Effects of Biological and Chemical Warfare

“The gas instantly caused severe burning in their throats and lung. The men clutched their chests, coughed, and gasped for breath. Attempts to shield themselves from the gas were largely futile. Many tried to burrow their noses and mouths or to cover them with cloth, but the moist, dense poison penetrated everything” (Taylor 17). Those were the effects of chlorine quoted by an eyewitness. The gases and biological agents used against people in war are very cruel. They cause lots of deaths in short periods of time, leaving lasting effects wherever they are unleashed. These weapons are very volatile and in small doses can cause mass destruction worldwide. No matter how they are used, they still leave a lasting effect on the planet and the inhabitants of it. Over the course of time, biological and chemical weapons have been used to take over the battlefield, but the future effects of these have not been considered.

Biological weapons are pathogenic microbes including viruses, bacteria, rickettsia, toxins, and any other living agent that is harmful to living things (McCarthy 1). The major difference between chemical and biological weapons is that chemicals injure directly, and biological agents injure indirectly through disease (McCarthy 1). Pathogens are categorized by how they are delivered (McCarthy 1). The majority of pathogens can be carried by any agricultural pest, insect, tick, rodent, or flea (McCarthy 1). Contact diseases include Ebola, dengue fever, smallpox, yellow fever, and plague (McCarthy 1). Water and food borne diseases include dysentery, E coli, Salmonella, cholera, and typhoid (Hutchinson 237).

Viral pathogens include smallpox, equine, dengue fever, yellow fever, and psittacosis (Hutchinson 238). Ebola is passed...

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...gents, each with the ability to cause disease that spreads throughout the world, killing many people, and only stoppable with certain antibiotics or vaccines. There are numerous chemical agents used during the past wars of the world, some so deadly that they were disapproved, and some were even so inhumane that the people who used them rebelled against using them. As these weapons become more used, the less it seems that people care about the effects that they cause, and many people could therefore suffer greatly at the moment or in the future because of someone’s mistake. There are weapons of these being built that significantly surpass the protection levels in the world currently, and one little slip could be disastrous for all. Perhaps someday everyone will realize the dangers of these weapons, or they will keep using them, dooming all people to a horrid death.