Bioterrorism Essay

977 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Bioterrorism thesis statement

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 …show more content…

They can be easily spread or transmitted from person to person, they result in high death rates and have the potential for major public health impact, they could cause extreme concern and social disruption, and they require special action for public health preparedness. Some examples of category A agents are Anthrax, Smallpox and the Bubonic plague.
Category B agents can be moderately easy to spread They result in moderate illness rates and low death rates and require specific enhancements of CDC's laboratory capacity and enhanced disease monitoring. Some examples include typhus, Food safety threats such as salmonella and e-coli, and Water supply threats.
Category C agents are emerging pathogens that might be engineered for mass dissemination because of their availability, ease of production and dissemination, high mortality rate, or ability to cause a major health impact. Category C includes the Nipah virus, H1N1 and HIV/AIDS (Bioterrorism Agent Categories)
Biodefense uses medical measures to protect people against bioterrorism. This includes medicines and vaccinations. It also includes medical research and preparations to defend against bioterrorist attacks. It can prove to be difficult to defend against an airborne attack with people taking trains and having so many crowded cities and places in

Show More
Related

  • Demon In The Freezer

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Demon in the Freezer is divided into eight sections. It begins with the upsetting details surrounding the sudden death of Robert Stevens, just three weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001. An autopsy showed Mr. Stevens died of inhalation anthrax. Subsequent anthrax illnesses among people exposed to letters laced with anthrax frightened the nation. Some thought the letters might also contain smallpox, but fortunately this was not the case. “There had been only eighteen cases of inhalation anthrax in the past hundred years in the United States, and the last reported case had been twenty-three years earlier” (5). It is no wonder that people became alarmed at the threat of a major anthrax outbreak.

    Read More

  • Dugway Incident of 1969

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    Guillemin, J. (2005). Biological weapons: From the invention of state-sponsored programs to contemporary bioterrorism Columbia University Press.

    Read More

  • Technical Escort: Revealed

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cashman, J. (2000). Emergency Response to Chemical and Biological Agents. Boca Raton, FL. Lewis Publishers.

    Read More

  • United States Anthrax Attacks of 2001

    2249 Words  | 5 Pages

    The 2001 anthrax attacks was one of the worst bio-weapon attacks on the US in history. The attacks where done through the mail. The anthrax was placed in envelopes with a letter and mailed from various locations to different people and organizations. The anthrax filled letters ended up killing 5 people, causing 17 to become sick and exposing anthrax it is believed to as many as 30,000 people. During the mail process spores of anthrax from the letters escaped and got on mailroom equipment exposing postal employees. If a person was exposed to enough anthrax and developed symptoms they typically died in a few days. Postal workers during the attacks where told that anthrax will appear as a white powder t...

    Read More

  • Steven Hatfill: Innocent, Yet Accused

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the fall of 2001, envelopes containing a dry, toxic powder were mailed to numerous government and news media offices. This powder was a deadly biological weapon called anthrax. As a result of these mailings, there were eleven cases of inhalational anthrax and eleven cases of cutaneous disease (Duchin, 2003). Five people died and seventeen people became seriously ill (Linkous, 2004). John Ashcroft, the attorney general of the United States during that time period, declared to the American people that a man by the name of Steven Hatfill was a person of interest in the 2001 anthrax attacks case. Later, the FBI stated Hatfill was not a suspect, nor does it use the term person of interest (Hatfill, 2002).

    Read More

  • Al Qaeda and Chemical and Biological Warfare

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    For approximately the past three decades, a terrorist group has come to plague the world with its activities (Gunaratna, 2002). This group is known as Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda, when translated means “The Base”. It is a terrorist organization that seeks to remove western influence from the Middle East and spread its radical Islamic views. Al Qaeda’s most prominent leader was Osama bin Laden, until his death during a raid upon his compound in Pakistan. The Al Qaeda’s motivation stems primarily from extreme and deeply rooted religious beliefs. Their most used method of attack is through suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices. This organization has also used chemical warfare and at this time is believed to still actively seek to utilize chemical and biological agents as means to battle.

    Read More

  • Bioterrorism: The Medical Response and Treatment

    1774 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Influenza Epidemic of 1918

    1223 Words  | 3 Pages

    In South Africa, racist citizens posted letters, editorials, and articles accusing the black slums of causing the epidemic.... ... middle of paper ... ... The disease was so severe that the average life span in the United States plummeted by a dozen years.

    Read More

  • Bioterrorism with Smallpox

    2341 Words  | 5 Pages

    Ryan, Jeffrey R., and Jan F. Glarum. Biosecurity & Bioterrorism: Containing and Preventing Biological Threats. Oxford: Elsevier Inc., 2008.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of The War On Terror

    217 Words  | 1 Pages

    There had been Pros and Cons since President George W. Bush officially declared the "Global war on Terror"(GWOT) on September 20, 2011.

    Read More

  • Smallpox Viruses

    2185 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Smallpox and Bioterrorism” 6 June 2001. Center for Disease Control. 4 Nov. 2014. < http://www.bt.cdc.gov/Agent/Smallpox/FactSheet.pdf >

    Read More

  • Overview of Smallpox

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Cyber Terrorism

    1724 Words  | 4 Pages

    The term “cyber terrorism” refers to the use of the Internet as a medium in which an attack can be launched such as hacking into electrical grids, security systems, and vital information networks. Over the past four decades, cyber terrorists have been using the Internet as an advanced communication tool in which to quickly spread and organize their members and resources. For instance, by using the instantaneous spread of information provided by the Internet, several terrorist’s groups have been able to quickly share information, coordinate attacks, spread propaganda, raise funds, and find new recruits for their cause. Instantaneous and unpredictable, the technological advantages these terrorists have obtained from using the Internet includes

    Read More

  • Biological Weapons and Biological Warfare

    1477 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Biosafety And Biosecurity, Security And Security?

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    Biosecurity, on the other hand, is most commonly used to refer to mechanisms to establish and maintain the security and oversight of pathogenic microorganisms, toxins and relevant resources. The biosafety program ensures the competency of the laboratory staff in safely performing their job through training and documentation of technical expertise. The laboratory staff must manifest professional responsibility for the management of research materials, complying with appropriate materials management procedures. A hallmark of biosafety practices requires laboratory access to be limited to essential personnel only when work with biological agents is in progress.

    Read More

More about Bioterrorism Essay

Open Document