Counter Terrorism Committee
Biological/Chemical Terrorism
Terrorism refers to the use or threat of force or violence against people or property. A bioterrorist attack releases viruses, bacteria, or other malicious organisms to cause illness or death. These biological agents are typically found in nature but they can sometimes be made more harmful by increasing their ability to cause or spread disease, or to resist medical treatment. Biological agents spread through the air, water or in food, can be very hard to detect, and they do not cause illness for several hours or days. Some agents can also be spread from person to person. Scientists worry that anthrax, botulism, hemorrhagic fever viruses such as Ebola, plague, or smallpox could be used as biological agents. One countermeasure is known as bio-defense. Bio-defense involves medical measures to protect people against biological agents. This means medicines and vaccinations. It also means medical research and preparations to defend against bioterrorist attacks.
As India picks up the pieces of the deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai, a congressional study warns of a possible bio-terror strike in the U.S. by 2013. Biochemical weapons–anthrax, Ebola, influenza, and other pathogens–are more likely than nuclear weapons to be used to initiate the attack, reports CNN. It has been proposed that the U.S. government must impose tight security at U.S. labs with such poisons on hand (a measure that might have helped prevent the 2001 anthrax mailings or at least helped law enforcement catch the culprit sooner), strengthen international treaties so that other countries also improve safeguards, enhance surveillance to detect early signs of an attack, and develop better ways to track the source of any biological weapons.
Some scientists have also been pushing for the U.S. to vaccinate millions of citizens in advance of an attack, while others say only doctors, paramedics, nurses and other first-line responders should be vaccinated to help limit damage in the event of a bio-terror attack. Critics, however, caution that widespread vaccination might not be effective if a disease-causing pathogen mutates and becomes resistant to a vaccine. According to the New York Times, an informative bioterrorism report also singled out Pakistan, which also has a nuclear capability, as a bio-security priority for the incoming Obama administration. This form of terrorism is especially deadly, and must be stopped from occurring.