What is Bioterrorism?Bioterrorism: the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, or other germs (agents) used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants, (CDC).
We feel that the concept of Biological and Chemical terrorism is an area of concern, and so does the U.S. Department of Homeland Security: "The risk of a biological terrorist attack to America is an urgent and serious threat. Our nation’s capacity to prevent, respond to, and mitigate the impacts of biological terror incidents is a top national security priority." -Martha McSally, US Homeland Security Chairwoman |
Anthrax Anthrax is believed to have originated in Egypt and Mesopotamia around 1250 BC. It soon spread to other parts of the world, and was documented in many writings of scholars in Ancient Greece and Rome. In the 1800's anthrax was well studied and scientist began to learn how to grow and culture large stocks of the same bacterium. With this increased knowledge, the first deliberate use of anthrax as an act of aggression was used in World War I when Scandinavia deployed anthrax against the Imperial Russian Army.
In 1932 Japan began to experiment with anthrax as a biological weapon by infecting prisoners. They even attacked 11 cities in China by spraying the biological agents directly onto to homes from an aircraft. By the mid-1950's bio-weapon programs expanded and international fear began to mount concerning the use of bio-weapons. In 1972 a treaty was signed to prohibit biological and toxic weapons. However this was not the end of anthrax as a form of bioterrorism. In 1993, a religious cult in Japan deployed anthrax against civilians in Tokyo. Then in 2001, following the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, letters filled with a white powder containing anthrax spores were mailed to two U.S. Senators’ offices and news agencies along the East Coast. Twenty-two people got sick with anthrax, and five died from inhalation anthrax. This event made the once-theoretical risk of a bioterrorist attack with anthrax very real. Smallpox One of many viruses in the poxvirus family, smallpox is one of the oldest known human diseases. The first evidence appears on the face of Pharaoh Ramses V of Egypt, who died in 1145 BC. Smallpox has traveled most of the world, sometimes being a major player in human history. It influenced the Elephant War in Mecca in 568, played a significant role in the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 16th century. The virus continued to heavily impact native American groups through the 18th century.
One of the earliest diseases to be vaccinated against, Smallpox became more controllable in the 20th century. It was declared eradicated in 1979, with the last natural case occurring in 1977. After the WHO declared it eradicated, the USA and Russia made an agreement to both maintain samples for research use in separate laboratories. Today, the only known locations of Smallpox virus are in BSL-4 labs in Atlanta, Georgia and Koltsovo, Russia. Some incidences of old or forgotten samples being discovered have happened since, but those samples have been quickly collected and destroyed by the CDC. |
Botulism The disease known as botulism is named after the Latin word for sausage, "botulus." This is because the first recording of botulism poisoning occurred in Europe in 1735, and German blood-sausage was thought to be the culprit. It is one of the most toxic poisons in the world--1 millionth of a gram could kill a man, and a pint would be enough to kill every person on Earth.
During World War II, several countries (including the U.S. and Japan) produced botulism toxin as a possible bacteriological weapon, though it was never used in combat. Later, after the Gulf War of 1991, Iraq claimed to have 19,000 L of the toxin; a colossal amount and more than enough to kill the entire population of the Earth. In more recent times, botulinum toxin has been used in the cosmetic procedure known as Botox. The Botox procedure involves a simple intramuscular injection of a small dose of the toxin. As a result, facial wrinkles will be reduced or eliminated for a few months. Sarin Gas Sarin was first discovered by Schrader, Ambros, Rütiger, and Van der Linde; who were researchers at I.G. Farben in Germany in the late 1930s. Ambros, saw the gas’s potential as a weapon and pushed for its use as such. Soon after its discovery, sarin was being produced by Nazi Germany for use as a chemical weapon, however, it never actually saw extensive use.
By the 1950s, sarin was adopted as a chemical weapon and saw use until the 90s. In 1993, the United Nations held the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and formed the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to enforce it. The CWC declared that sarin, amongst many others, fell under the schedule 1 category. Essentially, this meant that sarin is dangerous and serves few other purposes besides as a weapon . Although its use and production was strictly outlawed by the OPCW in the CWC, it has seen use in more modern times. Most infamously, it was used in attacks in the mid-90s by Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese terrorist group. Most recently, during the 2013 Syrian civil war, sarin was used in attacks on Damascus neighborhoods, which resulted in almost 1,500 deaths. Sarin remains a threat to this day. |