UNICRI hosts webinar on bioterrorism

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic. The ongoing crisis has had an unprecedented impact not only on public health but also on the global economy, social wellbeing and critical infrastructure.

 

Moreover, in April 2020, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General warned about the threat COVID-19 poses to international peace and security, noting that: “The weaknesses and lack of preparedness exposed by this pandemic provide a window onto how a bioterrorist attack might unfold – and may increase its risks. Non-state groups could gain access to virulent strains that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe”.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic underlines the catastrophic consequences of infectious disease events of this kind and highlights the similar effects that an act of bioterrorism could have. This pandemic is a reminder of the destructive potential of bioterrorism and the possible misuse of viruses and technology to generate future pandemics.

 

The event was attended by about 200 participants from various countries and international organizations. The threat of bioterrorism during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as well as bioterrorism as a potential source of origin for future pandemics were discussed at the webinar.

 

The webinar allowed to analyze how technology could help to identify the origin of disease outbreaks and to model and forecast the spread of infectious disease.

 

The webinar was organized within the framework of UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact Working Group on Emerging Threats and Critical Infrastructure Protection project “Technology and Security: Enhancing Knowledge about Advances in Science and Technology to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Terrorism”.