HL Deb 14 January 2004 vol 657 cc89-90WA
Lord Jopling

asked Her Majesty's Government: What are the symptoms, incubation period, methods of spread, diagnosis, treatment and prevention as well as the frequency of death from agents weaponised by the former Soviet Union such as marburg, tularemia and plague. [HL643]

Lord Warner

There has been no occurrence of marburg, tularemia or plague as biological weapons and therefore the characteristics of the agents as naturally occurring infections are given in the answer as follows.

Marburg

Marburg virus disease does not occur naturally in the United Kingdom. Symptoms include headaches, fever, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, haemorrhaging, conjunctivitis, sensitivity to light (photophobia), skin rash and jaundice. The incubation period is five to seven days and method of spread is via direct contact with infected bodily secretions, organs or blood of a person or animal. Samples from patients are submitted for laboratory testing (virus isolation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)). There is no specific treatment and prevention relies on the isolation of infected individuals and animals to prevent transmission. The fatality rate is about 25 per cent.

Tularemia

Tularemia does not occur in the UK. There are two groups of symptoms which depend upon the route of infection. If infection is by the inhalation route, the symptoms are characterised by sudden onset of chills, fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, loss of body fluids. If infection is via the skin, this is characterised by deep ulcers on the skin with swelling of regional lymph nodes. The incubation period is one to 21 days. Method of spread is via blood or tissue of infected animals or bites of infected deer flies, mosquitoes or ticks. Less commonly infection can result from inhalation of contaminated dust or ingestion of contaminated food or water. Samples from patients are submitted for laboratory testing (microbiology, serology and PCR). Antibiotics such as streptomycin or gentamicin are effective in treating tularemia. There is a vaccine for the disease (produced in the United States and not licensed) but it does not appear to protect against the airborne form of the disease. There are two forms of the organism—type A which causes more serious disease in humans, and type B. If untreated, the mortality rate of type A infections ranges from 4 per cent for the skin form, to 30 to 60 per cent for the inhalation form of the disease.

Plague

Plague does not occur naturally in the UK. There are two forms of plague which depend upon the route of infection—bubonic plague and pneumonic plague. Both types are associated with high fever, headache, general aches, extreme weakness, glandular swelling and pneumonia. The incubation period is two to six days for bubonic plague and one to six days for pneumonic plague. The bubonic form is spread from rodents to humans by the bite of an infected flea. The pneumonic form is spread by inhalation of the organism. Samples from patients are submitted for laboratory testing (microbiology and PCR).

Antibiotics such as streptomycin, doxycycline, gentamycin and ciprofloxacin are effective in treating disease. No vaccine is available and prevention is primarily via control of the rodent population. If untreated, both forms of plague are usually fatal.