In deployment, the military personnel often encounter infectious disease agents that range from the common (e.g., rhinoviruses) to highly virulent emerging pathogens (e.g., SARS virus, MERS Coronavirus), and potentially even the proven biological warfare agents (e.g., anthrax, plague). Naturally occurring genetic variations and experimentally induced mutations in mammalian genes that confer varying degrees of resistance to infectious diseases are known. However, the military lacks any usable database on such variations.
