Deck 17: Harnessing the Power of Microbes: Peril and Promise

Question 1

A biological "scare" occurred in Sverdlovsk, USSR, in 1979, in which a biological agent was accidentally released. The agent was

A) smallpox virus.
B) botulinum toxin.
C) anthrax spores.
D) sarin gas.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In 1346 B.C., Tozar used a crude form of biological warfare; his act involved

A) poisoning wells.
B) serpents.
C) catapulting human cadavers.
D) passing out poisonous chocolates.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In 1981, a religious commune purposefully contaminated salad bars in an Oregon community. Which microbe did it use?

A) Salmonella
B) staphylococci
C) influenza virus
D) botulinum

Answer 3

A

Question 4

On several occasions in history, clothing was contaminated with microbes in order to reduce the effectiveness of the opposition. The microbe involved was

A) the anthrax bacterium.
B) the syphilis microbe.
C) black plague.
D) smallpox virus.

Question 5

Napoleon's army was defeated by

A) typhoid fever.
B) typhus fever.
C) diarrhea.
D) battlefield gangrene.

Question 6

Blankets were supplied to some Indians during the French and Indian War; they were contaminated with

A) body lice.
B) typhus.
C) smallpox virus.
D) cholera bacteria.

Question 7

When was the Geneva Protocol signed?

A) 1920
B) 1925
C) 1947
D) 2001

Question 8

Unit 731 is identified with biological warfare conducted by which country?

A) China
B) Russia
C) Japan
D) Nazi Germany

Question 9

What is the least expensive form of warfare?

A) biological weapons
B) gas
C) conventional weapons
D) nuclear weapons

Question 10

Two weeks after September 11, 2001 what emerged as a biological threat?

A) plague
B) tuberculosis
C) anthrax
D) smallpox

Question 11

Which form of anthrax poses the greatest threat?

A) cutaneous anthrax
B) inhalation anthrax
C) gastrointestinal anthrax
D) waterborne anthrax

Question 12

The anthrax vaccine consists of

A) dead bacteria.
B) live bacteria.
C) attenuated bacteria.
D) a cell-free preparation.

Question 13

The lead agency, appointed by President Clinton in 1995, charged with the responsibility to prepare for the possibility of biological weaponry is

A) CDC.
B) DHHS.
C) NIH.
D) WHO.

Question 14

Coping with bioterrorism involves

A) creating a stockpile of pharmaceuticals.
B) surveillance and rapid detection.
C) control of access to pathogens.
D) all of the above.

Question 15

Biological warfare agents include

A) fungi.
B) bacteria
C) rickettsiae.
D) all of the above.

Question 16

Which one of the following diseases caused by category A agents is NOT acquired by inhalation?

A) viral hemorrhagic fevers
B) tularemia
C) plague
D) anthrax

Question 17

Which of the following diseases has symptoms of fluid filled blisters on the entire body?

A) smallpox
B) anthrax
C) plague
D) chicken pox

Question 18

"Excrement and bodies of dead soldiers were thrown into enemy ranks." Which event is this a description of?

A) Roman crusades
B) Siege of Karlstein
C) U.S. Civil War
D) Hannibal's battle with King Eumenes II

Question 19

If Americans were vaccinated against smallpox, what would be the mortality due to vaccine side-effects?

A) 0 people
B) 400 people
C) 4,000 people
D) 40,000 people

Question 20

Biological weapons are the tools of

A) bioterrorism.
B) biocrime.
C) biological warfare.
D) all of the above.

Question 21

The end of the ______ century marked the emergence of modern microbiology.

A) 17th
B) 18th
C) 19th
D) 20th

Question 22

Biological agents have been categorized into _______ groups based on their risk to the national security.

A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five

Question 23

The biological arsenal at Fort Detrick was destroyed as a result of

A) the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972.
B) World War II.
C) Geneva Protocol.
D) the public's strong distaste of biological weapons.

Question 24

The "Black Bain" of the Middle Ages devastated the cattle herds of Europe. Which of the following is correct regarding the Black Bain?

A) same as the Black Plague
B) caused by the plague bacillus
C) caused by the anthrax bacillus
D) caused by a virus

Question 25

Which two countries are known to have ignored the 1972 biological weapons treaty that they had signed?

Question 26

The expression "the poor man's weapons of mass destruction" refers to _______________________.

Question 27

Why is it impossible to get anthrax from the anthrax vaccine?

Question 28

There are several points of criticism of the anthrax vaccine. Cite two (be specific).

Question 29

The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh cult is notorious for __________________________.

Question 30

What did President Clinton's 1995 Presidential Decision Directive 39 decree?

Question 31

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were followed by a bioterrorist attack using __________________.

Question 32

How is tularemia transmitted?

Question 33

Research on biological weapons involved the use of Gruinard Island and resulted in the soil being contaminated for over 50 years. The biological agent was _____________.

Question 34

Larry Harris, a laboratory technician in Ohio, ordered and received three vials of which bacterium from the American Type Culture Collection?

Question 35

Name the cult responsible for the sarin gas attack in a Tokyo subway in 1995.

Question 36

_____________ is a rapidly progressing acute infectious disease caused by the organism Bacillus anthracis.

Question 37

Name the three varieties of anthrax disease.

Question 38

The U.S. government agency in charge of controlling access to and handling of pathogens is the ______________.

Question 39

What was the original mission of Fort Detrick?

Question 40

Why smallpox is an excellent bioweapon?

Question 41

What is meant by the term "biological warfare"?

Question 42

General W. T. Sherman accused Confederate soldiers in the Civil War of contaminating water supplies with what?

Question 43

In the early history of biowarfare, there were several instances where the bodies of
__________ victims were catapulted into enemy cities.

Question 44

Name three Category A Biowarfare Agents.

Question 45

The United States has have stockpiled enough vaccine to treat two million citizen against ___________________.

Question 46

Discuss three major "advantages" of the use of biological weapons (compared with conventional or nuclear weapons); discuss three major "disadvantages."

Question 47

Identify the three types of anthrax infections; include a brief description of each.

Question 48

Identify and discuss the major feature of Bacillus anthracis that makes the organism a prime choice as a biological weapon.

Question 49

Cite three treaties (statutes) associated with biological warfare or bioterrorism. Describe each, and give the date of each.

Question 50

Describe the incident that occurred in Sverdlovsk, a city in the USSR, on April 2, 1979.