Editing Plague (disease) (section)

==Biological weapon==
The plague has a long history as a [[biological weapon]]. Historical accounts from [[ancient China]] and [[medieval Europe]] details the use of infected animal carcasses, such as cows or horses, and human carcasses, by the [[Xiongnu]]/[[Huns]], [[Mongols]], [[Turkic peoples|Turks]] and other groups, to contaminate enemy water supplies. [[Han dynasty]] general [[Huo Qubing]] is recorded to have died of such contamination while engaging in warfare against the Xiongnu{{Citation needed|reason=Death by plague not mentioned in [[Huo Qubing]] or Schama (2000) citation|date=December 2024}}. Plague victims were also reported to have been tossed by [[catapult]] into cities under siege.<ref>Schama, S. (2000). ''A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World? 3000 BC-AD 1603'', BBC Worldwide, London, p. 226.</ref>

In 1347, the [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] possession of [[Feodosia|Caffa]], a great trade emporium on the [[Crimean peninsula]], came under siege by an army of [[Mongol]] warriors of the [[Golden Horde]] under the command of [[Jani Beg]]. After a protracted siege during which the Mongol army was reportedly withering from the disease, they decided to use the infected corpses as a biological weapon. The corpses were catapulted over the city walls, infecting the inhabitants. This event might have led to the transfer of the [[Black Death]] via their ships into the south of [[Europe]], possibly explaining its rapid spread.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/8/9/01-0536_article |author=Wheelis M. |title=Biological warfare at the 1346 siege of Caffa |journal=Emerg Infect Dis |year = 2002 |doi=10.3201/eid0809.010536 |volume=8 |issue=9 |pages=971–975 |pmid=12194776 |pmc=2732530 }}</ref>

During [[World War II]], the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese Army]] developed weaponized plague, based on the breeding and release of large numbers of fleas. During the Japanese occupation of [[Manchuria]], [[Unit 731]] deliberately infected [[Chinese people|Chinese]], Korean and Manchurian [[civilian]]s and [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] with the plague bacterium. These subjects, termed "maruta" or "logs", were then studied by [[dissection]], others by [[vivisection]] while still conscious. Members of the unit such as [[Shirō Ishii]] were exonerated from the [[Tokyo tribunal]] by [[Douglas MacArthur]] but 12 of them were prosecuted in the [[Khabarovsk War Crime Trials]] in 1949 during which some admitted having spread [[bubonic plague]] within a {{convert|36|km|mi|adj=on}} radius around the city of [[Changde]].<ref>Daniel Barenblatt, ''A Plague upon Humanity'', HarperCollins, 2004, pp. 220–221</ref>

Ishii innovated bombs containing live mice and fleas, with very small explosive loads, to deliver the weaponized microbes, overcoming the problem of the explosive killing the infected animal and insect by the use of a ceramic, rather than metal, casing for the warhead. While no records survive of the actual usage of the ceramic shells, prototypes exist and are believed to have been used in experiments during WWII.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Japan's Secret Biological Weapons Program|url=https://www.damninteresting.com/nugget/ww2-japans-secret-biological-weapons-program/|website=Damn Interesting|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Chen |first1=Boyuan |title=New evidence of Japan's Unit 731 bio-warfare |url=http://www.china.org.cn/china/2013-09/17/content_30056280.htm |access-date=29 August 2020 |publisher=China.org.cn |date=September 17, 2013}}</ref>

After World War II, both the United States and the Soviet Union developed means of weaponising pneumonic plague. Experiments included various delivery methods, vacuum drying, sizing the bacterium, developing strains resistant to antibiotics, combining the bacterium with other diseases (such as [[diphtheria]]), and genetic engineering. Scientists who worked in [[Soviet biological weapons program|USSR bio-weapons programs]] have stated that the Soviet effort was formidable and that large stocks of weaponised plague bacteria were produced. Information on many of the Soviet and US projects is largely unavailable. Aerosolized pneumonic plague remains the most significant threat.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plague |url=https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-public-health-preparedness/tips/topics/Biologic_Weapons/plague2.html |website=Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University |access-date=29 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fleisher |first1=Lee |title=Anesthesia and Uncommon Diseases |date= 2012 |isbn=9781455737550 |page=394 |publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Riedel |first1=Stefan |title=Plague: from natural disease to bioterrorism |journal=Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings |date=April 18, 2005 |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=116–124 |doi=10.1080/08998280.2005.11928049 |pmid=16200159 |pmc=1200711 }}</ref>

The plague can be easily treated with antibiotics. Some countries, such as the United States, have large supplies on hand if such an attack should occur, making the threat less severe.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Diseases of the Human Body|last1=Tamparo|first1=Carol|last2=Lewis|first2=Marcia|publisher=F.A. Davis Company|year=2011|isbn=9780803625051|location=Philadelphia, PA|page=70}}</ref>