Bioterrorist Attack Case Study

Bioterrorism is the biggest part of Code Orange and how new and threatening it is. As Derek says on page 138,”But here's my guess: what a terrorist could do is get hold of Mitty. He gets sick and they’re golden. They launch the first successful bioterrorist attack on America.” What Derek is saying is that if a terrorist got hold of a deadly virus that people aren't vaccinated for, they can launch an epidemic that could wipe out a country. What makes smallpox perfect for terrorists is that it hasn't been a thing since the 70’s. This means that people are not currently vaccinated and would never guess that they have it. Clearly, bioterrorism is almost if not more scary than normal terrorism

The smallpox bioterrorism attack was made more successful when the FBI did not inform the local authorities and health agencies of the potential for an attack. This lack of information caused a delay in the medical community being able to respond quickly and effectively by isolating those exposed and assessing an immediate vaccination plan. People who were infected at the venue went about their lives and would later expose many others to smallpox. Since hospitals were not informed about a potential large-scale smallpox exposure they were not aware to be cautious for any symptoms associated with smallpox. This caused the first few smallpox patients to be misdiagnosed patients with things such as the flu and dengue fever instead. This time lapse

Bruce Ivins, other than his suicide when things homing on to him with the FBI, is the anthrax killer, exposing and estimated thirty thousand people to the deadly spores, killing five, leaving its illness with seventeen others. (Shactman) The problem with chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear terrorism, also know as CBRN, is that, in threats where conventional explosives are not used, chemical, biological, and radiological threats are hard to detect and prevent, and after-the-fact, are, usually, impossible, expensive, or extensive in labor and use of high-tech, cutting-edge equipment, which is complicated and needs technical expertise, to make the clean-up take very long in chemical and radiological threats, and is nearly impossible to collect evidence for examination in a laboratory in chemical and biological threats if aerosolized or in a vapor form, which dissipates into the atmosphere, environment, and plants around it (Center For Excellence in Emergency

The fear of a Chemical or Biological attack has been a concern to many governments. These attacks, either by state agencies or individuals, have caused loss of life and the United States has not been spared in this forms of attacks.

Following the 9/11 and anthrax terrorist attacks, studies focused on the mental state of the nation were performed. While these events occurred over a decade ago, they are not a danger of the past. With increasingly advanced technology, anthrax is relatively easy to produce in large quantities (Inglesby). Additionally, many countries such as China, Israel, and North Korea have nuclear weapons (The Biological Threat). Although biological weapons were forbidden during the Geneva Convention, it would be foolish for America to believe that a bioterrorist attack is out of the picture, especially at a time where large terrorist attacks are increasingly common. Thus, it is important to consider whether bioterrorism’s psychological ramifications,

Welcome to week 4! This week we are discussing what consequences face the Nation if our chosen threat isn’t adequately addressed and whether we believe that it is being addressed adequately now. Of the six security challenges that are mentioned in the 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, I have chosen to discuss biological threats. Biological terrorism is a scary prospect that should be a growing concern for the country. The reason for this is the ease at which a bio attack can be put into action. Depending on the level of intricacy of the attack, the effects could be isolated to one area or become a pandemic that spreads across the United States. Bioterrorism comes in many forms but as a general explanation biological

“Bioterrorism remains a major threat for the United States despite more than $65 billion spent on protecting the country from myriad dangers, the Bipartisan WMD Terrorism Research Center said in its latest report Wednesday. The center's Bio-Response Report Card evaluated U.S. preparedness for countering threats from bioterrorism and found the country remains vulnerable to multiple threats and "largely unprepared for a large-scale bioterrorist attack."”(UPI.com, 2011). There have been over a dozen leading U.S. bio-defense experts that have taken part in figuring out where we are exactly as a county and what the effects of a terroristic attack

The Bioterrorisk simulation, which is developed by the Illinois Public Health Prepared-ness Center, is a case based mini course. The bioterrorism events of 9/11 and Anthrax epidemic in the United States have alarmed the nation’s capability to respond to the bioterrorism attacks. The Public Health role in bioterrorism preparedness and response is to plan and organize the medical and public health first response personnel to identify and investigate any disease outbreaks by using the surveillance systems, laboratory services and using the similar disease epidemic data available in

People will do almost anything to win or achieve their goals and that is sometimes a good thing. However, there have been instances where people have taken the idea to the extreme. So extreme that it was even banned at the end of World War 1 at the Geneva Convention. The topic is Biological Warfare. This type of warfare uses toxins or contagious agents instead of using guns and explosives. Toxins and agents such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. All of them are different things and have different effects but all have the same goal, and that is to disable or kill humans, animals, and plants to win the war. This warfare is cruel and inhumane and should never be used by anyone. If anyone did they should be punished severely. Why shouldn’t we use this? Well one example is World War 1.

This research paper is broken into four sections. The first section, Bioterrorism Response in a Major Metropolitan Area, provides

In ancient times, both human and animal cadavers served as vehicles for the transmittance of disease across enemy lines. According to Cenciarelli et al., dead bodies would be dropped in communal wells or catapulted over the castle walls to cause widespread disease (2013, 110), and these would end up determining the outcome of the wars. The recent use of biological weapons has been closely linked to terror attacks, which introduces a new dynamic in the ensuring the safety of Americans. It is cheaper today to produce biological weapons than it was some decades ago, and it has even been proven that this method is the most cost-effective method compared to chemical, nuclear, and conventional warfare (Cenciarelli, 2013, 112). Due to this, even paramilitary and terrorists have easy access bioweapons.

The stockpiling medication, vaccines, and supplies are imperative this allows the organization to have all necessary items available for immediate use. Bioterrorism attacks are unpredictable and consequently are difficult to prepare for the Pharmacy departments ought to be involved in emergency planning efforts; during an invasion, the drugstore is responsible for obtaining, handling and the storage of medication.

Of all the possible bioethical nightmares, imaginable ethical concerns within bioterror is the most frightening but the least talked about for the very same reason. Most complications aren't known by the public and we don’t often think about them because we aren’t the scientists required to handle those types of scenarios. All citizens want is proper guidance when something catastrophic happens. On the other hand, researchers, scientists, public officials in medicine, government and military get paid the big bucks to sit down and enforce strategy through a potential full-blown bioterroristic pandemic. Koehler (2004) states “by temporary panels leading to delayed discussions, restricted scope, and inconsistent policy positions between panels.

First, I discovered that the United States considered using biological agents to kill Fidel Castro and Frederik Lumumba (Frischknecht). Also, although doctors in the medieval times did not know what germs were they did think “the stench of rotting bodies was known to transmit infections”, which is why they thought to use them as weapons (“History of Biowarfare”). I also become aware of the fact that the FDA is a very important part in the process of conducting biowarfare research, as they approve and reject experiments (“Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, and Vaccines”). Lastly, I learned that the United States is most concerned about possible chemical and biological attacks from countries like North Korea, who have an unstable relationship with the United States

The anthrax attacks in America in 2001 remain in the memories of people today, but as far back as pre-biblical times the use of biological agents to conduct warfare occurred. One example from 700 BC cited the Assyrians poisoning water wells using rye ergot, while another example from 400 BC references Scythian archers using the blood from decomposing bodies as a coating for arrowheads in order to create infection in the enemy (Kostadinov, & Galabova, 2010, p 296-297). Less commonly known, is that as recently as 2009, evidence shows that Al-Qaeda was experimenting with biological weapons and a number have been killed by the plague at a training camp (Kostadinov, & Galabova, 2010, p 301). If there is a lesson that can be inferred from Al-Qaeda’s past practices, it is that once they identify a course of action or a target, they commit to it until ultimately