Introduction
Following the global scientific advances, terrorists have adopted a new set of weapons to accomplish their mission. This brings in the issue of bioterrorism whereby, terrorists intentionally release toxic biological agents as weapons to harm their targets (civilians). The United States Center for disease control has identified the bacteria, viruses, and toxins that terrorists can employ in their attacks (Synder, 2000, p.12). They use these agents to cause diseases such as botulism, anthrax, smallpox, hemorrhagic fever, and tularemia among other lethal infections. Several methods that the terrorists apply to deliver these agents to their target group include food, drinks, and aerosol dispersion. When bioterrorist attacks happen, the victims should report the incidence to the body responsible for dealing with such attacks. These bodies should employ high-level professionalism in dealing with the attack to ensure the safety of the victims. The surveillance and assessment activities of public health agencies were able to deal with anti terrorism aspects in the case study under question.
Dealing with biological Terrorism
Bioterrorists inform their target group/ individual of an impending danger to their lives. It is therefore the responsibility of the recipient of this information to take action to secure his/her life against the potential lethality of the agent in question. In the case study, the office manager of the clinic received the letter that informed her that her life was at risk. Once one receives a bioterrorist alert, it is important that he/she communicate the information to others so that the bodies responsible for such occurrences take appropriate action. To enable proper handling of bioterrorism, it is important for a nation to have an agency that deals with such aspects. In addition, there should be an efficient communication system between the agency and other medical institutions. To ensure that there is maximum coordination of the available resources within a community, the parties involved should embrace thoughtful preparation as well as enlightened and intelligent leadership. In dealing with the threat, the office manager called a colleague trained in infectious diseases since the country did not have a specific agency dealing with bioterrorism. Although this single call led to mobilization of forces that came to deal with the issue, it took a relatively long time to respond efficiently to the matter. The case study shows that it took one hour to for the situation to receive full response.
Before taking any action in dealing with a terrorist threat, it is important to seek professional advice. It is essential to establish a formal process that incorporates public health and medical practitioners in assisting the elected officials in the analysis and interpretation of information about the threat. In dealing with the threat in the case study, the team dealing with the incident received advice from an individual, Dr. Webby of the Mid-American County Hazardous Materials Emergency plan. The nation lacked an emergency plan of dealing with bioterrorism. This resulted to the establishment of an advisory committee, which brings together different professions (Murray, 2002, p.356) including the state hospital association, state board of health, state medical society and a state veterinarian. Others include a wildlife disease specialist, a medical examiner, and a member of the pharmacist board.
The public health agencies and communities need to deal with ‘non-events’ and this aspect is essential to prevent potential biological weapons from harming people. The agencies will be in a position to develop mechanisms of dealing with future attacks. For instance, they will be able to device protection mechanisms such as respiratory protection mechanisms and implementation of vaccines against the biological threats in question. If the threat occurs in the future, the public health agencies and communities will deal effectively with the threat.
Attack reporting and surveillance
Surveillance and assessment activities should occur immediately after an individual reports a threat. An attack report should therefore have the specifications on the details of the threat/attack. Disease surveillance systems are critical not only for the initial detection of an attack, but also for monitoring the extent to which the lethal agent has spread. It also helps to determine when the disease is over. The two major aspects of surveillance and assessment activities are contact tracing and source of exposure investigations. During this process, medical equipment and sufficient medical practitioners are critical in handling all the cases/victims of the biological agent used in the terrorist attack. Modifications in the legal authority surveillance are necessary to enhance proper collection of all information required by public health agencies to fulfill their professional duties in dealing with an attack. In the October 1998 bioterrorist threat, the surveillance and assessment activities were efficient. The public agencies were able to get hold of all the people who were exposed to the lethal biological agent within the clinic. They followed the woman who had left the clinic and brought her back to the clinic for decontamination purposes. In addition, after the state laboratory reported that the biological agent in the letter was not the causative agent of anthrax, the health agencies called those who had gone through decontamination back to the hospitals for further medical attention. It helped to keep the matter under professional control. The process received legal authority attention since the FBI was actively involved in bringing the matter under control, which prevented harm not only to the victims, but also to the other members of the society.
Conclusion
The October 1998 bioterrorism threat in the US acted as a wakeup call for the invention of an emergency plan for dealing with bioterrorism attacks. It also led to the establishment of a committee that addresses matters of bioterrorism in the United States. Owing to this, future cases of bioterrorism will receive a properly organized force/team unlike the 1998 bioterrorism threat. The surveillance and assessment activities of public health agencies were able to deal with anti terrorism aspects of the Thinking about Parenthood Clinic, bioterrorist threat of 1998.
Reference List
Murray, L. (2002). Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response: Issues for Public Health. New York: Oxford University Press.
Synder, J. (2000). Cumitect 33: Biological Agents Associated with Bioterrorism. Washington DC: ASM Press.