Biological Terrorism - Case Study Example

Biological Terrorism – A Case Study Introduction: Biological terrorism can be explained as the usage of certain fatal human pathogenic organism or toxic chemical compounds in large amount, leading to severe health issues or death. The bio-weapons used can be microbes like bacteria or certain other toxins of biological origin or synthetic chemicals that can interfere with human biological functions. “Terrorism is a form of psychological warfare with terrorists often perpetrating their violence to cause fear among the public.” (Simon 2). The most common means to spread the organism or chemical compound in humans is through eatables, drinks or air. Many laws are formulated internationally to curb the use of biological pathogens and toxic compounds as a biological weapon. But, such laws are not a hindrance to terrorist as they employ calculated and well refined methods that escape the eyes of authorities. A short History of Early Age Bioterrorism: Use of biological agents in terrorism can find place even in the old Roman civilization where human excretory substances were used against enemies. Dating back to the 184 BC in a battle fought on ocean surface, a group of Hannibal planted mud vessels contained vipers at the base storage area of the enemy ship. “American Indians were given blankets that the British had contaminated with smallpox.” (Mergenhagen). In 1495 Spanish military officials mixed the blood of leprosy infected people with wine and served it to French people. In 1650 polish weaponry used spheres which contained saliva of dogs infected by rabies virus. A well documented case of bioterrorism of the 14th century is the use of Gram –negative bacteria Yersinia pestis that caused a well known Bubonic plague. It was used to generate fear and panic among the enemies and to remove people from their occupying areas. An Investigation into Recent Bioterrorism Activities: Rajneeshee Bioterrorism incident: The primary bioterrorism attack on America was master planned by a group of members of a religious organization. “The 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack was the food poisoning of the population in The Dalles, Oregon, United states through deliberate contamination of salad bars at ten local restaurants with salmonella enterica typhimurium. A leading group of followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (now known as Osho) had hoped to incapacitate the voting population of the city so that their own candidates would win the 1984 Wasco county elections.” (1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack). The incident lead to about 750 people acquiring the disease caused by the bacterium, in which forty five people required immediate medical attention due to worse health condition. The incident did not report any death due to the biological poisoning. The culture of the bacterium was used to contaminate water which was given to county commissioners and later used in much larger quantity to contaminate salad and salad dressing. Primary investigation into the incident could not disclose the role of Rajneeshee members. The culprits came into light the next year after the incident with the speech of Congressman James H Weaver, who pointed the responsibility of the incident towards certain Rajneeshee members. Further investigations by the state and federal officials revealed the hand of certain Rajneeshee group members in the incident. These investigations brought into light horrifying truths that the cult also tested the viability of the biological weapon in various hospitals and restaurants outside Oregon, these incidents were never correlated to case of bioterrorism. ”Contamination of the salad bars was considered a trial run and if it was successful a second plan was also under consideration, to introduce pathogens into The Dalles water system when the election day will be near. The second part of the plan was never implemented due to the commune deciding to boycott the election when it became clear that those brought in through the ‘Share a home’ program would not be allowed to vote.” (1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack). Sarin attack in Tokyo: In the middle of 1990s, the Aum Shinrinkyo Clan based in Japan used the chemical nerve agent sarin for its bioterrorist attack on the people of Tokyo. The major sites of attack were selected by the clan to ensure that maximum number of people will be affected by the nerve agent. Sarin is colorless, phosphorus and fluorine containing compound that hinder the biological functions of nerve cell. Sarin at the same time is easily volatile in nature, has no specific odor, volatile Sarin can easily get into human body through skin thus placing it as an appropriate bioweapon. Pure forms of sarin even at low doses can cause immediate health hazards leading to death if appropriate antidotes are not given immediately. This nerve agent is grouped under the Weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations Organization. Accumulation and storage of sarin is prohibited by regulations described under the Chemical weapon convention of 1993. The sarin attack in Tokyo lead to the loss of life of twelve individuals and around Five Thousand people were seriously affected. Another thousand showed small side effects and five hundred people required immediate medical services due to deteriorating health condition. “Analysis of 18 out of 56 cases of people poisoned with sarin vapors admitted in Kyoritsu hospital complained of darkness of vision, ocular pain, vomiting dyspnoea and headache.” (Monov & Dishovsky 105). Many people mounting to thousands were panicked and psychologically disturbed, with those seeking for medical treatment