FREE ESSAY ON BIOTERRORISM

BIOTERRORISM

Bioterrorism
You wake up early for work and kiss your family goodbye. On your daily transit you see a
man drop a glass vial in the subway, but you think nothing of it. Moments later you
become a statistic. A statistic of Bioterrorism. The threat of Bioterrorism, long ignored
and denied, has heightened over the past years and needs to be publicly addressed. There
are three possible solutions to this threat that are within grasp. The first of which
would be a nation wide vaccination against all agents that could be used against the
American public. Second, we could educate people to more efficiently spot the symptoms of
such an act, or to protect themselves from an act that has already taken place. The last
solution would be to prevent the act from occurring, detect it as soon as it occurs, and
destroy the destructive pathogen used. Even with all of these solutions, an act of
Bioterrorism is an major threat to the united states that could occur undetected and must
be dealt with immediately in order to save lives. 
Biological warfare has been used from the cadavers poisoning water supplies, to modern
technology allowing munitions, and advanced deployment of biological weapons. Both
nations, and dissident groups exist that have some of the most dangerous, and deadly
pathogens, along with the ability to deploy them. Bioterrorism presents a threat to all
people of the world, and will always remain a 
threat for three main reasons. One, it is very easy for anyone to obtain samples of
harmful agents, such as anthrax or small pox. Two, An act of this terrorism could occur
at any time, any place, and there would be no reaction for days or weeks. And third, many
of the agents that can be used in such acts have no treatments, let alone cures. If a
group, or nation had funding and a moderate laboratory they could produce, and deploy
some of the worlds deadliest pathogens undetected. For example, in 1995, the Japanese
cult, Aum Shinrikyo, released the nerve gas Sarnin in the Tokyo subway . The cult also
had other plans set up. In its arsenal police found large quantities of nutrient media,
Botulium culture, anthrax cultures, and drone aircraft equipped with spray tanks. Members
of this group have even traveled to Zaire in 1992 to obtain samples of the Ebola virus. 
Terrorist groups exist today that have a large quantity of diseases, chemicals, and
viruses to choose from. Information on how to culture and obtain such things is available
on the Internet. Deadlier samples of such viruses, as small pox, and even Ebola, may be
just at the fingertips of major terrorist groups. After the cold war a Russian Bioweapons
facility, Vector, became a high concern . Before the 
cold war, vector was a 4000 person, 30 building facility with an ample Biosaftey level 4
laboratory. The laboratory housed the small pox virus, as well as work on the deadly
Ebola virus, Marbug, and the hemorrhagic fever viruses . Any viewpoint you look at it
from disgruntled person, terrorist cult, and Nation, Obtaining samples of these cultures
isn't whether you want it, it when you want it. 
If a terrorist group did happen to obtain these weapons, which is likely, using it is
even easier. If a person were to drop a light bulb full of Anthrax spores in the New York
subway, it could kill thousands, to hundreds of thousands of people . The agents anthrax,
plague, brucellosis, small pox, viral encephalitis, and viral hemorrhagic fevers are of
particular concern. They are relatively easy and inexpensive to produce, cause death or
disabling disease, and can be aerosolized and distributed over large geographic areas.
These agents can be released in small amounts, without anyone knowing for days or weeks,
and can infect hundreds of thousands of people and cause many deaths. 
The most sever threat of Bioterrorism Is the fact that for many of the agents used, there
are no treatments developed, and no cures. We are ill prepared to cope 
with a terrorist attack that uses biological weapons. In counter terrorism efforts, the
focus lies mostly with chemical, or explosive weapons. A chemical release or a major
explosion is a lot more manageable than a biological attack posed by Anthrax, or small
pox. After an explosion or a chemical attack, the worst effects are over quickly. The
extent of the damage can be assessed, deaths and injuries tolled, and efforts to rebuild
and recover can get underway. With the use of small pox or Anthrax, day after day,
additional cases could be expected, and in new areas . 
Finding ways to effectively fight back against Bioterrorism is difficult. The first
viable solution would be a nation wide vaccination against the most likely agents to be
used in Bioweapons. If such a campaign were to take place then incidents involving
pathogens against which people were immune to would, obviously, have no effect on the
economy. This would be the main purpose for our Nation to employ a vaccination plan.
However, there are several drawbacks to this plan. First of all, if our nation were to
evoke this strategy it would take a mass effort to make all of the vaccines, decide which
ones were worth giving, and getting the materials, 
and specialists to make the vaccines. Having several vaccines for every US citizen would
be nearly impossible, and cost tax payers a large amount of money. Also, 
cults, or nations would constantly be producing new, or mutated strains that we would
have to develop vaccines to. we would be in a constant game of catch-up. Relentlessly
trying to figure out with what would come up next. 
Many doctors today haven't even seen a case of anthrax or small pox, and even if they
did, it is unlikely they would be able to efficiently diagnose the symptoms . This
problem needs to be fixed. Establishing a plan to educate doctors, nurses, policeman, and
firemen. If a scenario occurred involving the outbreak of small pox on US soil, it's
almost certain that the act would go unnoticed until a characteristic rash appeared on
the victims 9 to 10 days later. Most of the doctors present wouldn't be able to diagnose
the symptoms, and it would be several more days until the diagnosis was confirmed. By
that time, the virus would have been passed to countless other victims, it would be to
late. The ability to adequately educate people to promptly respond to an act could be the
difference between a hundred deaths, to hundreds of thousands of deaths. If emergency
room doctors were taught the symptoms of such cases then it would be more likely to be
caught earlier. If 
firefighters, and policeman were taught to recognize an act at the scene, then it could
be stopped even earlier, preventing even more human loss. Anyway you look at it, The
early detection of an act of Bioterrorism will save lives. 
The last solution would be to prevent, detect, and destroy. This is a combination of many
ideas I presented earlier. This combination would include vaccination, education, and
response. Because military, doctors, police, and firemen are all vital to a city, they
would be given vaccines to the few most likely pathogens to be used. This act would put a
safety net around the functions of any city, without putting strenuous strain on the
economy. The second part, education, would involve all of the steps I described earlier.
This would help us detect the occurrence of an outbreak quickly in order to do the third
part, destroy. This step is very critical, and important. After we have determined that
there was an outbreak, then we must act as quickly as possible to quarantine, and destroy
the harmful agent. In order to accomplish this we need a surplus of vaccines for civilian
distribution. A network of laboratories capable of the need in an outbreak, and a far
better group of trained epidemiologists, clinicians, and researchers. This 
solution would let us prevent an act from occurring, Detect it quickly, and them nullify
the harmful agent as soon as possible. 
In my opinion, the best way to fight Bioterrorism would be to prevent, detect, and
destroy. Going into depths on this topic, we can see that it provides us with two lines
of defense, the prevent, and the destroy. However, the detect is vital part of this plan.

