Problem Affecting US in regard to Weapon of Mass Destruction - Research Paper Example

WMD Research Paper Research Outline An intentional release of the Francisella tularensis virus is thought to have occurred in theCity of Dallas, Texas and adequate measures needs to be taken to prevent the spread of the virus that is likely to cause Tularemia disease in the city resulting to massive illness and deaths. In real life, there is no vaccine for the Tularemia disease but the disease is curable at it early stages. The disease has an incubation of between 3-6 days after which it causes serious incapacitation of the victim and may lead to death if the disease is not treated. Tularemia disease is common in small animals such as squirrels, beavers and rabbits but not human beings. Some scholars of the world have often referred to the disease as ‘rabbit fever’. The disease is less contagious hence not communicable and individuals can only contract the disease upon breathing in the dust that is contaminated with the Francisella tularensis virus, drinking water or eating food contaminated with the virus, being bitten by an insect that is infected with the disease and touching the wounds, hair, skin of both the infected animals and human beings. The Department of Health and Human services (HHS), Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP), Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute of Health (NIH) as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation would adequately respond to the Francisella tularensis virus release situation since it is a bioterrorist event. The local law enforcing agencies as well as the Texas Health Department would also play a significant role in containing the incidence. At this juncture, the different health agencies will work towards minimizing the number of casualties by all means possible. The emergency response system in Texas would be fully tasked and resources fully committed. The Texas Health Department (THD), health care physicians and other medical practitioners would work for long hours to try and contain this situation. Resources within the Texas hospitals in this regard would be strained and eventually drained. Annotated Bibliography Chen, Fredrick, M., John Hickner, Fink, Kenneth S., Calliher, James, M. and Burstin, Helen. (2002). On the front lines: Family physicians’ preparedness for bioterrorism. The Journal of Family Practice, Vol. 51, No. 9. Chen is a medical chief at Harborview Medical Center and also an associate professor in the University of Washington. Hickner is a professor of Family Clinical medicine and a Head of Department in the University Of Illinois College Of Medicine. Dr. Fink is a physician practicing family medicine. Calligher is one of the best research consultants in America while Dr Helen is the vice president of National Quality Forum (NQF). The main aim of this article was to establish the nature of preparedness of the Americans as far as the bioterrorism attack is concerned. Through national surveys across America, the above scholars established that a very few number of the physicians felt prepared to face a bioterrorism event before training but upon training, the same physicians felt more confident to face the terrorist attacks. The findings of this article therefore established that the American government has to work hard towards training the primary care physicians to enhance their abilities to respond to the bioterrorism events. Garrett L., C, Magruder, C., Molgard, C., A. (2000). Taking the terror out of bioterrorism: planning for a bioterrorist event from a local perspective. Journal of Public Health Management Practice; 6(4):1–7. Dr. Gallet is a lecturer in the University of Southampton teaching Human Geography. Magruder is a prominent researcher in America and Molgard is a professor and a chair in the School of Public and Community Health Sciences in the University of Montana. The research study was basically intended for the general public. The study focused on the growing concerns in the public health community docket where these researchers argued that there were potential threats of terrorism of chemical and biological nature. They went on to show how such acts of terror would impact the general society and more specifically the local community. In their view, the chemical and biological acts of terrorism were beyond the limits of the city, country or even the geographical borders. This research study further established several precautions that they felt that would help the government in fighting bioterrorism and making the country a safe place for everyone. Gourlay M, Siwek J. (2001). Resources in the war against bioterrorism. Am Fam Physician; 64(10):1676–8. Dr. Gourlay is a specialist in pediatric and surgery in the Children’s hospital of Wisconsin. On the other hand, Dr. Siwek is a family health physician in Maryland and often associated MedStar Georgetown University and Providence Hospital. The article was basically intended for the different health agencies, the government as well as the different hospitals. The study sought to establish some of the resources that are adequate to counter the bioterrorism acts and how such resources can be applied in different contexts to reduce the number of casualties in a bioterrorism attack. The research study further