Assessing the Developing Risk of Viral Bioterrorism: Implications and Immunological Interventions

Abstract

In recent years, breakthroughs in the field of bioengineering alongside the democratisation of access to scientific knowledge and techniques have made manipulating biological agents the easiest it has been in history. Simultaneously, the rampancy of class inequality, the worsening hostilities between the global poles, as well as other global issues have increased radicalisation and the prevalence of terrorist ideologies worldwide. Collectively, these realities contribute to a heightened risk of biological attack and bioterrorism in the present environment. Due to various factors including their greater pandemic potential, viruses are the biological agents most at risk of weaponisation by bad actors. In this paper we assessed the risk of bioterrorism with a focus on attacks using viral agents due to such agents’ greater transmissibility. We further assessed the viruses most at risk of weaponisation and the immunological interventions best suited to countering them, settling on the notion that neutralising antibody therapies are the most practical approach for rapidly and reliably countering the diverse range of agents at risk of exploitation. This review hopes to guide the thinking of policymakers and those in research positions on how to improve strategic planning against the threats of tomorrow, maintaining that preventing attacks through the deescalation of tensions is still a better solution than any intervention.