United States biological weapons program The United States biological weapons program officially began in spring 1943 on orders from U . S . President Franklin Roosevelt . Research continued following World War II as the U . S . built up a large stockpile of biological agent s and weapons . Over the course of its 26 year history , the program weaponized and stockpiled the following seven bio - agent s ( and pursued basic research on many more ) : Throughout its history the US bioweapons program was secret . It became controversial when it was later revealed that laboratory and field testing ( some of the latter using simulants on non - consenting individuals ) had been common . The official policy of the United States was first to deter the use of bio - weapons against U . S . forces and secondarily to retaliate if deterrence failed . There exists no evidence that the U . S . ever used biological agents against an enemy in the field ( see below for alleged uses ) . In 1969 , President Richard Nixon ended all offensive ( i . e . , non - defensive ) aspects of the U . S . bio - weapons program . In 1975 the U . S . ratified both the 1925 Geneva Protocol and the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention ( BWC ) — these are international treaties outlawing biological warfare . Recent U . S . biodefense programs , however , have raised concerns that the U . S . may be pursuing research that is outlawed by the BWC . History . Early history ( 1918 - 41 ) . The United States ' first interest in any form of biological warfare came at the close of World War I . The only agent the U . S . tested was the toxin ricin a product of the castor plant . The U . S . conducted tests concerning two methods of ricin dissemination , the first , involved adhering the toxin to shrapnel for delivery by artillery shell , which was successful . The other method , delivering an aerosol cloud of ricin , proved less successful . Neither delivery method was perfected before the war in Europe ended . In the early 1920s suggestions that the U . S . begin a biological weapons program were coming from within the Chemical Warfare Service ( CWS ) . Chief of the CWS , Amos Fries , decided that such a program would not be " profitable " for the U . S . Japan ' s Shiro Ishii began promoting biological weapons during the 1920s and toured biological research facilities worldwide , including in the United States . Though Ishii concluded that the U . S . was developing a bio - weapons programs , he was incorrect . In fact , Ishii concluded that each major power he visited was developing a bio - weapons program . As the interwar period continued , the United States did not emphasize biological weapons development or research . While the U . S . was spending very little time on biological weapons research , its future allies and enemies in the upcoming second World War were researching the potential of biological weapons as early as 1933 . World War II ( 1941 - 45 ) . Despite the World War I - era interest in ricin , as World War II erupted the United States Army still maintained the position that biological weapons were , for the most part , impractical . Other nations , notably France , Japan and the United Kingdom , thought otherwise and had begun their own biological weapons programs . Thus , as late as 1942 the U . S . had no biological weapons capabilities . Initial interest in biological weapons by the Chemical Warfare Service began in 1941 . That fall , U . S . Secretary of War Henry L . Stimson requested that the National Academy of Sciences ( NAS ) undertake consideration of U . S . biological warfare . He wrote to Dr . Frank B . Jewett , then president of the NAS : Because of the dangers that might confront this country from potential enemies employing what may be broadly described as biological warfare , it seems advisable that investigations be initiated to survey the present situation and the future possibilities . I am therefore , asking if you will undertake the appointment of an appropriate committee to survey all phases of this matter . Your organization already has before it a request from The Surgeon General for the appointment of a committee by the Division of Medical Sciences of the National Research Council to examine one phase of the matter . In response the NAS formed a committee , the War Bureau of Consultants ( WBC ) , which issued a report on the subject in February 1942 . The report , among other items , recommended the research and development of an offensive biological weapons program . The British , and the research undertaken by the WBC , pressured the U . S . to begin biological weapons research and development and in November 1942 U . S . President Franklin Roosevelt officially approved an American biological weapons program . In response to the information provided by the WBC , Roosevelt ordered Stimson to form the War Research Service ( WRS ) . Established within the Federal Security Agency , the WRS ' stated purpose was to promote " public security and health " , but , in reality , the WRS was tasked with coordinating and supervising the U . S . biological warfare program . In the spring of 1943 the U . S . Army Biological Warfare Laboratories were established at Fort ( then Camp ) Detrick in Maryland . Though initially , under George Merck , the WRS contracted several universities to participate in the U . S . biological weapons program , the program became large quickly and before long it was under the full control of the CWS . By November 1943 the biological weapons facility at Detrick was completed , in addition , the United States constructed three other facilities - a biological agent production plant at Vigo County near Terre Haute , Indiana , a field - testing site on Horn Island in Mississippi , and another field site near Granite Peak in Utah . According to an official history of the period , " the elaborate security precautions taken [ at Camp Detrick ] were so effective that it was not until January 1946 , 4 months after VJ Day , that the public learned of the wartime research in biological weapons " . Cold War ( 1946 - 69 ) . Immediately following World War II , production of U . S . biological warfare agents went from " factory - level to laboratory - level " . Meanwhile , work on biological weapons delivery systems increased . By 1950 the principal U . S . bio - weapons facility was located at Camp Detrick in Maryland under the auspices of the Research and Engineering Division of the U . S . Army Chemical Corps . The U . S . also maintained bio - warfare facilities at Fort Terry , an animal research facility on Plum Island . From the end of World War II through the Korean War , the U . S . Army , the Chemical Corps and the U . S . Air Force all made great strides in their biological warfare programs , especially concerning delivery systems . The U . S . biological program expanded significantly during the Korean War . From 1952 - 1954 the Chemical Corps maintained a biological weapons research and development facility at Fort Terry on Plum Island , New York . The Fort Terry facility ' s focus was on anti - animal biological weapon research and development ; the facility researched more than a dozen potential BW agents . A facility was opened in Pine Bluff , Arkansas , Pine Bluff Arsenal and by 1954 the production of weapons - grade agents began . Another substantive expansion phase was during the Kennedy - Johnson years , after McNamara initiated Project 112 as a comprehensive initiative , starting in 1961 . Despite an increase in testing , the readiness for biological warfare remained limited after this program . A 10 November 1969 report by the Interdepartmental Political - Military Group submitted its findings to the Nixon administration that the American BW capability was limited : Subsequently Nixon announced that the US was unilaterally renouncing its biological warfare program . End of the program ( 1969 - 73 ) . President Richard M . Nixon issued his " Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs " on November 25 , 1969 in a speech from Fort Detrick . The statement ended , unconditionally , all U . S . offensive biological weapons programs . Nixon noted that biological weapons were unreliable and stated : The United States shall renounce the use of lethal biological agents and weapons , and all other methods of biological warfare . The United States will confine its biological research to defensive measures such as immunization and safety measures . In his speech Nixon called his move " unprecedented " ; and it was in fact the first review of the U . S . biological warfare program since 1954 . Despite the lack of review , the biological warfare program had increased in cost and size since 1961 ; when Nixon ended the program the budget was $ 300 million annually . Nixon ' s statement confined all biological weapons research to defensive - only and ordered the destruction of the existing U . S . biological arsenal . U . S . biological weapons stocks were destroyed over the next few years . A $ 12 million disposal plan was undertaken at Pine Bluff Arsenal , where all U . S . anti - personnel biological agent s were stored . That plan was completed in May 1972 and included decontamination of facilities at Pine Bluff . Other agents , including anti - crop agents such as wheat stem rust , were stored at Beale Air Force Base and Rocky Mountain Arsenal . These anti - crop agents , along with agents at Fort Detrick used for research purposes were destroyed in March 1973 . Budget history . From the onset of the U . S . biological weapons program in 1943 through the end of World War II the United States spent $ 400 million on biological weapons , mostly on research and development . The budget for fiscal year 1966 was $ 38 million . When Nixon ended the U . S . bio - weapons program it represented the first review of the U . S . biological warfare program since 1954 . Despite the lack of review , the biological warfare program had increased in cost and size since 1961 ; when Nixon ended the program the budget was $ 300 million annually . Geneva Protocol and BWC . The 1925 Geneva Protocol , ratified by most major powers in the 1920s and 30s , had still not been ratified by the United States at the dawn of World War II . Among the Protocol ' s provisions , was a ban on bacteriological warfare . The Geneva Protocol had encountered opposition in the U . S . Senate , in part due to strong lobbying against it by the Chemical Warfare Service , and it was never brought to the floor for a vote when originally introduced . Regardless , on June 8 , 1943 President Roosevelt affirmed a no - first - use policy for the United States concerning biological weapons . Even with Roosevelt ' s declaration opposition to the Protocol