Bioterrorism is the use of biological agents as weapons of terror in order to cause fear among the general public, and this form of terrorism can have some short term and long term effects as it has the capability of being quite destructive. As a result of bioterrorist attacks, people can die, economies can be severely damaged, and the environment can be ruined. In addition, bioterrorist attacks have happened before within the United States of America, and one of the best examples is the anthrax attack of 2001. There is also the issue of how unlikely a bioterrorist attack is due to varying factors that generally have to do with the terrorist himself. In any case, if a bioterrorist attack were to occur in the United States, the environmental
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Depending on the environment and the current weather conditions, a purposefully released biological agent can last anywhere between a few days to a few weeks. For example, at a certain concentration, hantavirus can last in saliva for 14 days with variations depending on temperature, humidity, and other organisms that inhabit the same environment. If the conditions for a biological agent are optimal, then, if released, a biological agent can rapidly spread and contaminate and harm an environment while also lasting long in it (Sinclair). Also, it’s important to note that a biological agent that is weaponized by a terrorist or group of terrorists most likely has been modified in order to increase the damage of these already lethal pathogens and cause more chaos.
There are multiple ways of using a biological agent like anthrax as a tool of damaging people and environments. Some of the pathogens, which are already quite dangerous, stated earlier could be cultured and mixed with talc, and then …show more content…
One example of government infectivity is found when it comes to the decontamination process. When it comes to decontamination a series of steps must be accomplished, and these steps include sampling, testing, and analyzing of a potentially contaminated area to determine the extent of contamination. Then, there is the decontamination and mitigation phase in which the government assesses the risks of a biological agent and develops a decontamination plan. Finally, the contaminated area is cleaned up if possible. The issue with this process, however, is that “federal plans do not sufficiently delineate decontamination leadership roles and responsibilities”, “the U.S. lacks a coordinated and sustained federal research program in biological coordination” (Franco 111), and there is a general lack of funding for research, human resources, and decontamination methods. (Franco 111-113). In addition to decontamination issues, there are also issues with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the act that required an improvement to the security of water facilities from multiple threats including biological attack, as “24 million people receive water drinking water from community water systems not regulated by the SDWA Amendments” (Shermer), and there are gaps in security when it comes to small
Depending on the environment and the current weather conditions, a purposefully released biological agent can last anywhere between a few days to a few weeks. For example, at a certain concentration, hantavirus can last in saliva for 14 days with variations depending on temperature, humidity, and other organisms that inhabit the same environment. If the conditions for a biological agent are optimal, then, if released, a biological agent can rapidly spread and contaminate and harm an environment while also lasting long in it (Sinclair). Also, it’s important to note that a biological agent that is weaponized by a terrorist or group of terrorists most likely has been modified in order to increase the damage of these already lethal pathogens and cause more chaos.
There are multiple ways of using a biological agent like anthrax as a tool of damaging people and environments. Some of the pathogens, which are already quite dangerous, stated earlier could be cultured and mixed with talc, and then …show more content…
One example of government infectivity is found when it comes to the decontamination process. When it comes to decontamination a series of steps must be accomplished, and these steps include sampling, testing, and analyzing of a potentially contaminated area to determine the extent of contamination. Then, there is the decontamination and mitigation phase in which the government assesses the risks of a biological agent and develops a decontamination plan. Finally, the contaminated area is cleaned up if possible. The issue with this process, however, is that “federal plans do not sufficiently delineate decontamination leadership roles and responsibilities”, “the U.S. lacks a coordinated and sustained federal research program in biological coordination” (Franco 111), and there is a general lack of funding for research, human resources, and decontamination methods. (Franco 111-113). In addition to decontamination issues, there are also issues with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the act that required an improvement to the security of water facilities from multiple threats including biological attack, as “24 million people receive water drinking water from community water systems not regulated by the SDWA Amendments” (Shermer), and there are gaps in security when it comes to small