provided the specific guidelines and procedures that should be implemented by the law enforcing agencies to reduce the number of casualties in a bioterrorism act. This research article is important since it establishes some of the resources needed in a country to counter the bioterrorism events. Jones, Rachael M., Nicas, Mark, Hubbard, Alan, Sylvester, Matthew D., and Reingold, Arthur. (2005). The Infectious Dose of Francisella tularensis(Tularemia), Applied Biosafety, 10 (4) pp. 227-239. Rachael is an Assistant Professor in the school of Public Health in the University of Illinois, Chicago. Mar is a Professor if Industrial Hygiene in the University of California, Berkley. Hubard is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health in the University of California, Berkley. Sylvester is currently a PhD student in Bioengineering Track in Stamford University. The research study was intended for the general public and mainly focused on the issue of spread of bioterrorism pathogens- Francisella tularensis. In the study that was aimed at estimating the individual’s risk of getting infected from an air-borne pathogen, they found that the air-borne pathogen adequately varied from one person to another. They further concluded that the spread of tularemia person-to-person is in this regard possible. This article was vital in the sense that it established the nature of the Francisella tularensis which is a major biological pathogen used in bioterrorism attacks. Khan A., S, Morse, S, Lilli-bridge, S. (2000). Public-health preparedness for biological terrorism in the USA. Lancet, 356(9236):1179–82. Khan is a professor in Surgery-Breast Surgery in Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Morse on the other hand is a professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine in University of California. This research study was particularly intended for the government, the different health agencies as well as the different health practitioners across the American nation. The study generally addressed the varied ways of facing the biological weapon threat and how to adequately reduce the threat of the biological weapons. The findings of this study are significant in the sense that it provided adequate knowledge on how to counter and reduce the threats of bioterrorism pathogens. Abstract The level of preparedness to respond to the bioterrorism is not solely the effort of the government but more of a communal activity. The government, the surrounding community and the different health agencies in America are supposed to join hands and face the crisis together. This means that the government, the local communities and the health agencies are to remain conversant with the emergency response procedures so as to adequately respond to an emergency situation in the best way possible. Also, the local community is to be educated on how to handle events in relation to bioterrorism so as to be able to care of their selves and know how to take adequate measures and precautions to contain a bioterrorism event even before help arrives. However, this has not always been the case, most communities in America still lack clarity on how to respond to the emergency situations. They are not even sure of whom to notify of the situations or even the precautions to take in such situation. Bioterrorism and other related acts of terror are perpetrated by the terrorist groups with an aim of hurting the community in general. Therefore, the local communities are supposed to be in a situation where they can adequately take care of themselves without the help of the government agencies. So far, there has not been any actual bioterrorism attacks on US but there is need to take precaution by determining how well prepared the American health sector is to issues of bioterrorist attacks. Introduction Despite the good contribution to the way of life throughout the 20th century, the American health sector remained adequately the same throughout the century. But this situation would later change following major terrorist attacks on the American soil on September 11, 2001 that was followed by a bioterrorism attack on a major America postal institution that led to spread of anthrax (Chen, 2002). America as a nation did very well towards responding to these particular attacks and adequately elevated the level of bioterrorism preparedness in the different health practitioners and the level of international awareness. This also resulted to creation of emergency response teams and sectors to respond to occurrence of similar incidents. The federal government further went on to release a budget that saw a huge sum of money set aside to cater for the emergency response activities as well as elevating the level of preparedness in the country. Similar funding followed the following year and even years after. Bioterrorism has been defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a deliberate release of toxins, bacteria, viruses and other dangerous elements with an aim of killing or causing illness to the general population, animals and even the plants (Gourlay and Siwek, 2006). However, the biological pathogens do exist naturally in various parts of the world and that they can adequately be adjusted or mutated to power their abilities to cause harm to the human race (Jones et.al, 2005). Mutating such