Decipher the secret of Japanese encephalitis in the 1930s

There is considerable indirect evidence of Japanese microbiologists' association with the encephalitis epidemic in the Soviet Union.

Scientists oppose each other

In the mid-1930s, a strange disease broke out at the garrisons of the Soviet Red Army in the Far East. Patients suddenly had a fever, severe headache, uncontrollable vomiting, muscle aches; After a few days, the victim fell into a state of delusion, often ending with paralysis and death.

The symptoms of the disease were first described by Dr. Panov in 1935. In 1937, a delegation of Narkomzdrav (functioned as the Ministry of Health) headed by Professor Zilber, was sent to the Primorsky taiga. . The only thing the scientists relied on was the similarity of the unknown disease to Japanese encephalitis, which a sudden outbreak in the 1920s claimed thousands of lives. Japanese encephalitis is spread by mosquitoes and takes the form of an outbreak.

Zilber's team built an epidemiological zone in the taiga and began research. People admire the sacrifice of scientists - they experiment on their own bodies. One of the scientists, infected, died; The second person became disabled, but the secret of the disease was deciphered.

Ix ixidid - the carrier of Japanese encephalitis (Source: wikipedia.org)

The infectious virus destroys the central nervous system and leads to encephalitis. It is also determined that the animal carrying the pathogen is the ixodid tick . The assumption of an epidemic involving the Japanese militaries arose almost immediately. But the first controversies only appeared after the defeat of the Imperial Japanese Army and the liberation of Manchuria.

In June 1936, at the behest of Emperor Hirohito, the construction of a large bacterial-military complex began. The secret laboratory is not far from the occupied Harbin; The unit conducting the secret research work here is codenamed "Squad 731" , which consists of about 3,000 experts in the field of culturing bacilli, cholera, typhoid fever and dangerous diseases. other.

Millions of potential vectors of infectious pathogens are expected to be dropped on enemy territory in special bombs. But the most terrible thing is that the test camp contains thousands of prisoners, mostly Chinese and Russians - subjects that Japanese people use to test their new and old microbial inventions.

In just 1942, from the lab, an estimated three to ten thousand people were killed in the most brutal way. The bomb filled with pathogens carrying the disease was dropped on the test area - where the subjects were tied to columns, then they tracked and recorded "logs" - the way the Japanese butchers called for imprisonment. cause - illness and death.

In the summer of 1945, when the situation in Japan became desperate, the commander of "Special Forces 731 " was ordered to remove the remaining test subjects, destroying traces of the camp and biological laboratories. . Prisoners were killed, buildings and laboratories exploded, but the trace of crime still cannot be hidden.

Dangerous consequences

So far there is no direct evidence of the association of Japanese microbiologists with the appearance of the aforementioned epidemic, but there is quite a lot of indirect evidence. During the trial in Khabarovsk in 1949, Japanese microbiologists appeared in court. From their testimony, tick-borne encephalitis is also one of the research areas, although no official statement on this topic has been made. Everyone involved in this work was convicted and received different sentences, but after a while was released.

The "Weapon 731" biological weapons research facility with two prisons is located in the center of the main building. (Source: wikipedia.org)

Many of them, like other Nazi criminals, sought refuge and work in the United States - where their experience was certainly needed and welcomed. The views of modern researchers related to encephalitis are not consistent. Some argue that efforts to treat the disease as an artificial biological weapon are completely baseless, that all the epidemics are completely natural and that the laboratory near Harbin has nothing to do with them. .

Others claim that tick-borne encephalitis is the deadliest and most deadly product of "Squad 731". All these allegations have a cause, because the disease was not przhevalsky (Academy-Major-General 1838-1888) although his associates were also in the taiga, as well as many participants in the civil war. in Primorye, observe and mention. Encephalitis is not caused by precise attacks on enemies and that is not necessary.

And in fact, encephalitis is an uncontrollable disease when spread from a bottle, which doesn't mean it's not made as a weapon. It is impossible not to note that in the US, encephalitis is included in the list of weapons of international terrorists. And Americans more than anyone else, adept at weapons of mass destruction.

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