Pollution of Drinking Water Sources with Biological Toxins; Potential Threat of Bioterrorism

The importance of freshwater resources and water infrastructure for the health of human communities has made them one of the main targets of terrorist attacks. Currently, 9 types of biological toxins are considered to be potentially important factors in bioterrorism to contaminate drinking water resources. These toxins include botulinum toxin, T-2 mycotoxin, ricin, aflatoxin, saxitoxin, anatoxin A, tetrodotoxin, staphylococcal enterotoxins, and microcystin. There have been several reported terrorist attacks in the world using contaminated drinking water by microbial pathogens. Unlike most terrorist factors, it is very difficult to detect threats to water resources, and because such attacks are characterized only by the spread of contaminated water and the loss of many lives in an outbreak or epidemic, it is important to identify and deal with quickly. In addition to permanent control and elimination of the possible vulnerability of reservoirs and drinking water facilities in usual conditions, in order to quickly and efficiently deal with these threats, especially in crisis situations, most countries are equipped with diagnostic laboratories, monitoring systems and advanced monitoring networks. It seems vital to set up a specialized reference laboratory for controlling and monitoring drinking water in the field of passive defense. In addition to general and traditional tests, this laboratory must have specialized departments for monitoring, tracking and rapid detection of microbial pathogens contaminating drinking water, as well as biological toxins in this area using molecular, immunological methods, biosensors and nanosensors.