ABSTRACT
One of the earliest recognitions of the connection between health and security can be found in the domain of biological warfare. Biological warfare has been described as “public health in reverse”, Historically, state-based biological warfare programs have been viewed as posing the only biological threat to international security. Biological warfare is the use of microorganisms, toxins derived from living organisms, or bioregulators to deliberately cause the death or illness of humans, plants, or animals. Biological weapons are unique among the instruments of warfare because they are composed of, or derived from, living organisms. This feature of biological weapons has several important implications for their use as weapons by states and non-state actors. Biological warfare has been practiced since ancient times, though the number of actual attacks is small. In response to the horrors of chemical warfare during World War I, the use of chemical and biological weapons was banned in 1925 under the Geneva Protocol.
