OTHER COUNTRIES

World Map
China
Iran - Iraq War
South Africa
Japan

ANTHRAX 
LEAK AT SVERDLOVSK

On April 2, 1979, an unusual Anthrax outbreak affecting 94 people, killing at least 64 of them, occurred in the Soviet city of Sverdlovsk, now known as Ekaterinburg, about 8B50 miles east of Moscow. The first victim died four days after the suspected outbreak occurred while the last one died one and a half months later. The Soviet government denied any wrongdoing, blaming the outbreak on contaminated meat, an excuse several influential American scientists found plausible.

However, the Carter administration was not fooled that easily. American spies had discovered the location of a suspected biological weapons facility located in Sverdlovsk itself, and the Americans suspected that the Soviet Union was violating the Biological Weapons Convention they had signed in 1972. The US made their suspicions public but the Soviets denied any wrongdoing and tried to prove their contaminated meat story at numerous international conferences.

Meanwhile, the Russian arsenal of offensive biological weapons continued to grow and it was not until thirteen years later, in 1992 that the Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, conceded that the facility was indeed the source of the outbreak. Russia, in an unprecedented move, even allowed a team of Western scientists to go to Sverdlovsk to carry out an intensive investigation.

1|2

Where to now? --- Agents --- Anthrax Botulinal Toxins Enterotoxin B Mycotoxins Cyanide Sarin VX Nerve Gas GB Tabun Mustard Gas --- Warfare --- Introduction Timeline World Map Delivery Protection --- Terrorism --- Introduction Counter Measures Smallpox --- Interactive --- Contents Page Crossword Quizzes Discussion Forums --- Administration --- Citations Contact Us