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Bioterrorism research paper
The menace of bioterrorism
The microorganism clostridium botulinum is mainly associated with the following
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Imagine a terrorist without any guns or bombs. Would he or she be considered a real terrorist? The answer is yes; anyone who threatens or endangers the lives of others are terrorists, even those who utilize bacteria and viruses rather than other usual weapons. When people use biological weapons as terrorism, that act is called a bioterrorism. Unfortunately, this actions have been repeated throughout the history, as well as in modern days. They can in fact be far more dangerous than actual weapons.
Throughout the past, bioweapons have been used in wars. Such war strategies included throwing carcasses into the enemies' castles or forts, which caused terrible spread of diseases. As the world enters the modern age, these pathogens can be used more efficiently as a weapon. Countries such as United States, Russia, and Iraq are all participants in these dangerous competition of bioterrorism.
For United States, using biological weapons were primarily for defense from other countries. "Headquarters for research of bioweapons were established at Fort Detrick." (208) These research centers have been capable of increasing the hostility of a bacteria that causes anthrax. United States have also attempted creation of bubonic plague and tularemia bioweapons. U.S. scientists then became attentive on viral weapons, which are resistible to antibiotics. United States have grown viruses inside chick eggs as they need living cell to reproduce.
United States have no history of using bioweapons, but they once almost used them. They once planned to spray bacteria called Clostridium botulism during Cuban Missile Crisis, but they changed the plan to use a toxin called staphylococcal enterotoxin B and two germs of the name of encephalitis and a ricket...
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...ll a tough task because there are complex procedures to make the germs work efficient to kill. Still, bioterror events are deadly as finding vaccines and treatment would be difficult. A group called the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have set a future goal of finding a vaccine that can immunize people with multiple diseases and finding a detergents that can kill germs rapidly. Nevertheless, the public should realize the horrific outcome of bioterrorism if it occurs and they should be aware that it can occur anywhere and anytime. United States have created some new inventions of detecting pathogens' presences through use of microchip and battery-operated devices. Bioterrorism can also occur unknowingly so the public should notify the hospital if strange illnesses have come to place. Overall, we as human beings are not safe in this dangerous Earth.
Guillemin, J. (2005). Biological weapons: From the invention of state-sponsored programs to contemporary bioterrorism Columbia University Press.
“Johns Hopkins Working Group on Civilian Biodefense Says Botulinum Toxin is a Major Biological Weapons Threat.” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Johns Hopkins University, 28 Feb. 2001. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
There are many factors that play into how a situation should be handled. For a start, the initial approach to a bioterrorist scene determines the outcome of the fatality of the situation. Also, the technique used to spread an infection is vital because it determines what method would be the best as a counter attack. For example, Robert Bourke states in his book Counter-Terrorism for Emergency Responders that, “vapor release from nerve or blister agents will
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the deliberate release of biological agents to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants. These agents are bacteria, viruses, and toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form. These agents can be altered by the terrorist to increase their ability to cause harm, to make them resistant to any medicines, or to increase their ability to be spread around in the environment faster. Biological agents can be spread through the air, water, or in food. Terrorists would choose to use biological agents because they are extremely difficult to detect and do not cause illness for several hours to several days. Some bioterrorism agents, like the smallpox virus, can be spread from person to person and some, like anthrax, cannot. (“What is Bioterrorism?”)
Throughout the progression of mankind, there has always been a need to become superior in tactics and technology over an opponent. It did not take long for man to discover the effective and deadly tactic of Bioterrorism, which is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria or other germs used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants. As time passes, everything about bioterrorism becomes more and more sophisticated, making it very difficult to combat with. By examining the history of bioterrorism, one can learn how military forces utilize this deadly weapon.
The rapid pace of vaccine development convinces people that they are safe from the infectious diseases. Unfortunately, the anthrax outbreak in 2001, having killed five people, reveals the vulnerability of the public health, suggesting that further research on contagious epidemics should be developed abruptly. In response to this issue, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) granted Boston University a $128 million funding for the construction of a new leading facility known as the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory (NEIDL or BU Biolab), which would be sited on the Boston University Medical Campus, to battle against contagious ailments. Besides conducting research on infectious diseases, the BU Biolab will also perform research to prepare for bioterrorism (Le Duc). According to the Center for Disease Control, there are four levels of increasing of containment for research on infections ranging from Biosafety Levels 1 through 4 (BSL-1 to BSL-4). While much of the research on epidemics is done in laboratories with BSL-2 to BSL-3, the BU Biolab, with the highest level of precaution, BSL-4, will conduct research on rare contagious epidemics including anthrax, ebola, and plague, which are usually life threatening.
