Guarantor: Eric Croddy. MA During World War II both Soviet Red Army and German Wehrmacht forces suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties, many from infectious disease. In a recent book, Dr. Kenneth Alibek has suggested that the Soviet Red Army used tularemia (causative agent: Francisella tularensis) as a biological weapon during the battle of Stalingrad (1942-l943). Based on past clinical cases and the nature of the pathogen we propose that an outbreak resulting from natural causes is more likely. One of the most fiercely fought engagements in the Eurasian theater during World War II was the siege of Stalingrad, which involved at least two German group armies and resulted in the loss of millions on both sides, dead, wounded or captured.[1] Recently Dr. Kenneth Alibek has alleged that the Soviet Union used tularemia against German troops during this pivotal engagement, causing an epidemic that also affected Russian soldiers and civilians. From what we know of tularemia and its transmission, however, a natural outbreak at Stalingrad seems more likely. In his 1999 book, Biohazard, Alibek (formerly known as Kanatjan Alibekov) describes in great detail the history and possibly ongoing work in the former Soviet Union/Russian biological weapons program.[2] Much of what Alibek relates in his book, including the fact that the Soviet Union loaded a smallpox weapon on intercontinental missiles, is based on his experiences and knowledge gained while working for Biopreparat a very large, ostensibly civilian biotechnology concern established in 1973 for the development of biological weapons. It is unknown if research to offensive biological warfare (BW) continues in Russia. Alibek is generally considered to be reliable, and he has briefed the U.S. intelligence community at great length regarding former Soviet BW capabilities.[3] A former deputy director of the Soviet Russian Biopreparat. Alibek claims in his book that tularemia (caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis) was deployed against Nazi troops during the battle for Stalingrad (August 1942 to February 1943). Alibek bases his allegation on the hundreds of thousands of tularemia infections that quickly arose at the beginning of the siege and the collaborative statements of an elderly lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Red Army. Alibek also reports a significantly high (70%) pulmonary involvement among those infected with tularemia from both sides, suggesting man-made air-borne dissemination.
An editorial from Military Medicine, Vol. 166, No. 10, October 2001.
Contributors: Eric Croddy. MA: Sarka Krcalova MA
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