Bioterrorism The term bioterrorism stands for a form of an unlawful use and intentional release of disease causing and harmful agents called biological agents. These agents include germs like bacteria and viruses. The bioterrorists in this field also use of other agents like chemical and nuclear bombs. Bioterrorism is also referred to as germ warfare. Many biological agents are found in the environment and the bioterrorists modify them making them more dangerous. These agents cause infections and can be transmitted from person to person (Espejo & Thomson, 2013). This discussion will discuss the potential impacts and analyze the potential risks of bioterrorism on a health care organization. It will as well state some of the strategies that can address this issue and mention some of the roles of a healthcare manager in addressing it. The potential impact of bioterrorism includes both emotional and behavioral consequences. Its occurrence brings about psychological disturbances, post traumatic Stress to the affected people, anxiety disorders and a lot of depression. The effects at times are also fatal as small quantities of these biological agents released can kill or …show more content…
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The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston is an intriguing book that discusses the anthrax terrorist attacks after 9/11 and how smallpox might become a future bioterrorist threat to the world. The book provides a brief history of the smallpox disease including details of an outbreak in Germany in 1970. The disease was eradicated in 1979 due to the World Health Organization’s aggressive vaccine program. After the virus was no longer a treat the World Health Organization discontinued recommending the smallpox vaccination. In conjunction, inventory of the vaccine was decreased to save money. The virus was locked up in two labs, one in the United States and one in Russia. However, some feel the smallpox virus exists elsewhere. Dr. Peter Jahrling and a team of scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Maryland became concerned terrorists had access to the smallpox virus and planed to alter the strain to become more resistant. These doctors conducted smallpox experiments to discover more effective vaccines in case the virus were released. Preparedness for a major epidemic is discussed as well as the ease with which smallpox can be bioengineered.
Guillemin, J. (2005). Biological weapons: From the invention of state-sponsored programs to contemporary bioterrorism Columbia University Press.
Anthrax is one of the most preferred biological warfare agents for many highly identified reasons. First, anthrax is extremely lethal. Anthrax can contain up to 100 million lethal doses in just one gram of anthrax spores, which is 100,000 times more lethal than any other biological warfare agent. It is also known that inhalation anthrax is almost always fatal if the symptoms are allowed to progress without any treatment. Anthrax is also the silent and invisible killer. On top of the fatality rate of anthrax, there are also very low barriers to produce the biological weapon. Anthrax spores are very easy to produce in large quantities, and the process of production is very inexpensive. Also, there is plenty of available information on how to weaponize anthrax and not a whole lot of technology is needed to be able to produce anthrax. Anthrax is also easy to weaponize because it is extremely stable as a dry powder in the form of spores. These spores can live for decades and still be very lethal to the human body. Anthrax can be put into an aerosol form disseminated into a spray can, and it can also be freeze-dried into a bomb. Presently anthrax is the most preferred biological agent is because we have no accurate detection capability.
Josko, Deborah. "Botulin Toxin: A Weapon in Terrorism." Clinical Laboratory Science. 01 Jan. 2004: n.p. eLibrary Science. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
In today’s society the word “terrorism” has gone global. We see this term on television, in magazines and even from other people speaking of it. In their essay “Controlling Irrational Fears After 9/11”, published in 2002, Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris argue that the reaction of the American officials, people and the media after the attacks of 9/11 was completely irrational due to the simple fact of fear. Chapman and Harris jump right into dismembering the irrational argument, often experienced with relationships and our personal analysis. They express how this argument came about from the terrorist being able to succeed in “achieving one major goal, which was spreading fear” among the American people (Chapman & Harris, para.1). The supporters of the irrational reaction argument state that because “Americans unwittingly cooperated with the terrorist in achieving the major goal”, the result was a widespread of disrupted lives of the Americans and if this reaction had been more rational then there would have been “less disruption in the lives of our citizens” (Chapman & Harris, para. 1).
