Biological warfare Essays

Biological warfare has been used “…since the onset of human civilization…” (Kostadinov and Galabova, 2010, p. 295). If populations were able to use biological agents back then, it is naïve to think that terrorists will not use them as a weapon of mass destruction. The 2001 Anthrax attacks were the first Anthrax attacks to occur in the U.S. in 25 years (NPR.Org, 2011, p. 2). This attack proves that biological warfare will always be a risk. This is not to say that terrorists are not able to build

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the fear of biological war has risen, due to their simple, inexpensive production, and difficult detection, people assume that they are the perfect weapons for wars and for terrorists. Therefore, I believe that governments should reflect on allowing scientists to generate bioengineered pandemics. Biological warfare agents first appeared around 300 B.C., when Greeks, Romans, and Persians used animal corpses to pollute the water wells of their enemies. Again

tactics and weapon were not sufficient, they often resorted to unconventional tactics and moves such as food poisoning, water poisoning, throwing infected dead bodies and animal carcasses into the walls of the besieged town, the kind of medieval biological warfare. In the medieval period, most of the towns were fortified, surrounded by tick and high walls. It was very difficult, sometimes even with a siege machines to enter into such a fortified town. However, most of these towns supplied with a fresh

Imagine a world where instead of having warfare where soldiers are constantly risking their lives, the government could send in drones that would infect the enemy with uncontrollable diseases that they are unable to cure. This strategy is Bioterrorism. Bioterrorism is the usage or intentional release of biological agents such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Bioterrorism will be effective in the next thirty years for three reasons. Bioterrorism previous uses around the world, the advancements in

Dr. Steven M. Block believes that with an every changing society the threat of biological warfare is greater now than ever before and that has begun to threaten our peace. During this article, he takes us through the history, recent trends, and how we might contain and control the ever-rising numbers of biological weapons. In his article, “The Growing Threat of Biological Weapons” found in The American Scientist, Dr. Block states “The terrorist threat is very real, and it’s about to get worse. Scientists

6. How does biowarfare affect the victims? Biological weapons are designed to spread disease and plague, and the use of viral biological agents as weapons caused much infection and death. Each specific virus has its specific side effects, but one common disease used as a biological weapon is anthrax, which also has specific symptoms. When anthrax makes contact with skin, spores enter the body and produce toxins, which later causes sores, fever, fatigue, headache, and scarring. When anthrax is inhaled

not learned from our many past mistakes; that potentially lethal biological agents are cheap and easy to come by? It's as easy as one online recipe to a biohazardous farm in a person’s grandma's basement. Biological agents, weapons, and warfare have been used to wage war, gain attention and prove points. For over a century, enemies have been using death, diseases, and viruses to gain the upper hand on their opponents. Biological weapons have been used in many wars and everyday life but the first

Biological warfare agents, such as anthrax and smallpox, are powerful weapons due to the fact the agents vary greatly in appearance and method of effective release. Terrorist attacks using a biological agent are considered one of the easiest and deadliest attacks because most agents can be dispersed silently and remain invisible until the mission is complete (“Biological warfare…” n.pag.). If a toxin is released into the public, a massive spread of disease would occur; however, the person handling

disease among humans, animals and plants. Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against person, animals or property to intimidate or coerce a government or civilian population to gain political or social objectives (CDC, 2013). The use of biological agents to cause harm or death is not a new concept; countries have been engaging in bioterrorism for hundreds of years. Bioterrorism dates back to the 14th century, when cadavers were dropped into enemy wells to poison the drinking water. Similarly

the flu, how we would they react when they are face-to-face with a disease on a bigger spectrum.When humans first encountered Biological Warfare, they could not have predicted that it would kill ⅓ of the European population ( 1345 Caffa,Plague).However today we have laws and a world agreement;Biological Warfare Convention. The articles of that convention states that Biological