agents does not only make them dangerous but also resistant to medicines and further enhance their speed of spreading in the environment. The pathogens in bioterrorism are said to be mainly spread through water, touch, food and air. It is often believed that the bioterrorism agents are very hard to detect once released to the surrounding environment (Khan et.al, 2000). Background The history of weapons of Mass destruction can be traced back to the early 1990s. There are particularly incidents that led to the evolution of international policies regarding weapons of mass destruction. In the year 1995, Aum Shinrikyo in Japan released a bioterrorism agent-sarin nerve gas in a subway in Tokyo (Garrett et.al, 2000). This was a clear demonstration that the biological and chemical weapons were already on the wrong hand and that the nations of the world were to start getting prepared on how to counter these threats and get ready to suffer the consequences. In the same year, Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed by terrorists. This resulted to loss of lives and massive destruction of property. It finally dawned on the American government that an imminent threat was knocking on the door. In response to these threats, the American government introduced adequate policies in relation to the weapons of mass destruction (Khan Et.al, 2000). Such policies made America a safer place free from terrorist activities and further enhanced the awareness and the abilities of the federal, local and state governments in fighting the terrorist activities. In the recent past, America has created a lot of enemies in the world mainly following its remarkable efforts on war on terror. International terrorist groups such as the ISIS and Al-Shabbab in this regard feel pinned down. Further, America has been involved in international operations in fight for appreciation of the human rights. An example is the case of Libya in Africa. As much as this is good for the people of the world and the nations of the world, it is perceived as intrusion by certain individual groups of the world. This is what has made America a real terror target today and therefore the American forces have to continue being extra-vigilant to matters pertaining security now that weapons of mass destruction that can be used to inflict a lot of pain on the American nation are already on the wrong hands. Problem affecting US in regard to WMD It is the duty of the public health sector to respond to particular health emergencies in America and prevent spread of diseases, prevent occurrence of epidemics, prevent injuries, protect the general public against the environmental hazards and provide quality and accessible health services to the general public (Khan et.al,2000). This is what is expected of them by the American government and the general public. To adequately respond to a health emergency, the health practitioners have to be adequately prepared. It is essential that the different public hospitals remain prepared on events triggered by weapons of mass destruction which results in outbreak of diseases through manmade ways or even natural means. In this regard, the physicians, administrative personnel, nurses and even the technicians should adequately be trained on different ways of responding to situations involving weapons of mass destruction (Chen, 2002). The main problem is the different situations calls for different measures and the public health sector has to always be ready for such crisis. The federal government on the other hand has to annually budget for the expenses involved in training the different health practitioners on these issues. Therefore, it is the duty of the government to regularly assess the plans in place and the level of preparedness of the involved stakeholders. Currently, the US government faces a challenge of preparedness to the different types of bioterrorism. According to Garrett et.al (2000), the biological agents are easily picked from the environment as compared to the chemical agents. This makes them an easy target for the terrorist groups. Currently, America does not have the advanced detection warning system that would adequately send early signals to the disaster management agencies in case of an impending bioterrorist attack, establish the contaminated locations of the country and the people at risk or even predict the methods that would be used to release the biological agent by the terrorist in the major cities. The American government plainly dwells on CDC for forensic analysis of such situations. Francisella Tularensis Agent The F. tularensis agent has been categorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a major biological welfare agent (Jones et.al, 2005). In the past years, this agent has been included under the biological welfare programs in different countries of the world including the Soviet Union, Japan and the United States. Different scholars and researchers have the Tularemia disease outbreak experienced by the German soldiers during the First World War was as a result of the Francisella Tularensis virus released by the soviet forces. Ever since then, America has always been on the verge of extending research on this particular biological agent. According to Jones et.al (2005) Francisella Tularensis is less persistent and easier to decontaminate