Germs: A Brief Summary

The thundering sound of the bomb blast could be heard for miles. Men, women, and children run frantically in order to find shelter, being blinding by the massive amounts of dust that have caused the sky to turn yellow. Mothers are scavenging for their children, who were playing games outside, now stuck deep in the rubble of buildings that have collapsed on top of them. Houses have been destroyed, families have been obliterated and innocent lives have been lost. For many around the world, situations like these have become a part of everyday life. In A Pure, High Note of Anguish, author Barbara Kingsolver describes the confusion and questions that arose after the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11th. 9/11 was the largest terrorist

The first major bioterror event in the United States--the anthrax attacks in October 2001--was a clarion call for scientists who work with "hot" agents to find ways of protecting civilian populations against biological weapons. In The Demon in the Freezer, his first nonfiction book since The Hot Zone, a #1 New York Times bestseller, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of Usamriid, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, once the headquarters of the U.S. biological weapons program and now the epicenter of national biodefense.

“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

Zamosky, L. (2011, September 05). A legacy of illnesses from 9/11. Retrieved June 10, 2016,

It is important to understand the references to history that the author uses, in order to properly read and understand this articles intentions. First the author references the anthrax attack carried out by terrorists in 2001. These attacks consisted of letters with anthrax spores inside of them, which were then mailed different news offices and the offices of two U.S. Senators. The attacks killed five people and infected nearly 20 others. Guinan 's

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,

One of the world’s most dreaded plagues for centuries, smallpox is now eradicated. Vaccination programs were pushed worldwide by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the disease was eliminated from the world. This push resulted in the last naturally occurring case in the world being almost 40 years ago. Once eradicated the once routine or mandatory vaccinations were stopped for the general public and it was deemed no longer necessary to prevent the disease. Although currently eradicated worldwide, two medical laboratory stockpiles still remain in Russia and the United States. With these stockpiles in existence the possibility of bio terrorism emerges and fear of these stockpiles getting into the wrong hands and being weaponized for

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.

Even though this should not have been a problem in the first place, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Conventions prevented any development on biological weapons. But. They were not given any power in which they could enforce this rule, so with this the Soviet Union took advantage of the system and started to secretly develop biological weapons. The Soviet Union developed new strains of virus’ and diseases that would not easy be counteracted with any current form of medicine. Meaning that anyone affected had a very low survival rate if they were to be used.

The morning of September 11, 2001 started off like any other Tuesday morning. The weather was flawless, clear blue skies, not a cloud in sight. I awoke to the sound of loud car horns going off in the streets below, and the banter of the old men talking about last night 's Yankees game. Leaning back into my large, warm bed, eyes still heavy from staying up late the night before, I turned over to look at my alarm and panicked. I forgot to set it last night. I frantically jumped out of bed and was hit by the cool rush of air against my bare body, and the cold bathroom tile beneath my feet. I quickly fixed my long brown hair, and managed to put some makeup on my face. Running to my closet, I desperately searched through the racks of clothes hanging up for proper work attire. I managed to successfully walk out the door with both of my shoes on, hair brushed, and my clothes right side in within 10 minutes. Rushing down the stairs of my small urban apartment, I was met with regular old men gossiping about what they

Bioterrorism can easily target citizens by poisoning food and water supplies. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration a.k.a. OSHA stated that there’s over 250 different foodborne diseases and illnesses, and are often mislabeled as food poisoning. These diseases can be potentially fatal to those inflicted. In the article “A Discussion of Findings and Their Possible Implications from a Workshop on Bioterrorism Threat Assessment and Risk Management”, Bruce Hope states that it’s possible to analyze the agricultural and food industries by making fake scenarios of potential threats. This analysis of America’s system can allow for professionals to better secure food supplies and ensure that bioterrorism is less likely of impacting the population. Defense measures can make these buildings invulnerable, or nearly so (Zilinskas, 906). Another method of defense against bioterrorism is vaccination. According to Rebecca Katz in “Public Health Preparedness: The Best Defense Against Biological Weapons” she argues that vaccination is a plausible method of defense against bioterrorism if necessary. She also states “[vaccines] are part of a preattack defense and a postattack containment” (Katz, 177). These vaccinations can aid people in case of smallpox and anthrax, both of which are viable threats to biosecurity. The article also states that while more research is necessary to improve the currently available vaccines, it’s a necessary component of preparing for bioterrorism. Katz states “In order to avoid chaos during an event, development and dissemination prior to an attack of vaccine priority and distribution plans is essential. These plans should incorporate the best methods for controlling the spread of disease, saving the most lives, and ensuring the utility of

Imagine this: you wake up hours before your alarm sounds to find your entire neighborhood in chaos; people running, robbing banks and stores, and bodies are littering the once calm streets. Over the night, a government-run biological experiment dealing with germ weapons had been released, infecting, destroying, and causing panic across the globe. As a single, globalized society, we need to heighten our security against biological weapons and biological terror to prevent the endangerment of mankind. It would be most beneficial to our species if we did not try to use or experiment with biological weapons, seeing as they are engineered specifically to create social, economic, governmental, military, and general fear and disruption. Bioterror

From European settlers gifting indigenous peoples blankets infected with smallpox, dead bodies being catapulted into cities during the Middle Ages (Hall), to extensive BOW research during the Cold War by both the Soviet Union and the U.S. Just as man has never not lived without pathogens, modern man has never lived without biological weapons. The ease of how something so small and undetectable -that is, undetectable until it is too late- can devastate thousands of people is to some degree attractive to humans. With this thrall comes humanity’s natural tendency towards a need for superiority, but also an intense curiosity. This is how BOW research became so extensive, and reached a climax in the mid 20th century. Even after World War II, the Cold War arms race extended past traditional weaponry to biological weaponry. The Soviet Union was particularly interested in the possibilities of Anthrax, and the U.S. in pathogens dispersed in aerosols. In an attempt to ease tensions and control the development of these weapons during detente, Britain began pushing for a global ban on BOWs (this was largely in part due the the fact that London’s location and population density would make them extremely vulnerable to a BOW attack). With SALT (a treaty between the Soviet Union and the US agreeing to limit nuclear weapons) negotiations nearing closure, Britain knew that suggesting the

Growing up, many people may have heard such saying as ‘what you see can’t hurt you’ or ‘God made dirt, so dirt doesn’t hurt’. Those sayings you may chime aloud especially when the last cookie or bite of your favorite snack you aimed for your mouth fell to the floor. Even then you may scream ‘3 second rule’. However microscopic germs are everywhere and transference to to that cookie is instantaneous with contact to the floor.

Biological Warfare is too dangerous for humans to be playing with even if they are using them as defence. We as humans don’t get a say in what is right and what is wrong if it is to do with the military because we are seen as weak and ignorant. Biological Warfare could destroy this earth and all living things on it but as people do not have knowledge about Biological Warfare they ambiguous to the situation. In my opinion Biological Warfare should be taught and people should be warned about the consequences and effects that could take place so people can wake up and help prevent Biological Warfare from