made the emergency response system unable to cope with the need of the situation. In the initial stages of emergency services, even the medical help workers and subway workers were affected by sarin. The investigations on the incident disclosed that, the sarin used in Tokyo substation was in diluted form and contained only thirty percent pure sarin. If fully pure form of sarin was used, the death tolls would have touched catastrophic levels and the emergency situation would have disturbed the peace and security of Japan’s population to a very high magnitude. Investigations put forward that Aum shinrinkyo had planned to kill thousands of people using the biological agent and expected many others to bear side effects and psychological impact of the nerve agent. Aum Shinrikyo came into existence in the year 1987 with efforts of a Yoga instructor named Chizuo Matsumoto. After two years, the Tokyo government gave the organization religious clans stand under law. In Japan according to law, the government officials or authorities cannot interfere with the religious activities of a legally accepted religious organization. Under the cover of government law, the nature of Aum Shinrinkyo changed and it grew into an organization with 50,000 members around the globe and instituted branches in 6 nations. There was growing complaints against the Aum cult’s illegal activities. Government officials did not act according to its hesitancy in examining religious groups and another reason is that the Japanese law protected the cult’s activities. In 1990 the Aum cult decided to enter the political arena of Japan. But, it failed miserably as Aum’s representatives at the election that did not receive the required votes. This event is considered to be the bases that lead to the cult to use biological weapons against those who opposed the cult’s activities. Analysis of Bioterrorism: Terrorist prefer the use of bio-weapons as the biological agent requires time. In case of employing pathogenic organism there is usually an incubation period ranging from hours to days or weeks that allows the spread of a disease. The panic and fear a disease outbreak can cause greater damage to the peace and security of the society than the physical disabilities the disease itself causes. Creating a situation of pandemonium in a country through biological warfare remains the main aim of terrorist groups that employ pathogenic agents in terrorism. The usual methods of terrorism that we know from history were mainly hijacks, bombing, captive situations that provided required time for authorities or government of a country to plan out strategies to deal the crisis situation. Biological terrorism incidents calls for fast action as identifying the agent used in the attack is important in mending ways to tackle the situation. The major problem here is when pathogenic organisms use the incubation period of the organism. It should be known to take important medical decisions that will assist in controlling the spread of the disease. During the incubation period of a disease, the infected person can unknowingly transfer the disease to others directly or indirectly. While in case of other forms of terrorism, the effect remains restricted to the site of attack. The incubation period of pathogenic agents vary vastly from each other and measures has to be taken depending upon the characteristics of the biological agent used, so identifying the agent is first priority. “Improving public health surveillance for biological terrorism must have strong domestic and international components. It also requires better coordination between public health, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies.” (Chyba 15). In relation to the toxic sarin incident in Tokyo; the investigation revealed that the religious organization behind the incident had a special wing of research establishments that concentrated on working in biological weapons. Dangerous Pathogenic organisms are in most cases easy to procure and are easily multiplied and introduced into the human population. “Terrorist could attempt to isolate a pathogen found in nature, obtain a sample from natural human outbreak, or purchase or steal from a commercial culture collection or hospital.” (Shea, Dana & Gottron, Frank 27). Developing bio-weapons require only basic education in science and less investment that extends the danger of attracting terrorist group in choosing biological warfare. “Chemical weapons expert says that sarin can be produced by a trained chemist with publicly available chemicals.” (Fletcher). The currently known biological weapons such as anthrax, small pox, Botulinum toxin, sarin, Ricin are fully studied by the scientific community. In case of bioterrorist attacks using any of the above biological agents, a fully knowledgeable and fully equipped medical service can more effectively manage the attack and control spread of the disease outbreak. “An understanding of the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and management of the more likely candidate agents is critical to limiting morbidity and mortality from a biological event.” (Leggiadro). The development of science and technology and new fields like genetic engineering, gene transfer technologies has amplified the threat of developing new efficient biological agents. As these new technologies and its methods are widely known, terrorist group that can afford mammoth investments can misuse such developments in future. The prominent problem that is faced in a situation of bioterrorism is how to embrace such situations. The prime factor that set apart a bioterrorism from other form of terrorism is the possibility of high casualties after the attack. The health services play an important role