Operation Magic Sword was a 1965 U.S. military operation designed to test the effectiveness of the sea-borne release of insect vectors for biological agents.

Operation

Operation Magic Sword was U.S. military operation undertaken in 1965. It was designed to ascertain the effectiveness of releasing mosquito vectors for biological agent

Biological agent

A biological agent — also called bio-agent or biological threat agent — is a bacterium, virus, prion, or fungus which may cause infection, allergy, toxicity or otherwise create a hazard to human health. They can be used as a biological weapon in bioterrorism or biological warfare...

s at sea. It took place off the southeastern coast of the United States and employed yellow fever mosquitoes with the hope of assessing their biting habits following an ocean-borne release.

Results

Magic Sword showed that when coupled with ocean winds that the mosquitoes could travel up to three and one-half miles to shore. The operation also showed that if needed the mosquitoes could be kept alive for cross-ocean journeys.

See also

• Entomological warfare
  Entomological warfare
  Entomological warfare is a type of biological warfare that uses insects to attack the enemy. The concept has existed for centuries and research and development have continued into the modern era...
  
  
• Human experimentation in the United States
  Human experimentation in the United States
  There have been numerous experiments performed on human test subjects in the United States that have been considered unethical, and were often performed illegally, without the knowledge, consent, or informed consent of the test subjects....
  
  
• Operation Big Itch
  Operation Big Itch
  Operation Big Itch was a U.S. entomological warfare field test using uninfected fleas to determine their coverage and survivability as a vector for biological agents. The tests were conducted at Dugway Proving Ground in 1954.-Operation:...
  
  
• Operation Big Buzz
  Operation Big Buzz
  Operation Big Buzz was a U.S. military entomological warfare field test conducted in the U.S. state of Georgia in 1955. The tests involved dispersing over 300,000 yellow fever mosquitoes from aircraft and through ground dispersal methods.-Operation:...
  
  

Further reading

• Hay, Alastair. "A Magic Sword or a Big Itch: An Historical Look at the United States Biological Weapons Programme", (citation), Medicine, Conflict and Survival
  Medicine, Conflict and Survival
  Medicine, Conflict and Survival is a scholarly publication covering the health aspects of violence and human rights. It is an official journal of Medact and IPPNW .- References :*...
  
  , Volume 15, Issue 3 July 1999 , pages 215 - 234, (ISSN 1362-3699).
• Horton, Richard C. Health Wars: On the Global Front Lines of Modern Medicine, (Google books link), New York Review of Books, 2003, p.89, (ISBN 1590170245).