this post was submitted on 03 May 2024
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It's less of a crap shoot when it's intentionally used as a weapon.
https://www.cbp.gov/frontline/natural-enemies-how-cbp-battles-bioterrorism-and-biohazards
I’d like one example where MRSA has been used for bioterrorism. Never heard of it when I was a medical lab tech in the military, nor as a medical lab scientist later in my life. Bioterrorism is extremely rare, and MRSA is a poor choice for a biological weapon.
E. coli O157:H7 would be a better choice, or Vibrio, or really any of the enteric pathogens introduced to food or water supplies.
Well, the 1984 bioterror attack associated with the Rajneeshee was done with salmonella. The question this raises is if there are any advantages to cultivating it as an assassin's weapon.
I'm not saying I know it is, only that the two associated deaths make for a pretty amazing coincidence.
Salmonella is not MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus). The point I was trying to make is Staph isn’t a good bioterrorism agent. It doesn’t spread like weaponized anthrax, it’s not particularly deadly, and it can’t be spread by food/water like the enteric pathogens. It’s just not suitable or we’d have researched the fuck out of it at USAMRIID.