GERM warfare experiments in which tonnes of live bacteria were released
across southern England between 1961 and 1971 could not have caused chronic
illness in humans, an independent scientific inquiry has found.
The Ministry of Defence set up the inquiry after pressure from people in
south Dorset who claim the tests caused high local rates of miscarriage and
birth defects. Brian Spratt, an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, says
he examined reports of all the experiments 鈥渋ncluding those that are still
肠濒补蝉蝉颈蹿颈别诲鈥�.
The bacteria released from the defence research establishment at Porton Down,
from ships offshore and from aeroplanes, included live Escherichia coli
and live spores of Bacillus globigii, a non-pathogenic relative of
anthrax. In 1963 and 1964, the spores were released on London Underground鈥檚
Northern Line 鈥減roducing an aerosol of high concentration that persisted for a
considerable time鈥�, says Spratt.
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Spratt concludes that none of the afflictions claimed by people in Dorset 鈥渋s
known to be associated with the bacteria that were released鈥�. However, he says
the bacteria may have caused acute chest or blood infections in the sick.
But Meryl Nass, who campaigns against biological weapons with Physicians for
Social Responsibility, based in Washington DC, questions whether Britain has
admitted all its tests. She says Britain worked closely with the US, which was
testing other bacteria that caused chronic illness at the same time.