Peculiarities of the application of biological factors during military operations

Abstract

Introduction. Today, in the course of military operations, events are taking place in our country aimed at undermining various spheres of life of the Ukrainian society, and directly against human health and life itself. The question of the use of certain types of weapons prohibited by international conventions in the course of hostilities remains open, as the aggressor country does not adhere to the generally accepted rules of war. One of the tasks of the forensic medical service is to assist the practical healthcare sector in preventing the emergence and spread of infectious diseases resulting from environmental disruption, poor food and water quality, and the possible use of biological weapons in the event of war. The purpose of this study is to analyze recent publications and basic experience of using various biological factors as biological weapons during hostilities. Materials and methods of the study. The work on the article was accompanied by an analysis of literary sources over the past seven years. Research results and discussion. In the study, the author notes that in the event of war, which applies to the modern Ukraine, the population suffers from physical and mental trauma, disruption of the social and medical spheres, mass migration from the occupied territories and war zones, and profound environmental crimes that affect the health and lives of people and animals. The author gives historical examples of the development, storage and use of various types of microorganisms and viruses during various wars, starting from the b.c. times. The author also analyzes the facts of the use of biological weapons during the First and Second World Wars on both the European and Asian continents. Studying the effect of the spread of massive infection of the population of Ukraine during the Second World War and in the first years after its end, the author determines that there is evidence that members of special units and soldiers of the Soviet army used sexual crimes against “unreliable” female citizens. In this way, centers of venereal disease emerged, mainly in rural areas where medical education and the opportunity to receive medical care were impossible for objective and subjective reasons. The situation was the same with the emergence of typhus outbreaks – fleas were artificially introduced into homes. Analyzing the material of the further history of the development of the production and use of biological weapons, the researcher touches upon the use of the following pathogens, the presence of which in humans is mainly the fourth level of biological hazard in everyday life, which is recorded when viruses are isolated that cause a severe and fatal disease and against which there are no vaccines or other methods of specific treatment: Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, a disease caused by the Marburg virus, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo various hemorrhagic diseases, and other diseases. Today, smallpox virus is a high-risk agent, despite the existence of a vaccine, because the disease was eradicated on Earth through vaccination in 1980, and since then the general population has not been regularly vaccinated. In order not to underestimate this level of danger, the author notes that the fifth level is the presence of biological factors from space. There are a large number of legal norms, agreements and other regulatory documents on the use of this type of weapon, but we can clearly see that even the Memorandum on the Preservation and Respect of Legal Borders is not being implemented by the aggressor. Conclusions. The constant mandatory assistance of the forensic service to clinicians is an important link in the prevention of the emergence and spread of infectious diseases of various etiologies, although it is very difficult due to massive injuries and deaths during hostilities.