unlike the anthrax virus. However, it has severe consequences and eventually results in death after incapacitating the victims. The virus has also been perceived to be aerosolize and highly infective but less lethal. Jones et.al (2005), further indicated that once F. tularensis agent hass been ‘weaponized’, it becomes a low infectious dose and that with only 50 kilograms of the pathogen released in a metropolitan area with approximately five million city dwellers, 250, 000 would be incapacitated by the virus and 19,000 would eventually die. Even though the virus is less infective or even does not infect when released in low volumes, the respiratory infections have been perceived to be the worst with this particular virus. Literature Review In the early years of the 21st century, the first cases of Tularemia disease hit America. The outbreak was experienced in Martha Vineyard but it is believed that the outbreak was not a bioterrorist act. The CDC conducted more investigation into the matter and established that the Francisella Tularensis virus emanated from the act of lawn mowing in the area. Adequate measures were taken to prevent further spread of the virus. Over the 20th century, several other incidents in relation to the Francisella Tularensis virus were witnessed in America. In the year 2005, in an area around a shopping mall in Washington DC, small traces of the Francisella Tularensis virus were detected in the air. This was a morning after the antiwar demonstrations held in relation to end of war on foreign nations. In this regard, thousands of people around the mall were exposed to the virus but no serious infections were reported. Researchers have established the fact that some individuals are infected by the Francisella Tularensis virus upon exposure but others are not. Nevertheless, American government was quick to defend the fact the action that led to exposure of thousands of Americans around the mall was not an act of terror but a natural act. Recently, in the year 2011, a bunch of researchers set on a mission in Texas discovered evidence of presence of Tularemia infection in the area. Concerns were raised and the residents of this area were cautioned about the incidence and the necessary measure to avoid spread of the disease to the humans. However, in the year 2014, two residents tested positive for the disease and were put in isolation to prevent further spread of the disease. CDC officials toured the area of Northern Colorado and established a number of rabbits had died for no reason but upon testing for Tularemia disease, the carcasses tested positive for the disease. Training/Education Different researchers and researchers tend to believe that inadequacy in training and education on bioterrorism is an apparent factor to the spread of major viruses in the different parts of the world since the individuals lack knowledge and technical knowhow on how to address a certain matter and even contributes to further spread of the virus when one fails to address issues in the right way. According to Gourlay and Siwek (2001), it is often hard to for the medical practitioners and the local community to establish an epidemic occurring or an outbreak of a certain disease not until the results are scientifically screened by government health agencies such as CDC. It is unfortunate the local population in the different parts of America continue to lag behind on matters relating to the bioterrorism events. In this regard, adequate public information on how to prevent spread of Tularemia disease in human beings is significantly important to the local populations. Preparedness Preparedness has often been perceived as the act of having taken the needed precautions and adequately prepared well to face impending situation (Jones et.al, 2005). The preparation involves placing the needed resources in their rightful place and effectively coordinating and controlling them to significantly counter an epidemic, act of terrorism, a natural occurrence or even other major disasters. Hospitals across America are adequately prepared in regard to emergency response to situations since adequate policies, plans and strategies have been implemented in most hospitals in America (Khan Et.al, 2000). Governmental and other independent organizations have been equipped with the right resources to enhance their level of preparedness. Nurses, physicians and the medical officers are regularly trained on the issues of emergency and disaster management. Not so much to say about the level of preparedness in relation to bioterrorism events in America though the American government has developed and still on the verge of developing adequate measures to avoid occurrence of such incidences on the American soil. In case of a bioterrorism event in Dallas Texas therefore, knowledge of the attack would be learnt upon a continuous influx of individuals with similar symptoms in major hospitals in Texas. The symptoms of the disease would never be first linked directly to a bioterrorism event since it might not be considered as an outbreak until the numbers are high. Nevertheless, following the report of the incident to the federal government, agencies obligated to counter the bioterrorism threats will adequately respond to the situation. The Department of Health and Human services (HHS), Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP), Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute of Health (NIH) as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation would respond to the situation. It would be observed that, the response would be run by the FBI in collaboration with the local law agencies and upon establishing evident of a credible threat, the information would then be passed to the local health departments in this case the Texas Health Department. The Texas Health Department would then move to define the population at risk, locate the persons under risk of exposure, monitor the treated persons as well as have surveillance on the infected area and its neighboring environments. All other, agencies will be involved partly in trying to establish ways of containing the epidemic. Problem with the response It is of importance to clearly understand that different bioterrorist attacks call for a different set of agencies to respond to the situation. Therefore, a bioterrorist attack on humans will require a different set of response group from a bioterrorist attack on animals and plants. Also it is of significance to note that use of chemical weapons creates a significantly different situation from that of the biological weapons. In this case, the effects of the chemical weapons are immediately felt after the agent is released to the environment. On the other hand, the effects of the biological weapon are slower and equally lethal though it is not possible to learn of a release of the biological agents not until effects of the pathogens are physically observed on the targeted population. In relation to the response of a bioterrorist attack in Texas, several problems would be imminent in the response system. First, there would be no adequate methods of notifying the health agencies of the event until there are mass cases of similar illness reported in major hospitals in Texas. Secondly, increase in the number of the ill persons in the infected region would arise from continued spread of the virus by residents who have no idea of how to conduct themselves. Francisella Tularensis virus is not communicable and spread in human through touch. This would further mean that the local population is not aware of how to deal with events of bioterrorism attack. Also, the response would be run by the FBIs and the local law enforcement agencies of which in most cases are not even aware of what they are dealing with hence pausing even a greater risk to the public. Consequences of the attack Normally, the Tularemia disease does not have a high mortality rate and is normally controllable at its early stages through use of antibiotics (Jones et.al, 2007). Once not controlled, it eventually results to deaths. In regard to a bioterrorist attack in Texas, the consequences would not be that lethal for the different health agencies will work together in containing the situation and establishing a way to stop further spread of the virus. However, it would be likely that several deaths would be experienced. These are normally the first cases few cases of the disease. Future implications The response system is supposed to act within the most minimal time in establishing and containing a threat. By following the Texas procedure of response where an epidemic can only be established when the local hospitals only record high number of similar illness; a lot of lives are put at risk. Further, it implies that it would be almost impossible for America to control bioterrorist events if more lethal viruses are used. Suggestions Let the fight against the bioterrorist attack be a fight for everyone. Let the local communities participate in putting an end to such endemic situations. These communities would only participate in this process if they are fully aware of the nature of the attack or are aware of how they should conduct themselves in such situations. Better systems of alert needs to be implemented at the community level to help establish threats before they even occur. This would make the health response system of the country proactive rather than reactive. Further, there need for a better coordination of the groups involved in containing a bioterrorist event. In this case, I would suggest a relocation of the CDC officers to most local regions of America such that concerns of bioterrorism attacks would be evaluated early enough to reduce risk of spread thus boosting the chances of containing such events. References Chen, Fredrick, M., John Hickner, Fink, Kenneth S., Calliher, James, M. and Burstin, Helen. (2002). On the front lines: Family physicians’ preparedness for bioterrorism. The Journal of Family Practice, Vol. 51, No. 9. Garrett L., C, Magruder, C., Molgard, C., A. (2000). Taking the terror out of bioterrorism: planning for a bioterrorist event from a local perspective. Journal of Public Health Management Practice; 6(4):1–7. Gourlay M, Siwek J. (2001). Resources in the war against bioterrorism. Am Fam Physician; 64(10):1676–8. Jones, Rachael M., Nicas, Mark, Hubbard, Alan, Sylvester, Matthew D., and Reingold, Arthur. (2005). The Infectious Dose of Francisella tularensis(Tularemia), Applied Biosafety, 10 (4) pp. 227-239. Khan A., S, Morse, S, Lilli-bridge, S. (2000). Public-health preparedness for biological terrorism in the USA. Lancet, 356(9236):1179–82. Read More