Bioterrorism Quiz

Medhunters recently reported on a study that showed physicians in the United States are undertrained in the diagnosis and management of infection caused by four pathogens (smallpox, anthrax, botulism, and plague) identified as likely to be used in a potential bioterrorism attack. Knowledge of diagnosis and management of these pathogens improved only after the study's participants were asked to complete an online training program.

We have put together our own short quiz on facts relating to biological weapons, using the tool of humor to teach!

1. Which of the following best describes a biological weapon?

a) The two-month-old moldy sandwich that a coworker has left sitting in the lunchroom fridge.

b) The pungent French cheese that your uncle transported by suitcase across the Atlantic during the height of the summer tourist season.

c) The use of an organism or toxin found in nature as a weapon of war.

d) All of the above.

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2. What is the Geneva Protocol?

a) The title of a new novel by Dan Brown, in which the hero discovers that the seemingly random holes in Swiss cheese are actually coordinates that will lead him to a treasure hidden away in a medieval castle on the shores of Lake Geneva.

b) An international treaty signed in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 17, 1925 that prohibits the use of chemical or biological weapons in war.

c) A highly secretive document outlining the formation of a world government by all of the international organizations located in the Lake Geneva area of Switzerland.

d) A short-lived 1980s new wave band from Switzerland.

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3. The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) of 1972 prohibits the "the development, production and stockpiling of chemical and bacteriological (biological) weapons," but does not specifically prohibit:

a) Scribbling on them with washable markers.

b) Their use.

c) Getting angry about the BTWC's apparent lack of any real efficacy when it comes to banning the use of biological weapons.

d) Cafeteria food in hospitals.

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4. A Biosafety Level 4 (BSL 4) Laboratory refers to:

a) The place in the hospital where your coworker's two-month-old moldy sandwich is taken once it has been discovered.

b) A facility in which research is conducted on the most dangerous microorganisms, such as plague, anthrax, smallpox, and tularemia, or dangerous viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola.

c) The playroom of a typical day care or nursery during the winter flu season.

d) The average bachelor's fridge.

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5. Smallpox is a naturally occurring infectious disease that can sometimes be fatal. It has two principal variants that are known as variola minor and variola major. The disease's Latin name refers to:

a) Two types of wooden stringed instruments.

b) Two constellations in the northern hemisphere.

c) The small raised bumps that appear on the faces and bodies of the victims of smallpox.

d) Rhetorical devices.

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6. Anthrax is caused by a bacterium (Bacillus anthracis) that is common to wild and domestic herbivores. The disease is also known as splenic fever, and has three main types: cutaneous, inhalational, and gastrointestinal. The term anthrax is derived from the Greek word for coal, because:

a) No one could think of a better name.

b) Victims of anthrax develop black skin lesions.

c) Anthrax sounded sufficiently menacing.

d) At the time, it hadn't already been used to name a heavy metal band.

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7. Botulism is a muscle paralyzing disease caused by a nerve toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. There are three main types of botulism: food borne, infant, and wound. According the Centers for Disease Control, food borne botulism in the United States is commonly caused by:

a) Eating contaminated home-canned foods.

b) Inadvertently eating a two-month-old moldy sandwich.

c) Sharing cannolis after a bocce game at the local Italian seniors' residence.

d) Your runny-nosed nephew double-dipping chips.

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8. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization currently reports the following number of cases of plague each year:

a) More than you'd like to know.

b) Somewhere between zero and infinity.

c) Between 1,000 and 3,000 cases.

d) All of the above.

Answers: 1.c – or, some would say, d) 2.b) 3.b) 4.b) 5.c) 6.b) 7.a) 8.d)

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Mark Grzeskowiak

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