Bioterrorism “Drop the sword , for there is but one flesh to wound, and it is the one flesh of all humankind.” - Jonathan Lockwood Huie What is bioterrorism? Bioterrorism is an attack that involve by releasing bacteria, viruses and other harmful agents which can caused illness or death. Most of these agents can found in nature. Terrorist may used these biological agents as a weapon against their enemy in order to achieve their purposes. Because these agents is extremely difficult to detect and most of the time it doesn’t shows any symptoms for several hours to several days. Thus this is an effective and economic way for the terrorist to create public panic and social disruption without getting their own brother killed. Use of biological warfare Infectious disease was recognized as a potential impact on people and enemy as early as 600B.C.Poisoning wells and other sources of enemy water supply was a common strategy that continued be used through the European wars, the American civil wars and even into 20th century. During World War 1, Germans shipped infected horses and cows w...
Guillemin, J. (2005). Biological weapons: From the invention of state-sponsored programs to contemporary bioterrorism Columbia University Press.
...ica the original area of all devastating diseases. Jared Diamond summarized that the reason the locations fell to invading forces from the European powers was simple, they were the first to have guns, germs, and steel.
Although populations in ancient societies suffered attacks, invasions, starvation, and persecution, there was a more efficient killer that exterminated countless people. The most dreaded killers in the ancient world were disease, infections and epidemics. In many major wars the main peril was not gunfire, nor assault, but the easily communicable diseases that rapidly wiped out whole divisions of closely quartered soldiers. Until the time of Hippocrates, in the struggle between life and death, it was, more often than not, death that prevailed when a malady was involved. In the modern world, although illness is still a concern, advances in thought and technique have led to the highest birth rates in recorded history. No longer is a fever a cause for distress; a quick trip to the store and a few days of rest is the current cure. An infection considered easily treatable today could have meant disablement, even death to an ancient Greek citizen.
Human mobility, in terms of European transcontinental exploration and colonization, began to truly flourish after the 1400s. This travel, inspired by financial motives and justified by religious goals, resulted in the European dominance and decimation of countless cultures in both the Americas and Eurasia. While at first glance it seems as though this dominance was achieved through mainly military means - European militias, like Spanish conquistadors, rolling over native tribes with their technologically advanced weapons - the reality is significantly more complex. The Europeans, most likely unknowingly, employed another, equally deadly weapon during their exploits. With their travel, they brought with them the infectious diseases of their homelands, exposing the defenseless natives to foreign malady that their bodies had no hope of developing immunities against. Because of the nature of disease and their limited knowledge about its modes of infection, the Europeans were able to dispense highly contagious and mortal illnesses while limiting their contraction of any native ones to the new territories. In short, they were able to kill without being killed. In this way, the travel of disease in conjunction with the travel of humans in a search for exotic commodities was able to limit or even halt the development of some cultures while allowing others to flourish at exponential rates.
Though biological weapons have been available for under a century, there is a long history of their use between 1914 and 1972. Chemical warfare was first introduced in 1914 at the beginning of World War I. Because of the new style of warfare with automatic weapons, trenches were dug out from the ground to defend against a slaughter. The introduction of this issue caused us to invent weapons such as the grenade, flame thrower, and finally, biological weapons. Biological weapons were distributed by hoses, grenades, and aerial attacks. By doing this, we eliminated many enemy trenches and saved a large amount of Ally lives. (Menace)
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).
"O, that this too sailed flesh would meld/or that the everlasting had not fixed/his cannon against self-slaughter" (I.ii.129-132).