Bioterrorism started in 1346 when the Tarter force, in Ukraine, experienced an epidemic of the plague (Bioterrorism n.p.). The Tarter force threw the diseased bodies into the city they were attacking to spread deadly diseases. Another case of Bioterrorism was when the British troops gave blankets to the Native American Indians that were infected with the small pox disease. Many cases of early uses have been reported but others have been debunked. Terrorists groups have become smart and have used anthrax in letters so victims will become infected upon opening. The U.S. has since taken safety precautions to prevent attacks from happening in the future (History of Bioterrorism n.p.). Health care facilities are very concerned about the outbreak of a biological agent attack.
SASSOON, J. (2004). Biological Warfare. In K. L. Lerner & B. W. Lerner (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security (Vol. 1, pp. 115-117). Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3403300086&v=2.1&u=40mwrlib&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&asid=81bde5170dd4a5c1d8a95bcaebc62cc9
Many scientists, including Fred Milanovich, have been working to eliminate this risk: “A key factor limiting the nation's ability to protect against a biological attack has been the state of biodetector technology. Only now is technology becoming available that permits identification of biological organisms within minutes, when concentrations are low but often still dangerous” (Walter). Biological and chemical weapons can be snuck into many high security places; high value people and places could become an easily accessible target for terrorists to send a message. Although this technology has been developed to detect these risks, it only detects the toxin when it is suspected, and is not accessible for public use. Also, the time between infection and detection of the toxin is a weapon in and of itself: “Many biological agents are contagious, and during this lag time, infected persons could continue to spread the disease, further increasing its reach. Hundreds or even thousands of people could become sick or die if a biological attack were to occur in a major metropolitan area” (Walter). If a terrorist was able to weasel a toxin into popular areas, or onto popular people, by the time detection occurred the agent would have been spread to a large
Biological weapons deliver toxins and microorganisms like viruses and bacteria and have deliberate means to spread disease to humans, animals or plants (Laura Reed). An example of a biological weapon is anthrax and a biological agent such as smallpox (Laura Reed). These weapons impact our society by causing destruction and despair to everyon...
For these reasons, increased biosecurity has been instigated in every tier of society (Dance, 2008). Control steps are rigorously implemented, measures like correct disposal of Anthrax carcasses, correct disinfection, decontamination and disposal of contaminated materials and also vaccinating any exposed animals and humans at risk, are all measures strongly practiced.
Biological warfare is one of the unique ways of creating havoc in popular cities nowadays. It’s hard to recognize right away and it generates massive amounts of health related issues. In an article titled, “Introduction to Biological Weapons”, by Michael Stebbins, it states that biological weapons have been used for quite some time. “In 1346, the invading Tartar army catapulted the bodies of plague victims into the Crimean Peninsula city of Kaffa and infected its citizens. In 1763, British troops under General Jeffrey Amherst gave the Delaware Indians blankets used by people with smallpox, possibly infecting the susceptible native population. Japan contaminated food and released plague-infected ticks during their conflict with China during World War II. The 2001 anthrax letter attacks in the United States infected 22 people and killed five” (Stebbins, 2007). As one can see, the use of biological weapons has become popular to mankind throughout the years in various ways. Also, biotechnology has recently become much easier to supply weapons with deadly agents, chemicals, and other toxins. Thus, people ...
Next, the second classification of weapons of mass destruction is biological. Biological weapons are defined as any of a number of disease-producing agents—such as bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae, fungi, toxins, or other biological agents—that may be utilized as weapons against humans, animals, or plants (Schneider, n.d.). Furthermore, they can be placed into smaller groups depending upon the organism or toxin that is being used. Examples of this are bacteria, rickettsiae, viruses, and fungi.
Most biological agents are dispersed in aerosol form. They can be sprayed from a small cylinder with compressed air, spread by guided missiles, dispersed as a powder from aircraft, or used in a cluster of bombs. The danger is the potential for these biological agents, if successful in infecting a population, can be spread quickly. The U.S. Navy tested the effectiveness of Biological weapons on a metropolis in November of 1950. They released harmless bacteria off the California coast, sufficient to contaminate 117 squar...
Bioterrorism is an attack that involve by releasing bacteria, viruses and other harmful agents which can caused illness or death. Most of these agents can found in nature.