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Credits: 3.0 (Graduate)

Semester Schedule: Fall 2005, class to meet once each week (Mondays) starting 12-September
15:30-17:30 (3:30p-5:30p) in NJDS B-853.

Instructors:
Dr. Nancy Connell
Prof. Brendan McCluskey
Dr. Nick Megjugorac

General goals:
• To gain a knowledge of the history of agents of biological warfare, including political considerations, development, and use, and to relate this information to the potential for tactical/terrorist deployment
• To gain a knowledge of the biology of agents of biological warfare and terrorism, including microbiology, genetics, immunology, identification, diagnosis, and disease
• To gain an appreciation for the overall effects of biological weapons use, including detection and epidemiology, emergency response and management, and psychological impact
• To understand the difficulties in control and non-proliferation, including difficulties in fashioning a verification protocol to the current Biological Weapons Convention

Course structure:

The course will meet once a week for 15 weeks (2 hour sessions); during the first class, students will be assigned an agent/disease to focus on during the semester. The first few weeks will consist of lectures/presentations by the instructors and other experts in the field of terrorism, defense, and related areas.

In addition to lectures by the primary instructors and other speakers, students will give a series of presentations (PowerPoint) on their assigned agent/disease: four (4) in total, one (1) covering each of the general goals listed above. Students will be limited to ten (10) minutes for each presentation, and the time limit will be strictly enforced; part of the student’s grade for the presentation will be based on how well the 10 minutes are used. Students who are not presenting are expected to spend some time surveying the topics for discussion that day, and have questions prepared to ask the student presenter. It would be advisable to have questions written down, as the instructors will call on students to ask questions of the presenter.

In addition, time will be spent during each class going over news and other noteworthy events that have recently occurred; students are expected to read, watch, and listen to news and other sources to gather information to share with the class regarding biological and other forms of terrorism.

It is highly recommended that all students join the Center for BioDefense/CBRNE Center Yahoo! Group for dissemination of news and related information. You can subscribe to this listserv by sending an email to umdnj_center_for_biodefense-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Method of Evaluation: In-class presentations (40%) and in-class participation (15%); end of semester final exam, in-class (45%).

General Outline:

1. History and Politics of Biological Weapons
   1. Pre-WWII
   2. WWII use
   3. Post-WWII
   4. Iraq/Sverdlovsk
   5. Recent History
   6. Geneva Protocol
2. Biological Warfare Agents
   1. Bacteria (anthrax, plague, brucellosis, etc.)
   2. Viruses (smallpox, hemorrhagic fevers, etc.)
   3. Toxins/Fungi/Other (ricin, botulism, T-2 mycotoxin, etc.)
3. Effects of Biological Weapons Use
   1. Detection
   2. Emergency Response
   3. Psychological Impact
   4. Recovery
4. Control of Proliferation
   1. Biological Weapons Convention
   2. Verification; 1991-2000
   3. November 2001
   4. Chemical Weapons Convention
   5. Regulation

Biological Agents (for this course)

1. Bacteria
   1. Anthrax
   2. Brucellosis
   3. Glanders
   4. Tularemia
   5. Plague
   6. Q-fever
   7. E. coli
   8. Cholera
   9. Salmonella
   10. MDR-TB
2. Viruses
   1. Smallpox
   2. Ebola/Marburg
   3. Dengue
   4. Influenza
   5. SARS
   6. Encephalitis
   7. FMD
3. Toxins
   1. Ricin
   2. Botulinum
   3. SEB
   4. T-2 Mycotoxins