Biological weapons are pathogenic microorganisms or their spores, viruses, or bacterial toxins that are designed for one purpose – to destroy humans, animals, or crops. Moreover, these weapons are more terrifying than nuclear weapons because one cannot hide from them in a bunker or somewhere far away from the epicenter and wait out the threat without consequences to one’s health. All it takes is one infected person, and the disease will spread, infecting more and more people. This paragraph taught me some important lessons about the specific types and modes of spread of biological weapons, namely botulism, anthrax, and agroterrorism.
First of all, I learned the definition of botulism and its main symptoms. Clostridium botulinum bacteria produce a neurotoxin of protein nature, the strongest of organic poisons. It is relatively easy to create and is a highly lethal biological weapon. Botulism occurs naturally in soil, mud, and the intestines of some animals and fish. It is reported worldwide every year due to insufficient heat treatment and hygiene.
This illness causes vomiting, diarrhea, muscle weakness, visual impairment, pneumonia, and other complications. However, the most important thing from which those infected with botulism die is paralysis of the respiratory muscles and the respiratory failure that follows. Botulism is one of the most dangerous biological weapons because of its high mortality rate, ease of spread, and because a negligible amount of toxin (1 gram) can kill more than a million people (Dembek & Anderson, 2007). The lesson I have learned from this data is that it is elementary to contaminate a product with botulism, which means one has to be very careful about how one processes the food one consumes.
Secondly, I found out that anthrax could be used as a bioweapon and the symptoms of being infected with it. The bacteria Bacillus Anthracis, which causes anthrax, is one of the most dangerous and well-known biological weapons. These bacteria occur as spores in the soil in nature. However, they can be isolated in the laboratory and stored in containers for long periods with some manipulation. Anthrax has been used as a biological weapon for about a century. The spores are tasteless and odorless, and because of this, have often been contaminated with food and water (Dembek & Anderson, 2007).
Anthrax manifests as intoxication, development of serous hemorrhagic inflammation of the skin, lesions of lymph nodes and internal organs. The prognosis is poor, and death is possible, even with adequate and timely treatment. Syribriarrhoeal meningitis, the most severe complication, is fatal without treatment. This information makes it clear that anthrax is a dangerous bioterrorist weapon and requires serious monitoring.
The third lesson I learned is that agro-terrorism is a widespread phenomenon. Agro-terrorism is the use of chemical or biological weapons against agricultural or food industries. Attacking fields and farms is far easier than attacking military bases or government buildings. It can have a detrimental effect on the agrarian economy and a long-term negative impact on exports (Kaufer et al., 2020). The problem of agro-terrorism, therefore, requires special attention. The few historical cases of agro-terrorism cited in the paragraph, and their devastating consequences, indicating that this type of terrorism is very effective and destructive. I discovered that stricter measures to combat agro-terrorism and biological weapons, in general, need to be promoted. After all, such uncontrolled acts of terrorists are detrimental to the economies of countries and the health of their citizens.
References
Dembek, Z. F, & Anderson, E. L. (2007). Food, waterborne, and agricultural diseases. In Z. F. Dembek (Ed.), Medical aspects of biological warfare: Textbooks of military medicine (pp. 21-39). Government Printing Office.
Kaufer, A. M., Theis, T., Lau, K. A., Gray, J. L., & Rawlinson, W. D. (2020). Biological warfare: the history of microbial pathogens, biotoxins, and emerging threats. Microbiology Australia 41(1), 116-122. Web.