In attempts to affect the largest groups possible in public spaces, the usage of bioweapons is constantly pushing new uses of technology and extraneous substances to receive the most devastating effects. In Alexander Ioffe’s article “Biological and Chemical Weapons,” it can be seen that anthrax is typically mixed with silicon to help disperse the powder more in airborne attacks. Adding silicon helps to make the bioweapon more reactive and volatile. Anthrax is a bacterial endospore, making

In the film Silver Linings Playbook, Pat Junior was placed into a psychiatric institution due to beating up the man his ex-wife, Nikki, was cheating on Pat Junior with. After he has been there for the required court mandated eight months, his mother discharges Pat from the psychiatric institution against medical advice. While there, it is found that Pat Junior has bi-polar disorder and dislikes taking his medication since he claims it makes his mind foggy. When he returns home, there are a series

If I held a utilitarianism belief I would be looking at maximizing happiness (Sandel, 2009). Jeremy Bentham states we are governed by our feelings of pleasure and pain. The utilitarian approach uses this for the basis of maximizing the pleasure of the community as a whole. Sometimes individual rights can be sacrificed to save the happiness in the majority of the community. According to the Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, the utilitarian view would seek to maximize the overall good. They

Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone, narrates a “terrifyingly true story” about the menacing Ebola outbreak of 1976. Ebola is named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in West Africa, and when Preston’s book was published people would base their knowledge about Ebola upon the information introduced in his book. Although he researches his topics thoroughly, Preston’s inaccurate descriptions, exaggerations of the virus, and the unnecessary characterization of his characters

Most importantly, this unfortunate event showed how the first significant biological attack on a U.S. community was not carried out by foreign terrorists , but by legal residents of a U.S. community. This in turn helped increase knowledge on how to be prepared and how to deal with such an event. This attack also helped increase

Abstract Smallpox is a dangerous and highly contagious disease. It is described as a disfiguring disease due to the bumps that appear on an infected person, once gone through their entire cycle they leave behind deep pitted scars. There are two strains of smallpox, variola major and variola minor. Variola major is the most common form of smallpox with more dangerous outcomes than variola minor. Smallpox is transmitted via direct face to face prolonged contact with an infected person but can also

Smallpox and terrorism are two similarly destructive, though normally unrelated, entities. Both causes fast mortality rate, leaving the survivals with permanent physical and psychological damages. Smallpox virus represents a potential biological weapon that could be used by terrorists. Putting these two lethal individuals into the same box could be the root of World War III. When an eminent threat such as smallpox arises, it is part of human nature to act upon fear rather than logic itself. Therefore

Ebola “The Ebola Virus has again emerged and this time Dallas! This Virus has infected 1000 people since its outbreak.” “Excuse me” said Mr. Bland as he interrupted his client at his Job at the bank. “Excuse me, I apologize, I just need to use the restroom he says as he grabs a napkin to whip his bloody nose. On his way to the restroom he notice a story on CNN on the talk and outbreak of Ebola in west Africa, and raises alarms because he just got back from vacation from west Africa. Mr. Bland runs

In the Hot Zone, Richard Preston demonstrates how devastating Ebola and other filoviruses can be to large populations. In the book, Preston describes true events during an outbreak of Ebola virus at a Monkey facility in Reston, Virginia in 1980. He also gives background from other viral outbreaks in Africa in the 1970’s and 1980’s. This book is really scary because it is factual, not fictional. Preston emphasizes the real dangers of Ebola and other filoviruses, but argues that the long lasting

In 2014, four cases of Ebola broke out in the United states and over 900 in North West Africa. Of these four cases, only one was fatal. In The Hot Zone, Preston describes the three main filoviruses: Marburg, Ebola Sudan, and Ebola Zaire. Marburg, is often referred to as the cousin of Ebola and is not as fatal as the Ebola virus. Of the two different Ebola strains, Ebola Zaire (named after its origin) is known as the most deadly of all the viruses with an eighty percent fatality rate, and is twice