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.
If an outbreak of anthrax were to occur it would probably happen in a form of an aerosol device of anthrax spores. The intentional bioterrorism outbreak would result in multiple cases of inhalation anthrax. If the outbreak was done by an aerosol can, there would be no indication of an attack because the United States, or anywhere else for that matter, does not have any appropriate method of detection for odorless, colorless, and tasteless spores of anthrax. This outbreak would cause the certain death of the first infected, since physicians in the U.S. would probably not detect anthrax as a cause of the patient’s flu-like symptoms. Most U.S. doctors and radiologists and lab personnel have not seen a form of inhalation anthrax and would not be able to identify it or notice Bacillus anthracis in a blood culture. Since an outdoor release of these spores can travel multiple miles and it only takes one gram to kill 10 million people, it could quite possible create extremely high fatality rates. In one city alone it is estimated that the release of aerosol anthrax could cause the death of up to 3 million people within the first couple of weeks.
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...
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 .
Bacillus anthracis or anthrax is bacteria that infect thousands of people a year worldwide. Mostly found in the hinds and hair of grazing animals like cattle and sheep, the bacteria can stay dormant for years until contacted. Contact can occur through broken skin, eating infected meat, or inhaling infected dust from hides through the mouth or nostrils. Normal contact through the skin begins forming malignant skin ulcers that are dark black in appearance. If left untreated, the blisters lead to blood poisoning and eventually death. Eating contaminated meat not fully cooked can cause intestinal infection also leading to death. Surprisingly, many people survive contact of the skin and very few cases of intestinal infection exist. However, inhalation of infected dust or spores are much more deadly because the symptoms resemble a common cold...
Think of the bioterrorism attack using anthrax in 2001 and how it jeopardized the safety and security of the community. What would protect the community from this disastrous attack in the future?
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.
Anthrax can be treated in two ways through antibiotics and vaccines. If caught in the early stages antibiotics are useful in killing the B. anthracis as it tries to reproduce in both humans and animals. The second method of treatment is useful only when the individual receives treatment prior to being infected with Anthrax. Before an individual is infected with anthrax they can receive a vaccine that is very useful in combating the bacterium. Vaccines are currently licensed for limited use. People who are considered eligible for the vaccine are members of the military, veterinarians, laboratory workers, livestock handlers, and abattoir (slaughterhouse) workers.
I believe that biological warfare should not be option in war because it is expensive, it could cause a major death toll, and could cause major contamination to anything that is left over after biological weapons are used. Others believe that biological warfare should be an option because it is quick and kills off a lot of area all at once and may be more potent than the most lethal chemical warfare agents.
Anthrax has been around for thousands of years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), anthrax is believed to have originated in Egypt and Mesopotamia in the late 1300s B.C.E. during the time of the 10 plagues. Many believe it was the fifth plague. Ancient Greece and Rome also discovered anthrax, as the famous author Homer referenced it in The Iliad around 700 B.C. (https://www.cdc.gov/anthrax/resources/history/index.html). For many years, anthrax was studied in detail. Robert Koch was the first person to note the life cycle of the disease, and in 1881, the first vaccine for animals was created (https://www.cdc.gov/anthrax/resources/history/index.html). Anthrax is mostly found in animals such as ovine, bovine, equine, etc. It is a zoonotic disease meaning, it can be transferred from animal to human. People began to contract anthrax from meat consumption, specifically meat from cattle. As the animal vaccine became more popular, it was noted that the vaccine helped to lower the number of reported human anthrax
Other ways are having a bioterrorisim attack ocure or having an open wound an anthrax spore can land in that next thing you know you have anthrax. Another way is eating not fully cooked meat from an infected animal. Other ways of getting anthrax are inhaling spores that are floating around in the air or even just having contact with an infected animal can give you this fatal disease that can be passed from anything with spores or bacteria on it can get passed to anyone or anything which could result in any animant object getting
Anthrax is a zoonotic bacterial infection that can be transmitted either through contact with affected animals or as a biological weapon (Jones 4). Its use in biological warfare has, however, been controlled and such cases are very few. The few cases have stirred the attention of most people, which has consequently increased public awareness in the disease. It normally affects ruminant animals such as cattle, horses, goats and sheep and then transmitted to humans. Humans cannot transmit the infectious bacteria to other humans.
On September 18th 2001, letters containing lethal amounts of anthrax were mailed out. The deadly anthrax letters were sent out to people all over the United States. Even though the disease was not widely spread, the hysteria that festered in the American people still affects the USA today.
Salmonella typhoid bacteria have over 100 strains in the world today. Most cause illness in humans, but only a few of those strains cause the illness Typhoid Fever (Pike, 2014). Typhoid is a bacterium that has been very devastating to the human race for centuries. Typhoid thrives in undeveloped countries and countries with high populations and poor sanitation procedures. But, it is still a relevant disease here in the United States because of its ease of spread once someone is infected (Pollack, 2003). Antibiotic treatment is usually successful when treating Typhoid Fever, but it still has the ability to cause death, even with treatment of advanced medicine and antibiotics. When one thinks of salmonella, they will most commonly think of a food borne illness (food poisoning symptoms) caused by eating raw or undercooked animal products such as undercooked chicken or pork. That is the effect of some strains of the bacteria, but not the one that causes typhoid fever (Pike, 2014).
Anthrax is a lethal disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. There are three principal forms of the disease in humans-cutaneous, gastrointestinal, and inhalational-depending on the route of exposure. Of these, inhalational anthrax is the most dangerous; it is rapidly fatal; and it has been used as a deadly biological warfare agent in the last decade. Suitable animal models of inhalational anthrax have been utilized to study pathogenesis of disease, investigate bacterial characteristics such as virulence, and test effectiveness of vaccines and therapeutics. To date, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, and nonhuman primates are the principal animal species used to study inhalational anthrax. Mice are valuable in studying early pathogenesis and bacterial characteristics. Few pathologic changes occur in the mouse models but may include marked bacteremia and lymphocyte destruction in the spleen and mediastinal lymph nodes. Rabbits and guinea pigs rapidly develop fulminate systemic disease, and pathologic findings often include necrotizing lymphadenitis; splenitis; pneumonia; vasculitis; and hemorrhage,
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.