Disease and war go hand and hand in war. Throughout history, any major military conflict opens a can of worms of disease and death, by moving people to new environments, as well as, cramming them into confined quarters the perfect habitat for human pathogens to prosper. At the turn of the last century Cuba was seeking independence from Spain, which the Spanish resisted by relocating rebel groups. This relocation and increase in density escalated the already problematic yellow fever epidemic. The fear of relocation caused many Cubans to immigrate to the United States, many with yellow fever in tow. While the United States joined the war effort for many reasons, including the prosperity of the sugar industry, the spread of freedom, or the sinking of the Maine, it was the pressing fear of disease that led to an imminent threat to the people of the Gulf Coast. This threat materialized after the US forces landed in Havana and experienced the disease firsthand. In response to the overwhelming number of infected soldiers, the US Government sent a group of Army physicians to undergo a major sanitation effort to clean up Cuba. The work of Walter Reed and the second Yellow Fever Commission through their sanitation efforts led to many advances in the understanding of disease and population health. Starting with the threat of escaping Cuban refugees to the treating of infected Soldiers to the advancement in epidemiology, yellow fever had a major impact on not only the US entrance to the war with Spain, but to the development of modern medicine and the first American Empire.
In crowded conditions, the rate of infection is even more rapid. The diseases brought over to America were mainly spread by the respiratory method. The pathogenesis of infection is through the ingestion of contaminated food and water. Throughout Europe during the 15th century, food and water were contaminated with fecal matter and by unsanitary habits ( i.e. the lack of bathing). The traumatic route of infection is through insect and animal bites.
The rail market continued to grow and by the 1860’s all major cities within the United States were connected by rail. The main diseases that showed the most virulence during the time were cholera, yellow fever and consumption, now known as tuberculosis. The 9th census mortality data showed that 1 out 7 deaths from disease were caused by tuberculosis and 1 out of 24 disease deaths were resulting from cholera. . Until the 1870s the general consensus of the spread of disease through population was still the primitive idea that it came from the individual and not specifically the pathogen.... ... middle of paper ... ...
blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man” (Bible). In ancient times a
As a result, dangerous diseases and other illnesses were a constant threat”
Microbes are microscopic life forms, usually too small to be seen by the naked eye. Although many microbes are single-celled, there are also numerous multi-cellular organisms. The human body has 10-100 trillion microbes living on it, making it one giant super-organism. Since the first link between microbes and diseases was made, people have been advised to wash their hands. Scientists, however, have recently started to investigate more closely how the microbes that call the human body home affect our health. While some microbes cause disease, others are more beneficial, working with our bodies in many subtle ways.
In the 19th century the population of Britain suffered from infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis, Typhoid, Smallpox, Diphtheria and others. These diseases were thought to have been caused by the ‘miasmas’ within the air causing bad smells, although living in the cramped conditions of back-to-back housing and sharing of privies were the prime breeding ground for illness and spread of disease. The diseases of the 19th century that caused major death rates were the cholera epidemic in 1832 killing over 21,000 people and ‘Spanish flu’, also known as influenza, a pandemic in the early 20th century killing an estimate of 250,000 (Anon., 2005) just in Britain. The main reason behind Diseases spreading in this era was the fact
When looking back on history, it is evident to see that humans by nature are warriors. Humans often find themselves fighting mysterious battles against disguised enemies. Throughout history the earth has been afflicted with mysterious diseases, which tend to invisibly cause the preponderance of civilizations to perish. The evolution of infectious diseases has and always will provide challenges for humankind (Hoff, Smith, and Calisher 6-7). Over the course of time, humans gradually developed a preference to live in large urban settings. Urbanization and the cross-cultural interaction of civilizations have both strongly provoked widespread illness, which is known as an epidemic or pandemic based upon size. An epidemic is when a common disease affects a large number of people within a particular region (Lamb). A pandemic is similar to an epidemic but is even more widespread than an epidemic, and spreads throughout entire continents or even the world. Despite the slight variation in meaning, most pandemics are interchangeably denoted as epidemics (Friendlander 13-14). Epidemics and pandemics have formed the course of human history by inflicting lifestyle alterations and abruptly killing large masses of people. When one thinks of widespread disease it is easy to think that pandemics and epidemics are things of the past. Unfortunately, epidemics are commonly found today in poorer countries and major pandemics are still on the rise, such as the modern disease AIDS (Lampton 12-15). Nonetheless, epidemics and pandemics affect large portions of the world’s population; thus, these ongoing diseases will always influence the history of mankind because they force transformation amongst even the strongest civilizations.