Bio-terrorism: The Future of Terrorism

As terrorists groups become better financed and more sophisticated, the opportunity for terrorism in the United States and Europe becomes much greater. Within the sphere of bio-terrorism, there are a variety of agents for terrorist groups to utilize, ranging from Category A, B, and C bioweapon agents. The whole board of biological weapon agents highlights the goal that terrorists have in common: to attack our core human biology and kindle the growing panic within each of us.

Introduction

Parallel to the rapid advancement of society is the increased emphasis placed upon technology. Simply put, it is as pervasive as ever. Yet it goes without saying that technology’s accelerated climb up the human pyramid of progress arrives with a cost: terrorism. On the basis of its most fundamental aspects, terrorism runs on the currency of fear (Zubay 1). In the modern context, terrorists have exploited the biological basis of the human race in order to forge the fatal idea of bioterrorism. The ultimate goal is to inject a note of fear within the general human population. Amongst the vast number of potential agents, ranging from viruses to biotoxins, a select few have noted abilities, particularly for their ease of dissemination, capacity to cause widespread anxiety, and potential to become biological weapons. Those that have been noted are catalogued into the Center for Disease Control’s Category A, B, and C list of bioweapon agents. Evidently, each agent has its own specific story. Ranging from the pathogenesis, epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of each agent, all of these facets grant terrorists an even greater convenience to further exert their reign of terror.

Anthrax

In the pursuit of the “perfect” biological weapon, t...

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