agent in a polymer covering protecting it from UV radiation. And that was back in the '60's.
Samller countires would find it harder to weaponise Ebola, due to the lack of infrastructure and specialised skills. Although with all these Russian scientists running around, who knows ?

Whilst Ebola is possibly the deadliest virus, the chimera's which are claimed to have been created are truly frightning. With advances in genetic engineering, watch out.

I did read the piece on Ebola but I couldn't find where the doctor had said it could be weaponised.As I understand it in very simple terms the virus is too heavy to be an effective aerosole.Even if it could be weaponised it would have to be the result of a sophisticated process one that realistically only the USA with their money,resources,and experienced scientist could achieve.
Ebola has not been eliminated in the same way Smallpox has so pretty well any state could have got hold of a sample in the last 20 years but the technical problems to create an effective bio-weapon(Other than the modern day equivalent of catapulting a plague victim over city walls)seems insumountable to any but the most technically advance state.
I am definately not an expert on this sort of thing and so I am very open to any imformation better imformed posters may have.

Originally posted by John bull 1
I did read the piece on Ebola but I couldn't find where the doctor had said it could be weaponised.As I understand it in very simple terms the virus is too heavy to be an effective aerosole.Even if it could be weaponised it would have to be the result of a sophisticated process one that realistically only the USA with their money,resources,and experienced scientist could achieve.
Ebola has not been eliminated in the same way Smallpox has so pretty well any state could have got hold of a sample in the last 20 years but the technical problems to create an effective bio-weapon(Other than the modern day equivalent of catapulting a plague victim over city walls)seems insumountable to any but the most technically advance state.
I am definately not an expert on this sort of thing and so I am very open to any imformation better imformed posters may have.

JB do a bit of reading on the web with regards to the Soviet bioweapons program. Specifically Biopreparat. It is truly frightening what they had accomplished especially work being conducted on splicing bacterium with viruses. I believe before the fall of he USSR, it was producing 20t of anthrax and 20t of smallpox a year.

The writer of the book Biohazard, Ken Alibek was directly responsible for developing the most powerful strain of Anthrax invented.

I'm most worried about a human bomb.

if people are willing to blow themselves up I'm sure they're willing to inject themselves with a virus and spend their last few days wondering around america spitting in coffee cups, bleading into water tanks and having sex with prostitutes...

Thats certainly how I'd infect the US if I wanted to, far easier than trying to get through customs with 2 CO2 canisters full of anthrax...

Originally posted by Lupe_101
I'm most worried about a human bomb.

if people are willing to blow themselves up I'm sure they're willing to inject themselves with a virus and spend their last few days wondering around america spitting in coffee cups, bleading into water tanks and having sex with prostitutes...

Thats certainly how I'd infect the US if I wanted to, far easier than trying to get through customs with 2 CO2 canisters full of anthrax...

Whilst that type of thinking frightens the unimformed; the truth of the matter is, that maybe a few will die but as far as mass infection and country ending catastrophe it just isn't possible.
The the state sponsored mass production of such weapons that is the major threat. Dare I say such as Iraq, who has in the past and won't hesitate to do again.

M-S,Will I find evidence specifically that Ebola has been weaponised?I will look anyway but I want to look into that first.

Lupe,I agree.If their willing to blow themselves up then surely they would infect themselves.Prostitutes though?Is it all on expenses?