Terrorists can weaponize powerful infectious diseases to spread across borders via commercial planes, an expert warned.
According to Daily Star Online, in the past six months alone, Zimbabwe has been affected by a cholera outbreak, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has experienced a new Ebola outbreak, and the “black death” has returned to Madagascar. Earlier this week, the first British person infected with smallpox shared her fear she could pass the deadly virus on to her husband.
Professor Wyn Rees, a security expert at the University of Nottingham, commented on the Daily Star Online that the spread of disease via commercial aircraft is the “Holy Grail” of terrorism.
The spread of disease through commercial aircraft is the “Holy Grail” of terrorism.
“There’s always a lot of warning with things like that, be it bird flu or Ebola or chickenpox. These infectious diseases can actually spread across borders very quickly. I have no doubt about it. Public health officials are discussing the impact of these threats in Europe. Of course, those discussions are top secret,” Wyn Rees stressed.
According to this expert, it will be difficult to detect the passengers on the plane who are incubating these dreaded infectious diseases.
“Currently, we have a large amount of technology and dedicated infrastructure to detect explosives in the suitcases of airline passengers – but there is no clear way to prevent the spread of the virus. epidemic,” said Mr. Wyn Rees.
However, the expert also said that carrying out any such attack would not be easy.
“But there are real fears and it’s still a real risk,” said Wyn Rees.