Essay On Anthrax

During its 2002 symposium on the future of public health, the Harvard School of Public Health recalled several incidents that show anthrax to be a genuine bioterrorism threat: 1979 incidents of inhalation of anthrax in Sverdlovsk (Hamburg, et al., 2002, p. 131); the deliberate release of anthrax only weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks (Hamburg, et al., 2002, p. 124); additional incidents of anthrax being deliberately released in 2001 (Hamburg, et al., 2002, p. 127). In addition, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published a 2006 report mentioning a 2004 anthrax incident in the Dirksen Senate Office Building (CNA Corporation, 2006, p. 1). In addition, there are numerous reports of white powder being received by business and governmental officials. Consequently, there is a realistic possibility of an anthrax (or Ricin) bioterrorist attack in the future and the average individual should know how to respond if he/she receives mysterious white powder in an envelope.

The Hague Conference of 1899 made an attempt to outlaw projectiles carrying poison gases; the agreement to this effect lasted only until W.W.I. In Geneva in 1925 a League of Nations protocol against chemical and biological war was signed; it was not, however, ratified by the United States until 1975. The treaty outlaws the first use of such weapons in warfare, but nations generally reserve the right to use them in retaliation. Agreements totally banning chemical warfare have proved difficult to achieve. A treaty totally banning biological warfare was drawn up by the Geneva Disarmament Conference in 1971 and approved by the United Nations General Assembly. Some 80 nations signed the Biological Weapons Convention, which the United States ratified in 1974. This treaty is unique because it outlaws a whole class of weapons by most of the world. Its effectiveness, however, is still questionable; progress in genetic engineering has also complicated this issue. At the Bush-Gorbachev summit in June 1990, a treaty was signed providing for both the United States and USSR to reduce stockpiles of chemical weapons. In May 1991, 19 industrial nations--including the United States-commited to adopt controls on the export of 50 common chemicals used to manufacture these weapons. Anthrax is a contagious disease of warm-blooded animals, including humans, caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. One of the oldest known diseases, it was once epidemic and still appears in many world areas,

In a letter to Patrick Henry in 1777, George Washington wrote of Small Pox “I know that it is more destructive to an army in the natural way than the sword”. At times the most minute things have the most immense impact on our lives, such was the smallpox Epidemic of 1775. It is not known how or where the outbreak began, but by 1775 it was raging through Boston. The devastation of Smallpox during 1775 played a key role in the outcome of the revolutionary war and in shaping modern medicine and how we handle diseases. But these medical advances didn't come without terrible sacrifice. Nearly 30% of people living in the Americas or 130,658 would succumb to smallpox. The death rate of Variola Major, which is the common form

Defence, U. D. (2016, 01 15). News Transcript - Department of Defense Press Briefing by Army Officials in the Pentagon Briefing Room on the Investigation into the Inadvertent Shipment from Dugway Proving Ground of Live Anthrax Spores. Retrieved from U.S. Department of Defence: http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/643396/department-of-defense-press-briefing-by-army-officials-in-the-pentagon-briefing

Only recently, a federal injunction lifted the act forbade mandatory anthrax vaccinations for members of the armed services. The service members that sued insisted that the safety of the vaccine was not fully determined and a federal court supported the claim until the FDA determined the safety of the product. Furthermore, claims by parents who suspect the development of Autism as a link to mandatory childhood vaccinations has provided additional legal action as the parents pursue injunctions to prevent continued vaccination of their children.

The quote “Anthrax, or Bacillus anthracis, is a single-celled- bacterial micro-organisms that form spores, and that grows explosively through lymph and blood connects with biology through the study of viruses. Biological systems interact in many different ways, as we see from how Anthrax and other viruses like is effect the biological systems of the body. The passage that I read made me feel unsafe, thinking that it was only fourteen years ago when this situation occurred, makes it feel like it can and will happen to us today. One thing that I’ve learned is that history repeats itself, and I would not be surprised if this history repeated itself.