remained strong ; in 1949 the Protocol was among several old treaties returned to President Harry S . Truman unratified . When Nixon ended the U . S . bio - weapons program in 1969 he also announced that he would resubmit the Geneva Protocol to the U . S . Senate . This was a move Nixon was considering as early as July 1969 . The announcement included language that indicated the Nixon administration was moving toward an international agreement on an outright ban on bio - weapons . Thus , the Nixon administration became the world ' s leading anti - biological weapons voice calling for an international treaty . The Eighteen Nation Disarmament Committee was discussing a British draft of a biological weapons treaty which the United Nations General Assembly approved in 1968 and that NATO supported . These arms control talks would eventually lead to the Biological Weapons Convention , the international treaty outlawing biological warfare . Prior , to the Nixon announcement only Canada supported the British draft . Beginning in 1972 , the Soviet Union , United States and more than 100 other countries signed the BWC . The United States ratified the Geneva Protocol in 1975 . Agents studied and weaponized . When the U . S . biological warfare program ended in 1969 it had developed seven mass - produced , battle - ready biological weapons in the form of agents that cause : anthrax , tularemia , brucellosis , Q - fever , VEE , and botulism . In addition staphylococcal enterotoxin B was produced as an incapacitating agent . In addition to the agents that were ready to be used , the U . S . program conducted research into the weaponization of more than 20 other agents . They included : smallpox , EEE and WEE , AHF , Hantavirus , BHF , Lassa fever , glanders , melioidosis , plague , yellow fever , psittacosis , typhus , dengue fever , Rift Valley fever ( RVF ) , CHIKV , late blight of potato , rinderpest , Newcastle disease , bird flu , and the toxin ricin . Besides the numerous pathogens that afflict human beings , the U . S . had developed an arsenal of anti - agriculture biological agents . These included rye stem rust spores ( stored at Edgewood Arsenal , 1951 – 1957 ) , wheat stem rust spores ( stored at the same facility 1962 – 1969 ) , and the causative agent of rice blast ( stored at Fort Detrick 1965 – 1966 ) . A U . S . facility at Fort Terry focused primarily on anti - animal biological agents . The first agent that was a candidate for development was foot and mouth disease ( FMD ) . Besides FMD , five other top - secret biological weapons projects were commissioned on Plum Island . The other four programs researched included RVF , rinderpest , African swine fever , plus eleven miscellaneous exotic animal diseases . The eleven miscellaneous pathogens were : Blue tongue virus , bovine influenza , bovine virus diarrhea ( BVD ) , fowl plague , goat pneumonitis , mycobacteria , " N " virus , Newcastle disease , sheep pox , Teschers disease , and vesicular stomatitis . Work on delivery systems for the U . S . bioweapons arsenal led to the first mass - produced biological weapon in 1952 , the M33 cluster bomb . The M33 ' s sub - munition , the pipe - bomb - like cylindrical M114 bomb , was also completed and battle - ready by 1952 . Other delivery systems researched and at least partially developed during the 1950s included the E77 balloon bomb and the E86 cluster bomb . The peak of U . S . biological weapons delivery system development came during the 1960s . Production of cluster bomb submunitions began to shift from cylindrical to spherical bomblets , which had a larger coverage area . Development of the spherical E120 bomblet took place in the early 1960s as did development of the M143 bomblet , similar to the chemical M139 bomblet . The experimental Flettner rotor bomblet was also developed during this time period . The Flettner rotor was called , " probably one of the better devices for disseminating microorganisms " , by William C . Patrick III . Alleged uses . Cuba . It has been rumored that the U . S . employed biological weapons against the Communist island nation of Cuba . Noam Chomsky claimed that evidence exists implicating the U . S . in biological warfare in Cuba , but his evidence was disputed . Allegations in 1962 held that CIA operatives had contaminated a shipment of sugar while it was in storage in Cuba . Again , in 1962 , a Canadian agricultural technician assisting the Cuban government claimed he was paid $ 5 , 000 to infect Cuban turkeys with the deadly Newcastle disease . Though the technician later claimed he had just pocketed the money , many Cubans and some Americans believed a clandestinely administered biological weapons agent was responsible for a subsequent outbreak of the disease in Cuban turkeys . In 1971 the first serious outbreak of swine flu in the Western Hemisphere occurred in Cuba , and Cubans alleged that U . S . covert biological warfare was responsible for this outbreak , which led to the preemptive slaughter of 500 , 000 pigs . Evidence linking these incidents to biological warfare has not been confirmed . Accusations have continued to come out of Havana charging U . S . use of bio - weapons on the island . The Cuban government blamed the U . S . for a 1981 outbreak of dengue fever that sickened more than 300 , 000 . Dengue , a vector - borne disease usually carried by mosquitoes , killed 