Implications of Antibiotic Resistance in Potential Agents of Bioterrorism

A Phage Foundry Framework to Systematically Develop Viral Countermeasures to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Pathogens

“…Some of the priority pathogens listed in Figure 1 have been shown to be untreatable with currently available therapies and urgently need a focused effort to develop alternative treatments ( Tacconelli et al., 2018 ). This need is especially acute from a national biosecurity point of view, as we need to be better equipped to counter an incidence of natural or intentional release of MDR pathogens including antimicrobial resistant bioterrorism agents into our food, dairy and meat processing facilities, water supply, or healthcare facilities ( Fauci, 2001 ; Weigel and Morse, 2009 ; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019 ). For example, although the US Strategic National Stockpile contains >$7 billion worth of emergency supplies ( Board on Health Sciences Policy, Health and Medicine Division and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016 ) including antibiotics, vaccines, and medicines address any all-hazard mass casualty in any part of the USA, it may not have readily available antibiotic-alternative solutions that are scalable and rapidly deployable to address unseen national MDR emergencies ( Weigel and Morse, 2009 ; PHEMCE SIP, 2015 ; Gerstein, 2020 ).…”

Wars and sweets: microbes, medicines and other moderns in and beyond the(ir) antibiotic era

“…Simply put, we had not been rational enough, particularly those less educated, poorer, living in low-resourced settings (although many of us vehemently disagreed and refused these evangelical claims: Broom and Doron 2020 ; Nabirye et al 2021 ; MacPherson et al 2021 ; Dixon et al 2021 ). So, we issued commands to further drill rationality into civilians and medical and veterinary professionals to better protect and stockpile our current and future antibiotic armaments ( APUA 2020 ; Weigel and Morse 2009 ). We recruited antibiotic guardians ( Kesten et al 2018 ) and resistance fighters ( Longitude Prize 2018 ), and called for more and more people to sign oaths and pledge their allegiance and funds to our war on bacterial resistance.…”

Bacteriophages: Practical Applications for Nature's Biocontrol

“…Therefore, people or farm animals exposed to those agents would become sick with mostly fatal disease. Certainly the impact of three classic agents of biological warfare, B. anthracis spores, Brucella melitensis, and Francisella tularensis with their potential use for bioterrorism, coupled with antibiotic resistance puts humanity in the face of a terrifying threat (Kaufmann et al 1997;Grilló et al 2006;WHO 2007;Weigel and Morse 2009;Daniszewski 2013). As a result, AMR has evolved and is increasingly claiming lives.…”

“…As a result, AMR has evolved and is increasingly claiming lives. Other researchers also have considered Yersinia pestis (plague), Coxiella burnetii, Burkholderia mallei, Burkholderia pseudomallei, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Vibrio cholerae as potential agents of bioterrorism (Khan et al 2000;Weigel and Morse 2009). By 2050 a continued rise in resistance would result in 10 million people dying worldwide every year costing up to 100 trillion USD (O'Neill 2014).…”

“…It is most commonly contracted when people breathe airborne anthrax spores. Natural resistance of B. anthracis to antibiotics has also been documented and in vitro studies have shown that B. anthracis can develop resistance to sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline and b-lactam antibiotics (Athamna et al 2004;Weigel and Morse 2009;Habrun et al 2011;Daniszewski 2013). This process usually takes 1-6 days.…”