National preparedness for bioterrorism threats after 9/11

¶ … bio-terrorism. The writer explores what type of threat it is and how the nation has prepared for it, especially after the events of 9-11. The writer also provides a one page outline of the topic. There were ten sources used to complete this paper.

What is Bioterrorism?

How can it be used against us?

What types of things can be used to commit it?

What now?

Steps that were taken after 9-11

Government readiness

School readiness

The Future

What should be done for future protection?

International cooperation

Protecting our borders

For almost two hundred years Americans were lulled into a false sense of security with the belief that nobody could penetrate the "invisible" shield of protection around the country. While chaos was happening around the world by way of attacks, bio-terroristic threats, wars and other problems, Americans went about their daily business believing it could never happen here. And then the events of 9-11 unfolded. Americans were horrified and glued to television screens as the World Trade Centers came down. From that point on the nation understood it was not invincible and the concern about possible bio-terrorism began to grow. The nation has spent the last few years preparing and educating its public about bio-terrorism, preparing for its possible release and planning for the future.

In almost every area of the nation the threat of bio-terrorist attack has changed the way people think. The health care industry, which was profoundly affected by the attacks of 9-11 have worked to prepare so that it is never caught off guard again. The possibility of bio-terrorism has prompted many proactive steps to be taken (Goodison, 2003).

Bio-terrorism is the act of using diseases and other spread able methods to create an attack on a nation or a group.

There are many avenues that a bio-terrorist attack may take. Some of them include the release of a disease or chemical into the American public system. Whether it is anthrax, small pox or some other easily communicable element, the release of such attacks into the American public could mean millions of casualties before it would be stopped. When SARS was first discovered many governments immediately wondered if bio-terrorists could have been behind it, though that was later determined to be untrue. Bio-terrorism uses what appears to be a disease to do the dirty work for them. Instead of bombing or shooting the enemy, bio-terrorists release the element into the public and let it do the work for them.

THE FUTURE

While the nation continues to ready itself for a possible bio-terrorist attack in the present, it is also preparing for how to handle the possibility in the future (Smolkin, 2003). Future plans are more about proactive actions than reactive actions (Neil, 2003). One of the things that is being done is the education of the public about the possibility of attacks on crops. The world is aware that crippling the ability to grow crops would place a serious financial and human burden on the nation's residents as well as the American government. Therefore, any concerns about future bio-terrorist attacks must include the possibility of crop attacks and steps being taken to prevent that from happening.

Biological weapons programs around the world have focused on developing wheat stem rust, Madden said. Other diseases that could be used in crop bio-terrorism are soybean rust and rice blast." The focus is currently on determining what the most serious risks are to the states.

Many states have taken measures to prepare for the future when it comes to the threat of bio-terrorist attacks (All, 2003). Ohio has implemented a homeland security program that has a multi-stepped approach to the future. "The state has spent $32 million in federal money to update its communications, laboratory and emergency systems so that it can respond efficiently and effectively should smallpox, anthrax or any other disease be used as a weapon of mass destruction. By August 2004, the federal government will make another $16 million available for Ohio (All, 2003)."

The state, which is representative of many states in its actions regarding bio-terrorism has taken several steps to prepare. Some of the things that have been done are:

Identified sites for mass vaccination and distribution of antibiotics and developed a smallpox vaccination plan for public health and response teams. The state has immunized 1,759 health care workers for smallpox so far.

Established contracts with local partners in seven regions to create regional bio-terrorism plans, and developed regional response plans among hospitals to include rural and Appalachian Ohio;

Increased the number of epidemiologists or people trained to investigate diseases;

Upgraded software and communications lines for the state's disease reporting system;

Renovated lab space to handle samples of agents identified as being used for bio-terrorism (All, 2003). "

CONCLUSION

Bio-terrorism has always been a concern, but the events of 9-11 brought it to the forefront of the nation. The possibility of being attacked through the use of bio-terrorist agents is no longer considered a science fiction impossibility, and is instead a future probability according to experts. The nation has spent the past three years stepping up the pace in preparation and agencies are working together to know how to handle any attack that may come. With the cooperation of all states, and the federal government, any group that decides to use bio-terrorism to attack America may be surprised and the response.