Biological Warfare (Hansard, 22 October 2001)

§ Llew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what prophylactic research has been conducted by his Department and agencies responsible to his Department into(a) anthrax and (b) other biological agents. [8762]

§ Mr. Hoon
The remit of Defence Science Technology Laboratory Chemical (Dstl) and Biological Sciences at Porton Down is to provide the UK and its armed forces with safe and effective protection in the event of exposure to chemical or biological weapons. This involves conducting research into prophylactic measures, such as vaccines, antibiotics or antivirals for a variety of different biological agents including anthrax.
Dstl Porton Down seeks to publish the results of its research wherever security considerations allow. In recent years work has been published on a new vaccine against plague, which is currently undergoing clinical trials and the development of a new vaccine against anthrax which it is hoped will enter clinical trials in the near future. Additionally, research results on various prophylactic measures against a range of agents and diseases including Tularaemia, VEE, SEB, Brucellosis, Glanders, Ricin and Botulinum toxin have been published in the peer reviewed technical literature.

§ Dr. Gibson
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the potential for aerosol cloud travel; and what clinical and epidemiological data on human infections has been collated relating to a deliberate release of contagious organisms and toxins.[8618]

§ Mr. Hoon
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down has developed a package of state of the art atmospheric dispersion models to determine the potential travel of aerosol clouds.
These models form part of an extensive suite of tools and data which are used by the Ministry of Defence to assess the potential hazard posed by chemical and biological weapons. For agents of biological origin, the data include estimates of the human toxicity or infectivity, the transmissibility, atmospheric stability and the availability of detection, protection and medical countermeasures.