Bioterrorism: threats, prevention, and response strategies

¶ … 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.

SINCE 9-11

The events of 9-11 served as a wake up call to the world and the world went into action. Since the events of 9-11 there has been an increased focus on the prevention of bio-terrorism and what to do in the event that the nation was subjected to a bio-terrorist attack (Goodison, 2003).

The events of 9-11 prompted many areas of the nation to look into programs that would create a solidified reaction to an attack (Porter, 2002).

According to released reports there are still more than 7,000 unaccounted for Soviet Union biological warfare scientists in the world (Panelist, 2002).

Those 7,000 people were part of a 60,000-person Communist workforce who developed and stockpiled tons of offensive biological weapons during the cold war to spew such things as anthrax, smallpox, foot and mouth disease, plant diseases, plague and other scourges of human, plant and animal health at Russia's enemies. During that same period, the U.S. had no more than 500 people working on offensive biological weapons (Panelist, 2002)."

Today, the U.S. has accepted the threat of bio-terrorism and is preparing for the possibility of a future attack. The steps taken include military, health care professionals, emergency response teams and schools (Peters, 2003). The homeland security measures involve the use of drills in which bio-terrorist attacks have simulated and the various agencies respond as they would in the event of a real attack. The command center goes into action, the outlying agencies take the steps they have been trained to take and the public is instructed on what to do.

Different arenas are also gathering up equipment such as masks, and working on vaccines to protect the nation in the event of an attack.

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)."