Biowarfare is nothing new, and when you begin reading newspapers from over 100 years ago you will see that people had the same exact fears that we have today. Any germ in the hands of a corrupt person can be used as a weapon. Knowledge is a powerful thing that can be turned towards destruction.
MURDER BY SCIENCE
Microbes of Disease Furnish Humanity with New and Terribly Effective Weapon.
A subtle and horrible method of taking life has been placed within the means of unscrupulous men of science. Modern study of bacteriology has placed a new and terribly effective weapon in the hands of humanity. It is a weapon with which entire communities and towns may be stripped of their inhabitants. Wholesale deaths may be brought about without even directing suspicion toward the perpetrator of the crime, and, what is more, the man who seeks to deal out death in this way may select the specific disease he wishes to employ in carrying out his purpose. All of these menacing possibilities have developed through the advanced study of bacteria and the various uses, beneficial and otherwise, to which micro-organisms may be put. The fact has been established beyond all question of doubt that most contagious diseases are spread through microbes, and added to this knowledge is the additional information that each disease has its own specific kind of bacteria, which may be cultured and produced in countless numbers.
As an indication of the extremes to which a man may go in making use of his knowledge of microbes, the case of an Austrian medical student is given. This student had devoted a good deal of time and energy to the study of bacteriology. He was familiar with the various forms of microbes common to different contagious and infectious diseases, and knew how to use them with deadly effect. Recently the young man attempted to extort money from a rich widow by threatening to scatter disease germs in her room if she refused his demand. The woman at first was inclined to laugh at his threat, but finally he became so insistent and maintained such a menacing attitude that she reported the matter to the police and the medical student was arrested. When taken into custody there were found in his possession test tubes containing a sufficient number of bacteria to have carried death to half the residents of the town if properly circulated. The tubes contained cultures of cholera, typhoid fever, and lockjaw microbes, and showed conclusively that the young student was prepared to carry out his threat.
This, it is believed, is the first instance on record when a crime of this character has been brought to the attention of the authorities, but it by no means represents the possibilities of such a misapplication of scientific discoveries. The possibilities along this line are as a matter of fact almost limitless. [Source]
