Operation Harness was a series of three-month secret

biological warfare Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Bio ...

trials carried out by the government of the United Kingdom in the Caribbean, off the Bahamas, in December 1948 - February 1949.Brian Balmer
''Britain and Biological Warfare: Expert Advice and Science Policy, 1930-65''
London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001 Animals were exposed to

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

tularemia Tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium ''Francisella tularensis''. Symptoms may include fever, skin ulcers, and enlarged lymph nodes. Occasionally, a form that results in pneumonia or a throat infe ...

, and

brucella ''Brucella'' is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria, named after David Bruce (1855–1931). They are small (0.5 to 0.7 by 0.6 to 1.5 µm), non encapsulated, nonmotile, facultatively intracellular coccobacilli. ''Brucella'' spp. are the caus ...

bacteria on inflatable dinghies offshore but the results were found meaningless.

History

The operation did not go well, for several reasons. The sea was rougher than expected, making it impossible for the dinghies with animal crates to be picked up by craft converted for the operation. This meant the tests were carried out just off the shore of an island, endangering inhabitants. Protective suits were found to be so heavy that those using them had to undergo a lengthy acclimatisation process to avoid heat exhaustion. Sampling equipment was accidentally activated by local radio signals and conditions at sea made it impossible to accurately measure the amount of bacteria in the atmosphere. 500 of 600

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

were found to be unsuitable and were shot.

Guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...

s were found to be "disastrous". 234

rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally b ...

s had to be treated for pneumonia before being used. The official report found that the techniques used were over complicated, and said that it was "uncommonly lucky" that only one of the staff was infected.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Operation Harness, 1948-1949''Imperial War Museum''
United Kingdom biological weapons program Bioethics Animal testing in the United Kingdom 1949 in the United Kingdom