DEVELOPMENT OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS AND METHODS AND MEANS OF PROTECTION AGAINST THEM: A HISTORICAL RETROSPECTIVE

The article reveals the development of biological weapons and means of protection against them from their emergence to the present day. Methods of using biological weapons and experience of protecting against their effects are considered. The role of scientists in the fight against pathogens that led to epidemics was highlighted, and it was established that thanks to the achievements of medicine, and primarily vaccination, after all, protective vaccines against many human and animal diseases have significantly reduced the scale of devastating epidemics that devastated entire cities, regions, and countries. It has been proven that scientific achievements in the fight against infections have found wide application in the military sphere. At the same time, a system for protecting armed forces personnel from biological weapons as one of the components of weapons of mass destruction has been disclosed, which includes four main groups of measures.