Global Security Newswire

Some Lebanese villagers living close to the border with Syria have reported health ailments that might be the result of a biological weapons attack -- a possibility one issue expert said is highly unlikely, the Christian Science Monitor reported on Sunday.

Villages in northern Lebanon such as Nourat al-Tahta and Dousi are regularly hit by shells fired from Syria, where the Bashar Assad regime is struggling against an armed uprising that began in early 2011. An abnormal number of villagers in the last few months have presented with health ailments including skin and gastrointestinal problems, according to local physician Nazir Shrayteh.

"Since May we have been getting these skin problems," the doctor said. "I don't know what it is, but I feel something odd is going on."

Syria is suspected of having a biological weapons program.

The biological agent T-2 mycotoxins causes both rashes and diarrhea, noted former Federation of American Scientists biowarfare expert Kelsey Gregg. However, "even at low doses, there would likely be different symptoms from an aerosol [version of the fungi-based toxin] including eye and respiratory problems," she added.

Additionally, the randomness of the Syrian artillery strikes would seem to go against any theory of an orchestrated biowarfare campaign. The more likely culprit of the health problems is the poor hygienic conditions faced by the villagers and significant numbers of Syrian residents seeking refuge from the fighting, she said.

Separately, the Czech Republic intends to dispatch four chemical arms response specialists to Jordan, which fears it might have to deal with crisis caused by Syria's suspected large stockpile of such weapons, according to a Monday Czech News Agency report.

The chemical warfare specialists are being sent at the request of Amman, according to Czech Defense Ministry spokesman Jan Pejsek.

"Now we are preparing the sending of some experts to Jordan where they will train the local chemical warfare unit," the spokesman said.

Syria's chemical arsenal is understood to be large and operational. Damascus has promised it would only use chemical weapons to ward off foreign aggressors, but that pledge has not mollified neighboring countries including Jordan.