Tularemia, biological warfare, and the battle for Stalingrad (1942-1943)

Abstract

During World War II, both Soviet Red Army and German Wermacht forced suffered hundreds of thousands of casulaties, many from infectious disease. In a recent book, Dr, Kenneth Alibek has suggested that the Soviet Red Army used tularemia (causative agent, Francisella tularensis) as a biological weapon during the battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943). Based on past clinical cases and the nature of the pathogen, we propose that an outbreak resulting from natural causes is more likely.