FUTURISTIC warheads laced with deadly diseases such as the Zika virus and Ebola could wipe out swathes of humanity if they fall into terrorists' hands, it is claimed.

These missiles, known as biological weapons of mass destruction, could kill up to 20 percent of the world's population - 400 million people - in a pandemic not seen since the Spanish Influenza.

3 Warheads laced with diseases could wipe out swathes of humanity, it is claimed Credit: AP:Associated Press

3 A US soldier wearing bio-war protection gear stands guard during training exercises Credit: Getty Images North America

This is the chilling warning issued by James Stavridis, a retired four-star US Navy admiral and NATO supreme allied commander.

He writes in Foreign Policy that world leaders must discuss - given our growing ability to manipulate living organisms - how to contain the spread of such evil technology.

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He added: "The rise of low-cost synthetic biology technologies, the falling cost of DNA sequencing and the diffusion of knowledge through the Internet create the conditions for a breakout biological event not dissimilar to the Spanish influenza of roughly a century ago.

"In that plague, by some estimates, nearly 40 percent of the world's population was infected, with a 10 to 20 percent mortality rate.

"Extrapolated to our current global population, that would equate to more than 400 million dead.

"Most alarming would be that either rogue nations or violent transnational groups would gain access to these technologies and use them to create biological weapons of mass destruction."

He went on state curbing such incidents could prove more difficult than containing the bomb - as it is impossible to tell if biological developments are intended to be used for good or evil.

There is a history of such weapons being used throughout history, though a dozens of countries signed a treaty in the 1970s to ban their creation.

3 Soviet Union technicians run chemical tests on a rabbit Credit: Topham

Among the most famous examples of such weapons in the 20th century is the Germans' use of anthrax during the First World War.

Although use of the terrifying weapons was banned in 1925, this did nothing to prevent their development.

Consequently research championed by Winston Churchill saw anthrax, tularemia and botulism toxins all weaponised during World War Two.

In the 1950s, the bubonic plague was also weaponised by the UK, but the deadly programme was cancelled only in 1952.

And despite being a signatory to the 1970s convention, the Soviet Union pressed ahead with its bio-weapons research and became a leader in the outlawed field having successfully weaponised Ebola virus and smallpox.

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