disaster 5th 1108_5th ed 2011 - Homeland Security and Emergency ...

infected with bacterium (bubonic), another can be spread through the air
and inhaled (pneumonic), and a third occurs when plague bacteria multiplies
in the blood of a person already infected with plague (septicemic).
Signs & Symptoms: Plague types may occur separately or in combination
with each other ... and all start with fever, headache, weakness, chills (possibly
puking and diarrhea) usually within 1 to 10 days of being exposed.
• Bubonic - most common - also develop swollen, tender
lymph glands (called buboes). Does not spread person to
person.
• Pneumonic - least common but most deadly -- could be
used in attack but hard since sunlight kills it. Also get
rapidly developing pneumonia with shortness of breath,
chest pain, cough, and sometimes bloody or watery spittle.
May cause respiratory failure, shock or death. Can spread
person to person through air (inhaling droplets from a
cough, sneeze, etc.)
• Septicemic - can occur with either bubonic or pneumonic
plague due to bacteria multiplying in blood. Also develop
abdominal pain, shock, and bleeding into skin and other
organs. Does not spread person to person.
Treatment: There are several antibiotics that can effectively treat plague.
(It is very important to get treatment for pneumonic plague within 24 hours
of first symptoms to reduce the chance of death.)
Ricin - is said to be one of the most toxic natural poisons made very easily
from the waste left over from processing castor beans. A castor bean plant
is a shrub-like herb with clustered seed pods containing bean-like seeds.
Accidental poisoning by ricin is unlikely -- it would have to be a planned
act to make and use the toxin as a weapon. Ricin can be in many forms and
is not weakened much by extreme hot or cold temperatures. (Note: Ricin
is also classed as a “biotoxin” under the CDC’s chemical agents’ list.)
How it spreads: Ricin cannot spread person to person. People come into
contact with ricin by breathing in a mist or powder spread into the air
(inhalation), by eating or drinking something containing toxin (ingestion),
or by having a ricin solution or pellet stuck into the body (injection). It can
also irritate skin and eyes if exposed to the powder or mist.
It is hard to say how much ricin could kill a person since it depends on how
that person was exposed to the toxin. For example, about 500 micrograms
(about the size of the head of a pin) could kill a person if injected into the
body, but it would take a lot more if inhaled or swallowed. Ricin prevents
cells from making proteins they need when toxin gets inside the body. Cells
will die without proteins and eventually entire body shuts down and dies.
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