Bioterrorism Essays -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  You wake up early for work and kiss your family goodbye. On your daily transit you see a man drop a glass vial in the subway, but you think nothing of it. Moments later you become a statistic. A statistic of Bioterrorism. The threat of Bioterrorism, long ignored and denied has heightened over the past years and needs to be publicly addressed. There are three possible solutions to this threat that are within grasp. The first of which would be a nation wide vaccination against all agents that could be used against the American public. Second, we could educate people to more efficiently spot the symptoms of such an act, or to protect themselves from an act that has already taken place. The last solution would be to prevent the act from occurring, detect it as soon as it occurs, and destroy the destructive pathogen used. Even with all of these solutions, an act of Bioterrorism is a major threat to the United States that could occur undetected and must be dealt with im mediately in order to save lives. Biological warfare has been used from the cadavers poisoning water supplies, to modern technology allowing munitions, and advanced deployment of biological weapons. Both nations, and dissident groups exist that have some of the most dangerous, and deadly pathogens, along with the ability to deploy them. Bioterrorism presents a threat to all people of the world, and will always remain a threat for three main reasons. One, it is very easy for anyone to obtain samples of harmful agents, such as anthrax or small pox. Two, an act of this terrorism could occur at any time, any place, and there would be no reaction for days or weeks. And third, many of the agents that can be used in such acts have no treatments, let alone cures. If a group, or nation had funding and a moderate laboratory they could produce, and deploy some of the worlds deadliest pathogens undetected. For example, in 1995, the Japanese cult, Aum Shinrikyo, released the nerve gas Sarnin in the Tokyo subway. The cult also had other plans set up. In its arsenal police found large quantities of nutrient media, Botulium culture, anthrax cultures, and drone aircraft equipped with spray tanks. Members of this group have even traveled to Zaire in 1992 to obtain samples of the Ebola virus. Terrorist groups exist today that have a large quantity of diseases, chemicals, and viruses to ch... ...e need to establish a local, regional, and national disease control system. The local system would be responsible to identify the specific virus, and determine the quarantine area. Once this has been done, the regional team would come in and enforce the quarantine area, and also start a standard treatment for those patients. Once this has been done, the national team would start to determine a more specific treatment, and attempt to develop a cure. If no cure can be found, then the area shall be destroyed by any means necessary to eliminate the harmful agent, and maintain safety. If an outbreak did occur, then we shall do whatever it takes to minimize human life, without the cost of many. Bioterrorism represents a clear and present danger to the United States. Out of All the solutions I gave, if nothing is done, then it is not if an act will occur, but when it will occur. Bioterrorism has already happened, and will continue to until we do something about it. In order to do about it we must instigate a plan of nation wide vaccination, education, or prevent detect destroy. If nothing is done, then one day on your way to work you could become a statistic, a statistic of Bioterrorism.