Viral Agents

Viruses are much smaller than bacteria and are the simplest microorganisms, consisting of protein-coated genetic material, either RNA or DNA.

Unlike bacteria, viruses cannot be cultivated in synthetic nutritive solutions, but require living cells in order to multiply. The host cells can be from humans, animals, plants, or bacteria. Every virus requires its own special type of host cell for multiplication, because a complicated interaction occurs between the cell and virus. Virus-specific host cells can be cultivated in synthetic nutrient solutions and then infected with the virus in question.

Another common way of cultivating viruses is to grow them on fetal membranes (from fertilized eggs). The cultivation of viruses is expensive, demanding, and time-consuming. A virus typically brings about changes in the host cell that eventually lead to cell death.

This section covers three types of viruses that could potentially be employed as bioterrorism agents:

Hemorrhagic Fevers
Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis
Smallpox