After World War II Britain and the US destroyed a large number of their biological and chemical weapons. However, in 1995 the US released a report showing that a number of countries still had not destroyed their supplies of weapons. Some of these countries included Iran, Iraq, Libya, China and North and South Korea. Although the countries are thought to have these weapons, countries across the world have supplies of anthrax cultures which could then be used alongside these weapons. Whether it is from academic, industrial or commercial labs, these cultures can be accessed. In the US there are hundreds of labs with the anthrax bacterial stocks, but these cannot be banned in order to prevent outbreaks such as the case in 2001 on the east coast of America (see Figure 1) because these pathogens must be kept for scientific research for medical therapies. These research units include 46 germ banks worldwide.

It is very rare to find the natural form of the anthrax bacterium in North America and Northern Europe but in southern and central parts of America as well as Asia and Africa anthrax can be found in the hooves of cattle and other hoofed mammals.

[ Fig 1. Map illustration distribution of Anthrax incidents. Source: BBC News ]

Within a week ten thousand million infectious doses of anthrax spores can be produced by a single 100 litre fermenter. These spores can then be milled down to between 1 and 5 microns (the size in which they are not trapped in nasal passages and exhaled again). The means by which the bacterium can be transported and dispersed ranges from simple aerosol devices to cluster bombs and missile warheads.

In general the threat is greater than ever, more so than form nuclear weapons. However, the threat to the UK is currently seen as low, but no one can rule out the possibility of an attack occurring. At the moment the threat is low because no country has yet got the technological capabilities for a ballistic missile to be launched from their boarder and reach the UK. But these resources are continually improving. There is a high chance that British forces will be deployed to high risk areas that are either threatened by or where biological or chemical agents have already been used.