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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.
First we will discuss the first known utilization of bioterrorism, in the 6th Century BCE. The Assyrians used Rye Ergot to poison the Israelite’s water supply. The goal was to infect the enemy with Ergotism which created symptoms such as hallucinations, gastrointestinal upset, and in even gangrenous development on the fingers and toes due to massive vasoconstriction. What the Assyrians didn’t realize was that for the poisoning to be successful enough to show any sign of infection, the poisoning had to be chronic, which was not the case in this instance. Therefore the first incident of bioterrorism was unsuccessful.
In the same century, a very similar instance of bioterrorism occurred. In the year 585 BCE, the Siege of Kirrha (“the first sacred war”) was raging in Greece. The city of Kirrha controlled all lands from the city of Delphi to the Corinthian Gulf. The cause of the war was Kirrha’s constant abuse of power by taxing and tolling pilgrims traveling to Delphi. With the help of the Amphictionic League, the citizens of Delphi revolted against Kirrha. One of the tactics used against them was the poisoning of their water supply with Hellebore, a...
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...c has not yet been gathered, and will be gathered this week [he was out of the office last week])
In the beginning, groups of people used plants to take control of cities, and since that day bioterrorism hasn’t stopped evolving, and neither shall it ever stop evolving. Every day new technologies, new protocols, new vaccines and even new diseases are produced. I have showed you where bioterrorism has come from, and the path it has taken to be where it is today, and even given a glimpse of where it might go in the future. But until we actually get to the time in the future where we can see it with our own eyes, we will never know for sure.
Works Cited
(Considering this is already a week late, I thought it would be irresponsible to take more time to do this page, however I will have it done within the week)
Works Cited
forgot to do
Guillemin, J. (2005). Biological weapons: From the invention of state-sponsored programs to contemporary bioterrorism Columbia University Press.
Pita, R. (2009). Toxin weapons: From World War I to jihadi terrorism. Toxin Reviews, 28(4), 219-237. doi:10.3109/1556950903246136
enemy. It has been around for thousands of years, but in different forms. To take a case in point, the article, “History of Bioterrorism,” states that the Assyrians poisoned the well of their enemies with rye ergot in the 6th Century B.C. More recent examples of bioterrorism include the anthrax inhalation from received mail in 2001 (Office of The Surgeon General). Although these are only recorded acts, there is a whole other story to what should happen once a victim is diagnosed with any type of bioterrorism and what treatment they should undergo, if one exists. For example, the medical response and treatment are different for anthrax, smallpox and tularemia. The medical response and treatment depend on the severity of the case and the type of bioterrorism.
Medical College of Wisconsin. “Facts About Anthrax and Smallpox as Bioterrorism Weapons.” Healthlink. 12 Nov. 2001. Medical College of Wisconsin. 24 July 2008 .
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.
The morning of September 11, 2001, Americans experienced vulnerability and realized a new fear, the threat of a bioterrorist attack. In the days that followed the terrorist attacks letters tainted with anthrax began appearing in the U.S. mail. Five Americans were killed and 17 were sickened in what became the worst biological attacks in U.S. history (“Amerithrax or Anthrax Investigation”). Bioterrorism is defined as a criminal act against unsuspecting civilians and a threat to national security with the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, or germs. An attack of bioterrorism is meant to cause illness or death by microorganisms that are found in nature, but they can be made more harmful because of an increased ability to cause and spread disease which resists medical treatment. These biological agents can spread from person to person or can be released into the food supply, water, or air. They can be hard to detect because they may not cause illness for hours or several days, thus giving terrorists an advantage allowing them to go escape undetected until symptoms arise and an attack is suspected. Biological weapons are appealing because they are often easy to obtain and inexpensive, and can be easily distributed. The main objective of bioterrorism is to cause panic and terror, not necessarily casualties. The social disruption they cause can be far worse than any actual damage.
The aftermath of a bioterrorist attack can be catastrophic to the population in any affected country. The effects can be medical, economic, political, psychological, and social, depending on what agent is used, and the conditions of its release. If the agent is professional prepared and released then the effects could be more both significant and long lasting, and although an attack can affect a country in a disruptive manner, it could also affect it in a positive way. Among the positive results are the cooperation among countries, a country more unified, and the procurement of more facts about the attack by authorities, leading them to the improvement of bio-security protocols to prevent future attacks.
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
Biological weapons are frightening, in part, because of limited public understanding of this type of warfare. The popular and uninformed opinion on biological warfare is that huge communities of people will be wiped out in one fell swoop by fatal infections. In this paper I will answer basic questions about biological warfare to provide a better understanding of what biological warfare means and how we can defend against it. Although biological warfare is frightening, it will not necessarily lead to the destruction of life on Earth. These infections are often fatal if untreated, but people can survive the illness if they seek appropriate medical treatment.
Since the beginning of civilization, poisons have been used for assassination purposes. The foundation of microbiology allowed those who were interested in biological weapons, to chose and design different biological agents. The potential dangers of these agents were soon recognized and resulted in two international declarations that prohibited the use of poisoned weapons. These treaties, however, contained no means of control and therefore, interested parties were developing and using biological weapons that we can see illustrated by the German army in the First World War. The German army was the first to use biological and chemical weapons, attempting to infect animals directly and to contaminate animal feed in their enemies’ co...
Pita, R. (2009). Toxin weapons: From World War I to jihadi terrorism. Toxin Reviews, 28(4), 219-237. doi:10.3109/1556950903246136
In the “Merrian-Webster” dictionary, bioterrorism is defined as “terrorism involving the use of biological weapons.” In other words, an individual that uses living organisms to harm one or more individuals. These cases of bioterrorism may be intentional or accidental.
In spite of the positive influences of biological/chemical weapons, there are many more negative effects, including the immense terrorist threat. Because biological and chemical weapons can be a seemingly effortless construction, the possibility of terrorist use is always evident: “If a bioterrorist attack were to happen, Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria that causes anthrax, would be one of the biological agents most likely to be used" (“Anthrax”). According to the CDC, anthrax is a likely bioterrorist weapon for a few main reasons: including the former use, the spores can be found in nature or produced in a scientific lab, the spores are microscopic and near impossible to detect, and the spores can be put into many environments and still
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...
Biological warfare. Using infectious diseases, bacteria, viruses, fungi, and biological toxins to kill animal, plants, and even humans as an act of war. But one of the most gruesome biological warfare scientists is Shiro Ishii. From testing germs of warfare on Chinese prisoners of war, to killing hundreds of innocent civilians, Shiro was one of the most harrowing biological warfare scientists in his time.