In October 2001, first class letters, which were laced with Bacillus anthracis spores, were sent to political and media targets resulting in five deaths and 22 illnesses, significant mail service disruption, and economic loss. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy established a technical task force on mail decontamination that included three key agencies: the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute; and, the United States Postal Service. A cooperative effort between this task force and industry led to protocols for the processing of letter and parcel mail. Currently, NIST is examining the technical issues and barriers to the use of ionizing radiation to mitigate bioterrorism agents in high-risk passenger luggage. The purpose of this work is to develop irradiation specifications, procedures, and protocols that will ensure that broad classes of bioterrorism agents in passenger luggage will be neutralized without damaging luggage contents and inconveniencing passengers with long delays. This work focuses on three areas: the assembly of critical input data, the development of a coupled computational-experimental verification approach for estimating the radiation dose that can be delivered to passenger luggage and the application of the computations to a larger variety of luggage configurations followed by the development of specifications, procedures, and protocols for the irradiation of passenger luggage. An analysis of the expectations for growth in these and other homeland security areas where irradiation technology can be applied will be discussed.

Applied BiosafetyVol. 10, No. 4 ArticlesFree AccessHigh-Dose Ultraviolet C Light Inactivates Spores of Bacillus Atrophaeus and Bacillus Anthracis Sterne on Nonreflective SurfacesMarie U. Owens, David R. Deal, Michael O. Shoemaker, Gregory B. Knudson, Janet E. Meszaros, and Jeffery L. DealMarie U. Owens College of Charleston, Charleston, South CarolinaSearch for more papers by this author, David R. Deal UVAS-LLC, Charleston, South CarolinaSearch for more papers by this author, Michael O. Shoemaker Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Bethesda, MarylandSearch for more papers by this author, Gregory B. Knudson Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Bethesda, MarylandSearch for more papers by this author, Janet E. Meszaros Steris Corporation, Mentor, OhioSearch for more papers by this author, and Jeffery L. Deal UVAS-LLC, Charleston, South CarolinaSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Dec 2005AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 10Issue 4Dec 2005 Information© 2005 American Biological Safety AssociationTo cite this article:Marie U. Owens, David R. Deal, Michael O. Shoemaker, Gregory B. Knudson, Janet E. Meszaros, and Jeffery L. Deal.Applied Biosafety.Dec 2005.240-247.http://doi.org/10.1177/153567600501000406Published in Volume: 10 Issue 4: December 1, 2005PDF download

The Armed Forces Radiobiological Research Institute (AFRRI) has developed a research program to determine the major health risks from exposure to ionizing radiation in combination with biological and chemical warfare agents and to assess the extent to which exposure to ionizing radiation compromises the effectiveness of protective drugs, vaccines, and other biological and chemical warfare prophylactic and treatment strategies. AFRRI's Defense Technology Objective MD22 supports the development of treatment modalities and studies to assess the mortality rates for combined injuries from exposure to ionizing radiation and Bacillus anthracis, and research to provide data for casualty prediction models that assess the health consequences of combined exposures. In conjunction with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, our research data are contributing to the development of casualty prediction models that estimate mortality and incapacitation in an environment of radiation exposure plus other weapons of mass destruction. Specifically, the AFFRI research program assesses the effects of ionizing radiation exposure in combination with B. anthracis, Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus, Shigella sonnei, nerve agents, and mustard as well as their associated treatments and vaccines. In addition, the long-term psychological effects of radiation combined with nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) injuries are being evaluated. We are also assessing the effectiveness of gamma photons and high-speed neutrons and electrons for neutralizing biological and chemical warfare agents. New protocols based on our NBC bioeffects experiments will enable U.S. armed forces to accomplish military operations in NBC environments while optimizing both survival and military performance. Preserving combatants' health in an NBC environment will improve warfighting operations and mission capabilities.

Ionizing radiation depresses the immune defenses and enhances susceptibility to local and systemic infection due to endogenous or exogenous microorganisms. Exposure to a lethal dose of ionizing cobalt-60 gamma radiation induces a dose-related reduction in the number of both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria from 10(10-12) to 10(4-6) per gram of stool within 4 days. Whereas the number of anaerobic bacteria stays low, the number of Enterobacteriaceae per gram of stool increases significantly--up to 10(9) by the 12th day following irradiation. This increase is associated with bacterial translocation of these organisms and fatal bacteremia. The use of quinolones was effective in controlling systemic endogenous Gram-negative infection following irradiation. Supplementation with penicillin prevented treatment failures due to Streptococci and increased survival. Quinolones given for 21 days were also effective in the management of systemic exogenous infections due to orally ingested Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Quinolones may be effective because they inhibit growth of the exogenous organism within the gut lumen while preserving the anaerobic gut flora and their systemic antibacterial activity. Coadministration of antimicrobials effective against anaerobes may be required for the management of polymicrobial infections. The availability of both oral and parenteral routes of administration, the advantage of achieving selective inhibition of potential pathogens in the gut, and the ability to treat systemic infection make the quinolones promising agents for the therapy of endogenous and exogenous infections after irradiation.

The susceptibility of sublethally irradiated mice to pulmonary infection with Bacillus anthracis was investigated in a mouse model. Female B6D2F1/J mice were challenged intratracheally with 4.3 x 10(6), 3.7 x 10(7) and 4.4 x 10(8) cfu of B. anthracis Sterne spores 4 days after 60Co gamma-radiation at a dose of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 Gy. Bacterial cultures were obtained from lung, spleen homogenates and heart blood. A biphasic mode of mortality was observed, with a constant response of up to 3 or 4 Gy (up to 18% mortality), after which a sharp increase in mortality occurred (up to 100%). When irradiation was delayed beyond 15 days after inoculation, the susceptibility to B. anthracis infection and subsequent mortality disappeared. B. anthracis was recovered from the organs and blood of up to 89% of the animals. However, organisms of enteric origin were also isolated mixed with B. anthracis from up to 36% of the animals exposed to 3, 5 or 7 Gy. Inoculation of B. anthracis delta-Sterne-1 that lacks lethal toxin and oedema toxin also induced infection with B. anthracis, but not translocation of enteric micro-organisms. The synergic adverse effect of exposure to gamma-radiation followed by intratracheal challenge with B. anthracis was observed above 4 Gy. The lethal toxin of B. anthracis may enhance the emergence of polymicrobial infection with B. anthracis and enteric micro-organisms.