Editing Biological warfare (section)

===Cold War===
In Britain, the 1950s saw the weaponization of [[Bubonic plague|plague]], [[brucellosis]], [[tularemia]] and later [[Eastern equine encephalitis virus|equine encephalomyelitis]] and [[vaccinia]] viruses, but the programme was unilaterally cancelled in 1956. The [[United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories]] weaponized [[anthrax]], [[tularemia]], [[brucellosis]], [[Q-fever]] and others.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Clark|first1=William R. | name-list-style = vanc |title=Bracing for Armageddon?: The Science and Politics of Bioterrorism in America|date=15 May 2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=USA}}</ref>

In 1969, US President [[Richard Nixon]] decided to [[Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs|unilaterally terminate]] the [[United States biological weapons program|offensive biological weapons program of the US]], allowing only scientific research for defensive measures.<ref>[[Richard Nixon]] (1969), [[Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs]]. [[wikisource:Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs|Wikisource link]].</ref> This decision increased the momentum of the negotiations for a ban on biological warfare, which took place from 1969 to 1972 in the United Nation's [[Conference of the Committee on Disarmament]] in Geneva.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=History of the Biological Weapons Convention|url=https://www.un.org/disarmament/biological-weapons/about/history/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216203033/https://www.un.org/disarmament/biological-weapons/about/history|archive-date=2021-02-16|access-date=2021-03-02|website=[[United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs]]|language=en-US}}</ref> These negotiations resulted in the [[Biological Weapons Convention]], which was opened for signature on 10 April 1972 and entered into force on 26 March 1975 after its ratification by 22 states.<ref name=":4" />

Despite being a party and depositary to the BWC, the [[Soviet Union]] continued and expanded its massive [[Soviet biological weapons program|offensive biological weapons program]], under the leadership of the allegedly civilian institution [[Biopreparat]].<ref name="Alibek" /> The Soviet Union attracted international suspicion after the 1979 [[Sverdlovsk anthrax leak]] killed approximately 65 to 100 people.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Meselson|first1=M.|last2=Guillemin|first2=J.|last3=Hugh-Jones|first3=M.|last4=Langmuir|first4=A.|last5=Popova|first5=I.|last6=Shelokov|first6=A.|last7=Yampolskaya|first7=O.|date=1994-11-18|title=The Sverdlovsk anthrax outbreak of 1979|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.7973702|journal=Science|language=en|volume=266|issue=5188|pages=1202–1208|doi=10.1126/science.7973702|issn=0036-8075|pmid=7973702|bibcode=1994Sci...266.1202M}}</ref>