The biological agent most likely to be used as a biological weapon is Bacillus anthracis, which causes the anthrax infectious disease. During the Cold War, it was present in large quantities in the military arsenals of some states, and at the beginning of the 21st century was used in a series of small bioterrorist attacks. In case of occurrence of events using Bacillus anthracis, urgent and adequate qualitative and quantitative response measures are needed to manage the consequences of the attack and to reduce the effects on public health. These include complex and well-coordinated activities to ensure medical intervention for the prophylaxis, treatment and recovery of patients. General prophylaxis is achieved by vaccination, individual and collective CBRN protection, decontamination, partial and total sanitary treatment, microbiological analysis for the detection, identification and confirmation of the biological agent. Therapy for disease induced by weaponized B. anthracis differs from classic antrax disease regarding antibiotics, doses and time, resulting a large antibiotic consumption per case. Complete recovery of the patients is achieved not only in terms of restoring normal biological parameters, but also in terms of the organism’s "sterilisation" regarding the causal biological agent.
Making medical countermeasures requires documentation to assess vulnerabilities, threats and operational risks and bioterrorism through the collection and processing of specific multidisciplinary data in human medicine, veterinary, phytosanitary, the environment, defense and national security, etc. Based on retrospective data and late information (medical intelligence), we can estimate the prospective risk to public health, respectively for troops and civilian population in a given area, the area of operations. The biological military or bioterrorist attack, whether overtly or masqueraded as human or animal epidemics can cause a major biological crisis for troops and the civilian population, for domestic and wild animals, for crops or wild plants or for the environment, which remains contaminated. Therefore, it is important to constantly monitor the situation of infectious diseases in the area of responsibility (national territory, operations theaters) to assess vulnerability, threat and bioterrorist risk but also for making medical anti-bioterrorist countermeasures, which can only be effective by genuine cooperation between all specialized structures of the Ministry of Defense, other departments and the civil society.
Military Medical Service is able for detection, identification and confirmation of biological agents; it is part of medical protection against CBRN weapons. We are specialized capabilities for in vitro tests, under construction, the maximum containment laboratory designed for work with Risk Group Microorganisms. An efficient primary containment system must be in place, consisting of one or a combination of the following: Class III safety cabinet laboratory, passage of two doors, suit laboratory, controlled access, controlled air system. Negative pressure in the facility, supply and exhaust air must be HEPA-filtered, decontamination of effluents, sterilization of waste and materials, airlock entry ports for specimens, materials and animals must be provided etc. Complementary is an Animal facility for in vivo tests. This is suitable for work with animals that are deliberately inoculated with microorganisms in Risk Group.
Electroporation is considered a new start-up in the treatment of various tumors; currently, researches are being conducted in order to develop this technology with medical applications. The technique consists in the significant increase in the electrical conductivity and permeability of the plasma membrane of cells resulting from the application of an external electric field. It is routinely used in molecular biology to transform bacteria, yeast, protoplasts and is performed using the electroporators. Currently, the process seems to be a real solution that enables a targeted drug to act with maximum efficiency on cells and tissues requiring treatment, resulting in obtaining a good therapeutic effect without major side effects. Therefore, pharmaceutical companies are trying to demonstrate through preclinical studies the potential efficacy of this technology, succeeding in recent years to achieve important steps in this direction.
The international situation requires a strengthening of the national security measures, including in the field of CBRN and public health. The upgraded microbiology laboratories from DM/ MND must be operated at full capacity for the operationalization of an integrated Platform for the research and expertise of biological war and bioterrorism agents. This is necessary for reasons of national security, for CBRN defense and for public health, in the context of biological agents of 3 and 4 risk groups’ epidemics. The existing upgraded objectives should be operationalized in order to meet the established scope: scientific research and expertise of biological agents and biological weapons, a laboratory for in vitro analysis and a bio-base for in vivo analysis. The highly secure lab allows working with any high-risk agents: biological, genetic, chemical, radiological, etc., being provided with a special room for the insertion/removal of equipment and their decontamination. Following an increase in the capability requirements concerning laboratories, we have provided in the design concept new technical parameters of the platform and the integration of new compartments with related activities of toxicology, pathology, neuro-psycho-pharmacology, bio-pharmacy, micro- pharmaceutical, specific testing activities, etc. Creating the integrated platform and its operationalization is necessary in order to meet the requirement of the national security strategy as a collective CBRN defense/protection facility and military-medical scientific research for CBRN medical protection.
The spring of 2014 has brought a new calamity, the exotic infectious disease: Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, which is caused by a highly contagious and pathogenic virus, transmitted directly by interpersonal contact or indirectly by common usage of objects. The epidemic which occurred in Guinea tended to expand to neighboring countries; 83 deaths have been reported on April 1st 2014. Genetic analysis have revealed that the virus that causes this epidemic is similar in a proportion of 98% to Ebolavirus Zaire (EBOV) species that were responsible for the epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2008. The Ebola virus belongs to the Filoviridae family, Ebolavirus genus and causes Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, with a rate of fatality of up to 90% in humans. There are five distinct species: Bundibugyo Ebolavirus (BDBV), Ebolavirus Zaire (EBOV), Reston Ebolavirus (RESTV), Sudan Ebolavirus (SUDV) and Taï Forest Ebolavirus (TAFV).
Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a Gram-positive sporogenous bacillus strictly anaerobic, which in the last decade has became the most important anaerobic bacterium in nosocomial human pathology. Cl.dificile is the etiological agent of more than 20% of diarrhea postantibiotics, over 95% of pseudomembranous colitis and the first cause of nosocomial infectious diarrhea in adults. Although this bacterium usually colonizes the intestine of vertebrates (the normal microbiota), the toxinogenic strains (tcdA and tcdB) are pathogenic in the digestive tract. Given the excessive use of antibiotics and the increased spores resistance, it is possible an environment contamination, with strains which may already be resistant to antibiotics. The main causes of this infection are decreased resistance to antibiotic-induced colonization, contamination with a pathogenic strain of Cl.difficile, secretion of A and/or B toxins and deficient immune response. Due to the increasing worldwide incidence of infections with C. difficile on one hand and to the discovery of new ways of transmitting the infection according with some studies regarding the genetic diversity of bacterium strains on the other hand, a new approach is necessary for C. difficile related topics..
Decontamination after terrorist attacks or industrial accidents with biological and/or chemical agents („bio-chem“) must be fast and efficient, in order to reduce the number of victims and to eliminate the consequent damages. The decontamination of living biological agents (bacteria, viruses) or nonliving ones (toxins, regulators) and toxic chemicals could be accomplished by reactions of hydrolysis in various experimental conditions, in particular in alkaline medium, reactions with amines or ammonia, alcohols, phenols etc. and by their transformation into less toxic degradation products. “Bio-chem” intentional or unintentional contamination is a real risk, towards which an effective management must be available to prevent and control it. Decontamination is an essential measure to protect the personnel and the environment. Synthesis and testing of new „bio-chem“ decontaminants, based on quaternary ammonium salts, complete the arsenal of protection against chemical and biological agents. The most effective selected substances could be produced and used for decontamination in accordance with legal procedures.
