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Hittites 'used germ warfare 3,500 years ago' Malcolm Moore An ancient Middle-Eastern empire had already mastered the art of biological warfare almost 3,500 years ago, according to an Italian scientist. The Hittites of Anatolia, whose empire stretched from northern Turkey into Iraq and Syria, were famed for their lethal chariots and skill with horses. In the Biblical book of Genesis, the Hittites are named as the descendants of Ham, through his son, Canaan. They are described as a great power who dwell "in the mountains". Now Dr Siro Trevisanato, a molecular biochemist, has claimed that many of the Hittites' glorious victories were down to their use of infected sheep, which they would slyly introduce into cities they wanted to conquer.
(Article continues below) "There is no doubt that these were the first weapons of mass destruction," he said. "They were waging bioterrorism". The sheep carried tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, a devastating bacterial disease that is a potential threat even today, since there is no known vaccine. The disease can pass from animals to humans, causing enormous skin ulcers and respiratory failure. Without antibiotic treatment, around 15 per cent of its victims die. Dr Trevisanato said he had spent years searching through ancient accounts of Hittite conquests. In 1325 BC, when the Hittites sacked the Phoenician city of Symra, on the borders of Lebanon and Syria, a mysterious plague was recorded.
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