ABSTRACT

The first documented and accepted incidence of weaponized plague occurred in 1346, when Genoese traders and sailors were infected with the medieval Black Death deaths during the siege of Kaffa by the Golden Horde and its leader Janibeg in 1346-1347. First, pneumonic plague is an effective biological weapon because it is lethal Perry and transmissible and has the potential to become a pandemic such as in the Second Plague Pandemic/medieval Black Death. Among developing nations with an inadequate supply of antibiotics, 50-70% would die in the initial attack, and 50% would flee the attacked city, leading to secondary infections and another 250,000 deaths. Predictive statistical modeling using consistent, continuous remotely sensed data at a variety of spatial and temporal scales offers public health officials and scientists a cost-effective means to evaluate plague risk across broad domains. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book.