Prions unlikely, they don’t possess the infectious nature of pathogens… additionally it’s a pretty rare disease, because animals showing signs of prions are usually eradicated and burned. Also humans can carry inheritable forms, which is even rarer than cow prions.
Maybe… Prions are a different beast altogether in terms of illness. Even the most terrifying forms take years to debilitate and kill you. I don’t think most countries want to wait that long to cripple an opponent, and definitely won’t want to unleash anything on a neighbor that will certainly come back at them. Right now the only thing that truly gets prions to be gone is incineration levels of heat.
So I don’t think biological warfare is going to be on the table. Maybe terrorist type attacks, where the asymmetrical nature of the opponents makes the user unconcerned about potential effects on themself.
I’d say the most likely path to prion outbreak would be lack of food regulation. Thousands of people could get sick/ die from contaminated ground meat, and without FDA functioning, it will be too late to prevent it.
Prion based pandemic is entirely possible.
I anticipate prions becoming a part of biological warfare in the coming years.
Prions unlikely, they don’t possess the infectious nature of pathogens… additionally it’s a pretty rare disease, because animals showing signs of prions are usually eradicated and burned. Also humans can carry inheritable forms, which is even rarer than cow prions.
Maybe… Prions are a different beast altogether in terms of illness. Even the most terrifying forms take years to debilitate and kill you. I don’t think most countries want to wait that long to cripple an opponent, and definitely won’t want to unleash anything on a neighbor that will certainly come back at them. Right now the only thing that truly gets prions to be gone is incineration levels of heat.
So I don’t think biological warfare is going to be on the table. Maybe terrorist type attacks, where the asymmetrical nature of the opponents makes the user unconcerned about potential effects on themself.
I’d say the most likely path to prion outbreak would be lack of food regulation. Thousands of people could get sick/ die from contaminated ground meat, and without FDA functioning, it will be too late to prevent it.