158 people that year in Cuba , including 101 children under 15 . Poor relations between Cuba and the United States coupled with confirmed U . S . research into entomological warfare during the 1950s made these charges seem not implausible . However , dengue fever occurs naturally in the region of the world where Cuba is located . Korean War . North Korean and Chinese officials leveled accusations that during the Korean War the United States engaged in biological warfare in North Korea . The claim dates to the period of the war , and has been denied by the U . S . In 1998 , Stephen Endicott and Edward Hagermann claimed that the accusations were true in their book , " The United States and Biological Warfare : Secrets from the Early Cold War and Korea " The book received mixed reviews , some calling it " bad history " and " appalling " , while others praised the authors ' case . In 1952 the Chinese and North Koreans insinuated that mysterious outbreaks of disease in North Korea and China were due to U . S . biological attacks . Despite contrary assertions from the International Red Cross and World Health Organization , whom the Chinese denounced as Western - biased , the Chinese government pursued an investigation by the World Peace Council . A committee led by Joseph Needham gathered evidence for a report that included testimony from eyewitnesses , doctors , and four American Korean War prisoners who confirmed use of biological weapons by the U . S . The U . S . government denied the accusations and their denial was generally supported by top scientists in the West . In eastern Europe , China , and North Korea it was widely believed that the accusations were true . In the same year Endicott ' s book was published , Kathryn Weathersby and Milton Leitenberg of the Cold War International History Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington released a cache of Soviet and Chinese documents that revealed the North Korean claim to be an elaborate disinformation campaign . In addition , a Japanese journalist claims to have seen similar evidence of a Soviet disinformation campaign and that the evidence supporting its occurrence was faked . KGB historian Herbert Romerstein also noted that Endicott ' s researches are purely based on accounts provided by the Chinese government . Others have revived these claims more recently . In March 2010 , the allegations were investigated by the Al Jazeera English news program " People & Power " . In this program , Professor Mori Masataka investigated historical artifacts in the form of bomb casings from US biological weapons , contemporary documentary evidence and eyewitness testimonies . He concluded that the United States did , in fact , test biological weapons on North Korea during the Korean War . Experimentation and testing . Entomological testing . The United States seriously researched the potential of entomological warfare ( EW ) during the Cold War . EW is a specific type of biological warfare which aims to use insects as weapon , either directly or through their potential to act as vectors . During the 1950s the United States conducted a series of field tests using entomological weapons . Operation Big Itch , in 1954 , was designed to test munitions loaded with uninfected fleas ( " Xenopsylla cheopis " ) . In May 1955 over 300 , 000 yellow fever mosquitoes ( " Aedes aegypti " ) were dropped over parts of the U . S . state of Georgia to determine if the air - dropped mosquitoes could survive to take meals from humans . The mosquito tests were known as Operation Big Buzz . The U . S . engaged in at least two other EW testing programs , Operation Drop Kick and Operation May Day . A 1981 Army report outlined these tests as well as multiple cost - associated issues that occurred with EW . Clinical trials . Operation Whitecoat involved the controlled testing of many serious agents on military personnel consented to experimentation , and understood the risks involved . No deaths are known to have resulted from this program . Vulnerability field tests . In military venues . In August 1949 a U . S . Army Special Operations Division , operating out of Fort Detrick in Maryland , set up its first test at The Pentagon in Washington , D . C . Operatives sprayed harmless bacteria into the building ' s air conditioning system and observed as the microbes spread throughout the Pentagon . The US military acknowledges that it tested several chemical and biological weapons on US military personnel in the desert facility , including the East Demilitarization Area near Deseret Chemical Depot / Deseret Chemical Test Center at Fort Douglas , Utah , but takes the position that the tests have contributed to long - term illnesses in only a handful of exposed personnel . Veterans who took part believe they were also exposed to Agent Orange . The Department of Veterans Affairs denies almost all claims for care and compensation made by veterans who believe they got sick as a result of the tests . The US military for decades remained silent about " Project 112 " and its victims , a slew of tests overseen by the Army ' s Deseret Test Center in Salt Lake City . Project 112 starting in the 1960s tested chemical and biological agents , including VX , sarin and E . coli , on military personnel who did not know they were being tested . After the Defense Department finally acknowledged conducting the tests on