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YELLOW RAIN Was biological warfare in the form of mycotoxins used in the Vietnam war? This question has been discussed innumerable times yet no answer has been found. The basis of the accusations of mycotoxin use came from the United States. The US Secretary of State charged the Soviets of supplying the mycotoxin T2 to their communist allies for military use in South East Asia in 1981 (27). The US claimed that the Soviets had violated the Geneva Protocol and based the accusations on evidence compiled by a US task force (27). The evidence included a single leaf that was recovered from the Thailand/Cambodian border that was covered with mycotoxins in high concentrations (30), and eye witness accounts of Hmong and Cambodian refugees (29). The refugees claimed that air craft dumped a yellow powder over the land that caused unarmed civilians and guerrillas to vomit and involuntarily defecation and resulted in the death of about 7,300 people (29). Analysis of clinical samples of the victims showed that they were exposed to mycotoxins. The finger was pointed at the Soviets because they were the first to discover mycotoxins and their effects when Soviet civilians ate bread baked from flour that contained mold contaminated with mycotoxins (31).
T2 enters the body through the skin, digestive epithelium, respiratory epithelium, and the eyes. Symptoms of T2 contamination include the following:
Severe poisoning results in total exhaustion, weakness, loss of muscular coordination, shock and death. Death may occur in minutes, hours, or days depending on the intensity of the exposure (28). Treatment of T2 exposure is limited. There is no specific antidote, vaccine or chemoprotective pretreatment available (28). Skin may be decontaminated with soap and water, superactive charcoal may be taken if T2 has been swallowed, and eyes may be rinsed with saline (28). When T2 gets into the body, it effectively inhibits DNA and RNA synthesis, protein synthesis, and mitochondrial functions (29). It also disrupts cell division and cell shape, and reduces hematocrit levels by hemolysis of erythrocytes (29). The controversy of "Yellow Rain" continues today.
Recently, scientists have concluded that yellow rain is actually
showers of bee feces from a species of honeybees native to South
East Asia (27). The confirmation of
the evidence compiled by the US is difficult because the analysis
was done for a single sample without controls (29).
The Fusarium species naturally occurs in South East Asia, and
attacks occurred deep in the jungle (28).
Also, the stories of the witnesses have been questioned due
to inconsistencies in the accounts (29).
No resolution has ever been reached in the case, and this serves
as a reminder of how difficult detecting such weapons can be
(30).
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