Prevention has two meanings behind it. It implies that we prevent an incident from
occurring all together. but it could also mean that we would not be effected by the
pathogen used against us. The main thing to do is prevent a terrorist act from occurring
is to highly regulate the use of harmful agents. Restricting who, and how much could have
deadly diseases, where it goes, and what it's used for. Only letting high class viruses
such as Ebola into high level security laboratories. If this were to take place, people
of threat would have a more difficult time obtaining these cultures. The second thing to
do would be educating policeman to spot acts at the scene of the crime. This would allow
us to confine the outbreak to a small area earlier, and have a much easier time
destroying it. Also educating our 
doctors to recognize cases earlier would keep the casualties down. Prevention of a
Bioweapons act is the main goal, but if it fails we must have a backup plan. 
Once it has been determined that a biological weapon has been used, confining the area of
the occurrence is vital, this prevents the virus from spreading. No one 
in the confined area should be allowed to leave, and people entering must be protected
with proper equipment. In order to help effectively do this we need to establish a local,
regional , and national disease control system. The local system would be responsible to
identify the specific virus, and determine the quarantine area. Once this has been done,
the regional team would come in and enforce the quarantine area, and also start a
standard treatment for those patients. Once this has been done, the national team would
start to determine a more specific treatment, and attempt to develop a cure. If no cure
can be found, then the area shall be destroyed by any means necessary to eliminate the
harmful agent, and maintain safety. If an outbreak did occur, then we shall do whatever
it takes to minimize human life, without the cost of many. 
Bioterrorism represents a clear and present danger to the united states. Out of All the
solutions I gave, if nothing is done, then it is not if an act will occur, but when it
will occur. Bioterrorism has already happened, and will continue to until we do something
about it. In order to do about it we must instigate a plan of nation wide vaccination,
education, or prevent detect destroy. If nothing is done, then one day on your way to
work you could become a statistic, a statistic of Bioterrorism.