Many people today receive mail in various of ways. Today, many people receive mail by phone or computer, but most of us get our mail by letter/card and people believe that the mail is a piece of paper in an envelope that’s harmless and safe to handle However, in 2001, there was a mysteries anthrax attack by mail which scared tons of people in Trenton, New Jersey because it happened a week after the 9/11 plane crashing in the twin towers killing tons of innocent people. This attack was terrifying to civilians who lost their loved ones in the attack on September 11, 2001 because they were afraid that this situation was another attack on America. Unfortunately, 5 people were killed and and another 15 were poisoned from the attrax traced letters that were delivered the victims. This attack made numerous amount of people speculated an American biologist Bruce Edwards Ivins due to the fact that he worked with anthrax for several years and had suicidal thoughts toward him and women frequently and depressed. Other people question an American physician Steven Hatfill due to the fact that he made frequent visits to Fort Detrick which was an American installation and was the center of the U.S. biological weapons program. But one suspect that plenty of humans thought to

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

When the scientists examined the anthrax, they found that it was very special type of anthrax. The scientists said that it wasn’t ‘garage’ spores and that only a professional, would have been able to get hold of this type of anthrax. Scientist also found that the anthrax was of the ‘AMES strain’ which suggests that the person sending the anthrax, works for the government as the AMES strain is used by the U.S army’s bio-weapon vaccine program.

She begins with the discovery of the strain S. aureus phage type 80/81, a precursor to MRSA, in 1953, less than a decade after penicillin was released to the public. From there, she describes the emergence of MRSA strains first in hospitals and later in the general population. McKenna continues with the emergence and rise to dominance of the virulent and potentially deadly strain of USA 300. She includes the spread of MRSA to pets, pigs, and even an elephant. She additionally addresses the problems faced by schools and prisons in limiting MRSA’s spread. The history of MRSA includes over sixty years of outbreaks, discoveries, and setbacks. Superbug explicates this long and convoluted history so that it is both understandable and interesting to students interested in

When you hear the name Sverdlovsk, you think conspiracy, lies, and deceptions. The reason for this is, the city had been no stranger to such things for nearly a century. Sverdlovsk, now known as Ekaterinburg, is a city in Russia that once had 1.2 million people and was the industrial center of the Ural mountain region (Mangold & Goldberg, 1999). It is home to Military Compound 19, an institute built in 1947 used to produce special bacteria and toxins for bio-weapons. It also housed roughly 2,000 USSR troops and their families. To the untrained eye, this place looks nothing more than a military garrison. Though, deep in the center there are heavily guarded 10 foot high, double barbed wire fences surrounding a building. The personnel in that building were producing large quantities of dried, powdered anthrax spores (Mangold & Goldberg, 1999). Were they using the facility to create biological warfare or were they using it to create a vaccine for anthrax?

Erin O’Connor, an assistant to NBC’s news anchor Tom Brokaw, became the target of an anthrax attack on September 25, 2001 when a letter contained a fine white material from Trenton, New Jersey (Hasan 49-50). On October 12th it was announced that Erin O’Connor had developed cutaneous anthrax after a few days of a rash (Hasan 50). O’Connor was not the intended target, but someone was still harmed. Even if a specific target does not become affected by a plan, it does not rule out the possibility of other innocent bystanders becoming ill, injured, and/or

Just in 2010, there was a small outbreak of anthrax in the United Kingdom and Germany with a form of anthrax that was unlike any other the world had ever dealt with. Emergency room doctors involved with this case soon learned that this form of anthrax did not follow the expected signs of the usual anthrax poisoning. They classified this as injectable anthrax. All of the patients exhibiting symptoms that went in the emergency room had heroin in their system, which led to speculation that anthrax had been mixed with the injected drugs even though the levels of anthrax were initially undetectable. Then in 2011, a Florida man fell ill while in Minnesota. He was initially diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia, however the doctor who saw him grew up on a cattle farm and knew something was not adding up. He order more test, and they learned that he had a case of inhaled anthrax poisoning. The doctors prior experience and the fast work of the CDC led to the man being able to get treated with a antitoxin known as anthrax

Terrorism and the United States A cloud of anthrax spores looming in the sky of San Diego California

Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium. The most common victims of anthrax are warm-blooded animals, but it can also infect humans. Anthrax spores can be produced in a powdery form for biological warfare. When inhaled by humans, these particles cause respiratory failure and death within a week. Because anthrax is considered to be a potential agent for use in biological warfare, the Department of Defense (DOD), in 1998, announced it would begin a systematic vaccination of all U.S. military personnel. (DOD, 1998) Anthrax infection occurs in three forms: cutaneous (skin), inhalation, and gastrointestinal. B. anthracis spores can survive in the soil for many years and handling animal