unwitting human subjects , it agreed to help the Veterans ' Affairs Department track down those who were exposed , but a General Accountability Office report in 2008 scolded the military for ceasing the effort . In civilian venues . Medical experiments were conducted on a large scale on civilians who had not consented to participate . Often , these experiments took place in urban areas in order to test dispersion methods . Questions were raised about detrimental health effects after experiments in San Francisco , California , were followed by a spike in hospital visits ; however , in 1977 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that there was no association between the testing and the occurrence of pneumonia or influenza . The San Francisco test involved a U . S . Navy ship that sprayed " Serratia marcescens " from the bay ; it traveled more than 30 miles . One dispersion test involved laboratory personnel disguised as passengers spraying harmless bacteria in Washington National Airport . Scientists tested biological pathogens , including " Bacillus globigii " , which were thought to be harmless , at public places such as subways . A light bulb containing " Bacillus globigii " was dropped on New York City ' s subway system ; the result was strong enough to affect people prone to illness ( also known as Subway Experiment ) . Based on the circulation measurements , thousands of people would have been killed if a dangerous microbe was released in the same manner . A jet aircraft released material over Victoria , Texas , that was monitored in the Florida Keys . GAO Report . In February , 2008 , the Government Accountability Office ( GAO ) released report GAO - 08 - 366 titled , " Chemical and Biological Defense , DOD and VA Need to Improve Efforts to Identify and Notify Individuals Potentially Exposed during Chemical and Biological Tests . " The report stated that tens of thousands of military personnel and civilians may have been exposed to biological and chemical substances through DOD tests . In 2003 , the DOD reported it had identified 5 , 842 military personnel and estimated 350 civilians as being potentially exposed during the testing , known as Project 112 . The GAO scolded the U . S . Department of Defense ' s ( DOD ) 2003 decision to stop searching for people affected by the tests was premature . The GAO report also found that the DoD made no effort to inform civilians of exposure , and that the United States Department of Veterans Affairs ( VA ) is failing to use available resources to inform veterans of possible exposure or to determine if they were deceased . After the DoD halted efforts to find those who may have been affected by the tests , veteran health activisits and others identified approximately 600 additional individuals who were potentially exposed during Project 112 . Some of the individuals were identified after the GAO reviewed records stored at the Dugway Proving Ground , others were identified by the Institute of Medicine . Many of the newly identified suffer from long term illnesses that may have been caused by the biological or chemical testing . Current ( post - 1969 ) bio - defense program . Both the U . S . bio - weapons ban and the Biological Weapons Convention restricted any work in the area of biological warfare to defensive in nature . In reality , this gives BWC member - states wide latitude to conduct biological weapons research because the BWC contains no provisions for monitoring of enforcement . The treaty , essentially , is a gentlemen ' s agreement amongst members backed by the long - prevailing thought that biological warfare should not be used in battle . After Nixon declared an end to the U . S . bio - weapons program , debate in the Army centered around whether or not toxin weapons were included in the president ' s declaration . Following Nixon ' s November 1969 order , scientists at Fort Detrick worked on one toxin , " Staphylococcus " enterotoxin type B ( SEB ) , for several more months . Nixon ended the debate when he added toxins to the bio - weapons ban in February 1970 . The U . S . also ran a series of experiments with anthrax , code named Project Bacchus , Project Clear Vision and Project Jefferson in the late 1990s and early 2000s . In recent years certain critics have claimed the U . S . stance on biological warfare and the use of biological agents has differed from historical interpretations of the BWC . For example , it is said that the U . S . now maintains that the Article I of the BWC ( which explicitly bans bio - weapons ) , does not apply to " non - lethal " biological agents . Previous interpretation was stated to be in line with a definition laid out in Public Law 101 - 298 , the Biological Weapons Anti - Terrorism Act of 1989 . That law defined a biological agent as : any micro - organism , virus , infectious substance , or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology , or any naturally occurring or bioengineered component of any such microorganism , virus , infectious substance , or biological product , capable of causing death , disease , or other biological malfunction in a human , an animal , a plant , or another living organism ; deterioration of food , water , equipment , supplies , or material of any kind . . . According to the Federation of American Scientists , U . S . work on non - lethal agents exceeds limitations in the BWC .