ipl-logo

Inhalation Anthrax Outbreak

793 Words4 Pages

The inhalation anthrax outbreak was likely an effect of the shipyard explosion uplifting bacillus anthracis contaminated spores into the air. The spores could have been transmitted through the air in an aerosol form that was odorless and invisible to those attending the football game. In one scenario the outbreak could have been an intentional aerosol release of B. anthracis spores in the event of a terrorist attack whereas in another scenario the outbreak could have been purely accidental as anthrax is naturally occurring in the environment and spores may have been uplifted as a result of the explosion . The wind was then able to pick up the spores forming a poisonous anthrax cloud that could be carried further away from the stadium and explosion, …show more content…

(2007).Who guidelines on tularemia. Reservoirs in the environment. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/tularemia/resources/whotularemiamanual.pdf
Biological agents such as Anthrax, Plague and Tularemia may be found growing wild in nature. Bulk samples of disease agent’s bacteria could be collected and grown in a sophisticated terrorist laboratory to be manufactured by chemists with the knowledgeable backgrounds necessary to effectively weaponize the samples in aerosol form to use for an attack on the people inhabiting South Baltimore, including the areas just outside S. Baltimore, MD, VA, and DC to cause them harm and to create widespread fear.
Smallpox was declared eradicated in the 1980s; however the smallpox outbreak may have been possible if a malicious individual or group was able to successfully infiltrate one of the super-secure laboratories either in Atlanta, GA or Russia where smallpox virus is kept to use to in a terrorist attack to cause a public health crisis (WHO,n.d). If this where the case the explosion at the shipyard was likely caused intentionally to be the site where this and the other disease agent were released, or the explosion may have been planned as a distraction so that the disease could be released at the football stadium on the windy night during the game when the stadium was full and the disease could cause a lot of

Open Document