Bioterrorism is the intentional use of toxins, chemicals, microbes, or infected samples to cause terror and instill fear among the population. Other terms like biological weapon or germ weapon are sometimes used to refer biological means employed during war confrontations. The most common disease-causing agents used in wars are bacteria, viruses, rickettsia, fungi, and other chemicals that adversely affect humans’ and plants’ lives. Both biological and chemical weapons are capable of mass destruction. The only difference is that the former cannot destroy physical infrastructures, such as roads, buildings, and equipment. These biological weapons are indiscriminate and can be used by psychopaths to commence pandemic that threatens human life worldwide. The main research question is “Why more research is still needed as biological weapons are concerned?”. This paper, therefore, traces the origin and history of biological weapons. Biological weapons are an open-ended concept that can have devastating negative consequences and require in-depth study.
Biological weapons and bioterrorism are not new concepts as history is filled with biological means of fighting. According to Edmond and William (2021), the dawn of bioterrorism dates back to the nineteenth century, when Louis Pasteur and Robert Koech studied and understood the basics of microbiology. Their research found that there was a possibility to separate and produce a large number of disease-causing organisms, such as viruses and bacteria. Moreover, the research also proved that the dissemination of these pathogens could be controlled under certain conditions and restrictions. History records that by the fourteenth century, that is, in the middle age and colonial period, biological weapons had been put to practice when the Hittites used diseased rams purported to be infected with tularemia weakened their enemies (Barras & Greub, 2017). Moreover, another application of biological weapons is traced to the eightieth century during the French and Indian war (Edmond & William, 2021). It is recorded that British forces, led by Sir Jeffrey Amherst, deliberately issued smallpox infected blackest to Native Americans to spread the disease and weaken their enemies.
Biological warfare advanced and reached sophisticated levels in the 1900s. According to Oliveira et al. (2020), the German army created several diseases during the First World War. This included anthrax, glanders, cholera, and wheat fungus (aflatoxin) deployed in St. Petersburg, Russia, Mesopotamia, and in French Calvary as biological weapons to spread the plagues and weaken the populace. In the Second World War, the Japanese were thought to have secretly used biological research facilities to endanger the lives of many prisoners as specimens. As history records, the Chinese unethical act exposes about 3000 victims to the dangers of anthrax, syphilis, and other agents (Newman, 2021). The Japanese did autopsies on the dead victims of whom they believed could enhanced their understandings as anthrax and other biological weapons are concerned.
The United States also formed a War Research Service in 1942, where anthrax and botulinum toxin were nurtured and used against the German soldier. Moreover, the British also tested their prepared anthrax bombs on Gruinard Island between 1942 and 1943. In 1979, there was an accidental miscalculation of anthrax facility in Sverdlovsk in Russia, which led to the release of anthrax, claiming the life of sixty-six victims. The Russian government disagreed but later admitted the anthrax accident in 1992 (Newman, 2021). As such, several occasions in the past have employed biological weapons to hurt or weaken their enemies besides other biological pathogens used by notorious psychopaths.
In the world today, several countries continue with offensive research and use biological weapons. Regarding the dangers of biological weapons, alleged countries are preparing biological bombs that are meant to instill fear in the world. The use of biological tools and microbes has taken another route that must be taken care of. Most terrorists have resided in the use of biowarfare to threaten the country’s well-being. For example, Iraq, the known war and terrorist hotspot, began the offensive research on anthrax and botulinum toxin, and aflatoxin, which was deployed following the Persian Gulf war in 1985 (Chugh, 2019). In addition, the unethical research on biowarfare led to the release of salmonella in September 1984, where about 751 people were intentionally infected. Basing the arguments on the harmful effects of these biowarfare agents, the world, through its medicine teams, has a responsibility to research and counteract these attacks. Therefore, as humans and livestock live, there is a need to research to produce antidotes that counteract the effects of these disease-causing organisms and chemicals.
In conclusion, biowarfare and terrorism use disease-causing organisms in times of war or for psychopathic reasons. These pathogens and chemicals are deliberately released to harm, spread, or kill the targeted population for selfish or ill motives. The history of biological weapons started in the fourteenth century where the Hittites used tularaemia against their enemies. Moreover, the idea of biological weapons got the sense when Mr. Pasteur and Robert studied the microbiological nature of organisms. With their findings, the misuse of these diseases-causing organisms came into play where large numbers were produced and launched on people and animals. Other biological use cases have been noted to have occurred during both the First and the Second World Wars.
References
Barras, V., & Greub, G. (2017). History of biological warfare and bioterrorism.Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 20(6), 497-502. Web.
Chugh, T. (2019). Bioterrorism: Clinical and public health aspects of anthrax. Current Medicine Research and Practice, 9(3), 110-111. Web.
Edmond, H., & William, C. (2021). Biological warfare: history, facts, agents use, and lists. eMedicineHealth. Web.
Newman, T. (2021). Biological weapons and bioterrorism: Past, present, and future. Medicalnewstoday.com. Web.
Oliveira, M., Mason-Buck, G., Ballard, D., Branicki, W., & Amorim, A. (2020). Biowarfare, bioterrorism, and biocrime: A historical overview on microbial harmful applications.Forensic Science International, 314, 110-366. Web.