Condensed Minutes of Ninth Service Command BW Meeting

Condensed Minutes of Ninth Service Command BW Meeting

This conference was held to discuss biological activities in their relation to security. The main topic is Japan's potential use of balloons to spread biological material.

1945

This meeting was largely concerned with the possibility of the Japanese disseminating biological material with balloons in the United States. A balloon was found and we know that they possess most biological agents that can be used as a weapon. Should they use this method, it is most likely they will attack the food supply and the best agent for that would be rinderpest. Should they seek to cause an epidemic, insect vectors may be the most likely method. There needs to be strict protocol for the collection and testing of samples from these balloons as detection is key for response. Also identifies key characteristics of BW agents for effective deployment, as well as a list of some agents that fit some or all of these criteria.