The ones who would like to publish this virus and the ones who do not both reasonable reasons for their thoughts. Anthony S.Fauci, mentioned in The Deadliest Virus, says that publishing this can help scientists to determine if the existing vaccines or drugs will be enough to cure this virus. Publication of this can help us to develop better cures for worse viruses. In addition, people will know how deadly it is and if they get the virus, they will know what it is. On the other hand, Michael Specter gave an example of Clinton’s speech about bioterrorism. Hilarity Clinton says, “Evidence in Afghanistan...Al Queda in the Arabian Peninsula made a call to arms for – and I quote – ‘brothers with degrees in microbiology or chemistry to develop a weapon of mass destruction”. Clinton’s speech brings up the concerns of some scientists about the publication of the virus. Her speech shows that if the virus is open to the public, other countries will find a way to get this virus and might develop it as weapon for
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
The horror of domestic terrorism is a problem all Americans should be concerned with, especially since there is a violent subculture in this nation which seeks out and indoctrinates people into their way of life. The crime that I will be focusing on during the course of this paper will be domestic terrorism, specifically hate groups such as the KKK, and various other white supremacy groups. The theory that I will be using to try and explain these crimes will be subcultural theory, but more especially the Subculture of Violence theory provided to us by Marvin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracutti. The reason I will be using his specific subcultural theory is because I feel that it bests describes how the people in these situations are desensitized to the evils they do and then begin to believe that the acts and beliefs are normal, or superior to all other views.
During the course of human history, pandemic diseases have threatened the balance of civilization itself. Viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other infectious agents have changed the way we eat, sleep, and live our lives. One of these scourges was smallpox, a highly infectious and deadly disease that causes boils to sprout on the entire body. Once endemic to the entire world, it has been wiped out with mass vaccination efforts by the World Health Organization with the last reported case being in 1977 in Somalia (Tucker 118). The threat of the virus still looms over us, however, with the advent of the age of terrorism. Its transmission method (human to human), the lack of effective treatment, its high mortality rate, and its ease of weaponization has compelled the Centers for Disease Control to classify it as a Category A bioterrorist agent with the highest potential for use as a weapon against civilians (Ryan 41).
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and acute stress disorder (ASD) are two stress disorders that occur after a traumatizing experience. PTSD is defined as a disorder that follows a distressing event outside the range of normal human experience and that is characterized by features such as intense fear, avoidance of stimuli associated with the event, and reliving the event. Acute stress disorder is defined as a disorder that is characterized by feelings of anxiety and helplessness and caused by a traumatic event. It also usually occurs within a month of the event and lasts from 2 days to 4 weeks. Dealing with experiences like the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks in 2001 were difficult for people and easily classified as traumatizing experiences. For times like these when a large number of people experience a traumatizing experience and will probably develop PTSD or ASD, there is no precedent for how to treat them. The only tool that can be used at these times is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), to classify the disorder. No real solution exists for a treatment process for an incident of this scale. The three journal articles I will be using show statistical data about how people dealt with these experiences and what percent of them developed PTSD or ASD. They also show how many people showed signs of these disorders but never contacted a professional to help treat it. Even as far away as Brussels, expatriates of the United States felt the effects of the attacks of September 11th.
“Smallpox and Bioterrorism” 6 June 2001. Center for Disease Control. 4 Nov. 2014. < http://www.bt.cdc.gov/Agent/Smallpox/FactSheet.pdf >
One of the world’s most dreaded plagues for centuries, smallpox is now eradicated. Vaccination programs were pushed worldwide by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the disease was eliminated from the world. This push resulted in the last naturally occurring case in the world being almost 40 years ago. Once eradicated the once routine or mandatory vaccinations were stopped for the general public and it was deemed no longer necessary to prevent the disease. Although currently eradicated worldwide, two medical laboratory stockpiles still remain in Russia and the United States. With these stockpiles in existence the possibility of bio terrorism emerges and fear of these stockpiles getting into the wrong hands and being weaponized for use against the public is rising. The smallpox disease is highly contagious and easily communicable and currently there is no cure for this disease. If reintroduced, an epidemic would be devastating worldwide.
Thesis: Biological Warfare is morally and inhumanely wrong, It is the wrongful killing of men, women, and children. It should be stopped no matter what the circumstances are.
On September 11, 2001, the destruction of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon changed the mindset and the opinion of nearly every American on the one of the most vital issues in the 21st century: terrorism (Hoffman 2). Before one can begin to analyze how the United States should combat such a perverse method of political change, one must first begin to understand what terrorism is, where it is derived from, and why there is terrorism. These issues are essential in America’s analysis of this phenomenon that has revolutionized its foreign policy and changed America’s stance in the world.
Enhanced Pathogens are used to provide vital insights while treating the viruses. Although, when they are used to increase mammalian transmissibility and virulence, the altered viruses pose serious Biosafety risks. Even though it can insure preparedness for the public in case of an outbreak of any such pandemic diseases, like in case of Ebola, MERS, SARS. , Enhanced Pathogens is a huge Biosafety risk to society today because Influenza virus, which is a pathogen, is one of a handful of infectious disease agents that can cause devastating pandemics with high mortality and morbidity in human populations that can kill thousands of people each year.