The active ingredient in Botox could pose a grave national security threat if terrorists get hold of enough of the highly lethal toxin on the counterfeit market or figure out how to make it, two biological weapons experts warn.
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… Botulinum neurotoxin, in its pure form, is ‘the deadliest substance known to science,’ according to Coleman and Zilinskas. It is grouped with the world’s most lethal potential biological weapons agents, sharing ’select agent’ status with the pathogens that cause smallpox, anthrax and plague. How potent is it? One gram could be lethal to 14,285 people if ingested, 1.25 million people if inhaled, and 8.3 million people if injected. The toxin particles block receptors on nerve endings, silencing the nerves and paralyzing surrounding muscles.
Hat Tip – John Solomon – InCaseofEmergencyBlog
The article should not have been released by Media such as the New York Times and also onto the internet. It is irresponsible and only gives terrorists ideas.
Instead, on the scientists warning the government, the government should have quietly spoken to the manufacturers, for them to develop a substitute active ingredient and quietly withdraw the old and dangerous product from the market. Cooperation against terrorism, instead of cooperation with terrorism.
As bio-terror experts Coleman and Zilinskas are security analysts, it appears that their concerns may have been wasted on deaf government ears so that they had to go public. If that was the case, then heads need to roll at the top.