in dealing terrorism involving pathogenic biological agents or toxic compounds. In case of biological terrorism, an efficient medical service can save more lives when compared to incidents of other forms of terrorism. At the same time, it should be kept in mind that if medical services lack the efficiency; there will be catastrophic impact on death tolls and socioeconomic status of the country. The hospitals should have access to get needed supply of antibiotics and antidotes for toxins in a scenario of bioterrorist attack. The medical workers should be educated about the initial and later physiological symptoms caused by various biological agents. As most known dangerous pathogenic agents and toxic chemical compounds do not have characteristic properties of odor, taste and are invisible to naked eyes. The initial peak stages of a bioterrorist attack go unnoticed. In case of suicide bombing, the effect can be measured immediately or within short duration after the explosion. While in the case of bioterrorism, the measurement of fatality depends upon the incubation period of the biological agent. During the incubation period, a person infected may not show any kind of symptoms of the disease but he may be the carrier of an infectious fatal or disabling disease. The severity of a biological terrorism can be intensified if the population under attack is not immunized against that particular agent. Related to other weapons used in terrorism; the identification of these weapons are possible with metal detectors, X-ray equipments and other security measures while no equipments or techniques are yet developed to detect the presence of dangerous biological agent. “Existing international biological weapons nonproliferation policies are not adequate to address the evolving nature of the biological weapons threat, particularly in states with rapidly expanding bioscience sectors.” (Kellman 7). “In the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, Iraqi troops repeatedly used poison gas, including mustard gas and sarin, against Iranian soldiers.” (Terrorism heavens: Iraq). Very recently in 2004, there were wide spread reports of Sarin precursors used by Iraq military against American soldiers. The mission with the bioweapon failed as the chemical reactions failed to produce effective amounts of Sarin. Only two American soldiers showed symptoms similar to Sarin poisoning. These events signify the growing threat of bioterrorism. Conclusion: These recent biological terrorism attacks reveal that, it is important to generate awareness and to equip quality combat to face potential biological warfare in the future. Bioterrorism is an easy weapon as it is easy to procure dangerous microorganism and other biological agents. The Rajneeshee religious sect obtained the culture of bacterium from a commercial supplier in Seattle and cultured the microorganism in the lab facilities of Rajneeshee. Investigators found that laboratory in Rajneeshee had collection of scientific research works that explained methods to manufacture biological weapons and other explosives in large scale. This brings before us the naked truth that makes biological weapons come easy for any individual or an organization as information regarding it is freely accessible. At the same time, it is painful to see that the same research and scientific techniques used for making drugs and vaccines can be misused for producing bio-weapons of mass destruction. Many scientists and individuals have come up with the opinion that the knowledge regarding dangerous pathogens should be kept secret from public and be handled to responsible authorities. There is also an ongoing debate among research publishing journals in mending proper regulations of screening sensitive research work before publishing it. The anthrax letter posting incidents in America created a global concern and many hoaxes played after this incident lead to the wastage of 100 million American dollars. This point out the fact that a potential bioterrorist attack in a large scale can affect the economic stability of a country. The Sarin attacks in Tokyo stands as a proof for biological weapons that can be used in a large scale. If pure form of such compounds is used, a national crisis beyond the control of government will ensue to put the future at stake. Works Cited 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack. Absolute Astronomy. 1984. Web. 21 May. 2010. . Chyba, Christopher F. Biological terrorism, emerging diseases, and national security. Project on World Security Rockefeller Brothers Fund. 1998. Web. 24 May. 2010. . Fletcher, Holly. Aum shinrikyo (Japan, cultists, Aleph, Supreme truth). Council Foreign Relations. 2008. Web. 24 May. 2010. . Kellman, Barry. Biological terrorism: US policies to reduce global biothreats. Partnership for a Secure America. 2008. Web. 24 May. 2010. . Leggiadro, Robert J Dr. The threat of biological terrorism: A public health and infection control reality. Pub Med.org. 2000. Web. 24 May. 2010. . Mergenhagen, Kari. Case teaching notes for Anthrax Attack! A case on Bioterrorism. National Centre for case study Teaching Science. 2003. Web. 24 May. 2010. . Monov, Alexander & Dishovsky, Christopher. Medical aspects of chemical and biological terrorism. Sofia: Scientific series. 2005. Web. 24 May. 2010. . Simon, Jeffrey. Biological terrorism: Preparing to meet the threat. The Journal of the American Medical Association. 1997. Web. 24 May. 2010. . Shea, Dana & Gottron, Frank. Small scale terrorist attack using chemical and biological agents: An assessment framework and preliminary comparisons. CRS Report for Congress. Web. 24 May. 2010. . Terrorism heavens: Iraq. Council Foreign Relations. 2005. Web. 24 May. 2010. . Read More