Bioterrorism And Biowarfare: A Threat Analysis

Rajneeshpuram was a community founded by Bhagwan Rajneesh. Rajneesh came to America from India, bringing his spirituality with him. By the mid-1980s, Rajneesh had many followers in the United States. The Rajneeshpuram Cult posed a significant biological weapon (BW) threat as explained in the video, “Rajneeshpuram: An Experiment to Provoke God.” The most significant BW agent used by the Rajneeshpuram Cult was that of Salmonella typhimurium.

The first major bioterror event in the United States--the anthrax attacks in October 2001--was a clarion call for scientists who work with "hot" agents to find ways of protecting civilian populations against biological weapons. In The Demon in the Freezer, his first nonfiction book since The Hot Zone, a #1 New York Times bestseller, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of Usamriid, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, once the headquarters of the U.S. biological weapons program and now the epicenter of national biodefense.

Chapter thirteen of the textbook, Biosecurity and Bioterrorism Containing and Preventing Biological Threats, by Jeffrey R. Ryan, examines a wide range of techniques, set up, to help the United States, or U.S., in becoming prepared for a potential biological terrorist attack. A portion of the techniques mentioned throughout chapter thirteen were early warning detection systems. These systems are known as the Autonomous Detection system, and the Biohazard Detection System (Ryan, 327-329). Although both these detection systems have their benefits, the one that has conveyed more consideration over the years is the Biohazard Detection

These biological agents could be viruses, toxins, bacteria, etc. Agents could be used in war or terrorist attacks. Also, they could be modified to cause extreme diseases and disorders, according to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It makes bioterrorism even more tempting to use as it is easy and inexpensive to produce, disseminate and can cause a more widespread panic than other acts of terrorism (1).

In 1984 a group, known as the Rajneeshees, used Salmonella enterica Typhimurium to poison about 700 people by contaminating salad bars in The Dalles in Oregon. This group had a charismatic leader in Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, an apocalyptic ideology, was a loner group with a sense of paranoia and aggressive (Tucker, 1999). The attack was due to the resistance from the Wasco County to allow the Rajneeshees to build their own utopia world. The plot was to take over the county by electing their own representatives by suppressing voter turnout in elections by making them sick. This group not only prepared and weaponized its own Salmonella, they also engaged in assassination attempts and intimidation, not only outside their group but also within its ranks.

The Quadrennial Homeland Security review suggest six strategic challenges that will drive the overall risk to the nation over the next five years. These six risks include: the terrorist threat; growing cyber threats; biological concerns; nuclear terrorism; transnational criminal organizations; and natural hazards (DHS, 2014). The terrorists threat is, arguably, the most publicized and popular of the six risks the DHS lists. The particular risk is unique in the fact that although it can be planned for and mitigated against by state and local governments, it is primarily a federal responsibility, or at least perceived so by most entities. The DHS itself was established due to the events of September 11th 2001 and it has since been a consistent

A governmental concern is that a bioterrorist attack will trigger panic amongst the population. Panic refers to a group response where intense fear causes people to be concerned with only their survival. While actual panic is rare, there are certain factors that could cause panic in the event of a bioterrorist attack, including limited medical resources where “first come, first serve” applies, a perception that there is poor

Welcome to week 4! This week we are discussing what consequences face the Nation if our chosen threat isn’t adequately addressed and whether we believe that it is being addressed adequately now. Of the six security challenges that are mentioned in the 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, I have chosen to discuss biological threats. Biological terrorism is a scary prospect that should be a growing concern for the country. The reason for this is the ease at which a bio attack can be put into action. Depending on the level of intricacy of the attack, the effects could be isolated to one area or become a pandemic that spreads across the United States. Bioterrorism comes in many forms but as a general explanation biological

“Bioterrorism remains a major threat for the United States despite more than $65 billion spent on protecting the country from myriad dangers, the Bipartisan WMD Terrorism Research Center said in its latest report Wednesday. The center's Bio-Response Report Card evaluated U.S. preparedness for countering threats from bioterrorism and found the country remains vulnerable to multiple threats and "largely unprepared for a large-scale bioterrorist attack."”(UPI.com, 2011). There have been over a dozen leading U.S. bio-defense experts that have taken part in figuring out where we are exactly as a county and what the effects of a terroristic attack

Project Bioshield will protect the citizens of the United States of America safe from biological threats and warfare. Biological warfare is an act of war by using infectious toxins to wipe out or immobilize humans and animals. An example some these infectious toxins include viruses, diseases, fungi, and bacteria. “Project Bioshield is an attempt to create useful medicines to protect the people of the United States of America from biological and nuclear weapons.” (Progress in the War on Terror)

will be used as ground zero for this terrorist attack. A group of disgruntled students studying microbiology at George Mason University has decided to carry out an attack on the city of Washington D.C. The students volunteer in the labs and also work as lab assistants for the biology department. This grants them unlimited access to the labs, equipment, and specimens. Also, because of their status as students, volunteers, and employees, their extra time spent in the labs goes unquestioned by staff and security.

A number of infectious pathogens exist which could be used to carry out an agroterror attack. The U.S Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act of 2002 provides the official list (6) of potential animal pathogens which emergency planners use as a “threat” list for potential response. This list is based upon a list of agents published by the Office International des Epizooites (OIE) (7) also known as the World Organization for Animal Health.

The threat by terrorist groups in using Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) has increased significantly in the recent years. Preventing the creation and the utilization of these deadly weapons as well as their delivery systems and reducing those already in existence, has become of extreme importance to the government. Certain weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical and biological, are easier to acquire but much harder to detect. For that reason, they should be the highest priority. Predicting when and how an attack will occur, involving chemical or biological weapons, is not 100 percent possible; however, individuals should not ignore the possibility of such an attack happening here on American soil. In the past, there have been attacks involving Sarin gas, such as the Tokyo Subway attack, and just recently, the Sarin nerve agent use in Syria. Terrorist have the capability to use chemical WMD and have shown that they are willing to use this method in warfare. In addition, military biological WMD programs discovered in Iraq and Russia show that there is a definite biological threat as well. Preparing America to face this threat head on is a daunting task, but lacking preparedness could have devastating consequences beyond comprehension. Agencies, such as public health organizations, must be prepared to prevent illness and injuries resulting from biological and chemical terrorism, especially with a concealed attack by a terrorist.

Protecting the public’s health historically has been a state and local responsibility. However, the growing threat of bioterrorism has highlighted the importance of a strong public health infrastructure to the nation’s homeland security and has focused increased attention on the preparedness of the public health system (Frist, 2011). Since the 2001 anthrax attacks Congress has passed new legislation to increase the strength of the nation’s public health system thus the funding has also rapidly increased to meet the potential demand. There is an ongoing debate however, as to what level of contribution local, state, and federal agency’s feel is an appropriate level of ongoing public health investments.

Bioterrorism is the use of infectious agents that are harmful to humans as weapons of terrorism. Agents of bioterrorism include bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae, fungi, and biological toxins. Bioterrorism can cause high mortality and morbidity thus lead to social disruption and public panic. This phenomenon already occur in 17 century where American revolution, colonial British military officers gave blankets containing smallpox scabs to native Americans with serious intent to kill them by 1763. In 1944, American and British scientists developed and produced thousands of an anthrax bombs during World War 2. However, these bombs were tested but never actually used in warfare. The latest usage of biological weapon