Biological Warefare
Imagine sitting in a subway car on the way to the office for another day of work, when suddenly you can not breath. You look around and notice that other people around you are having the same problem. You push and shove other people aside to try and get to the door, but the doors are sealed shut. People are yelling, screaming and pounding on the doors tyring to get out. But no one is coming to help. People are starting to loose consciousness. In this incident there were no technical errors or problem with the circulation of air. It was a colourless, odourless, and tasteless chemical agent that was used by terrorists. This story actually happened in the busy subways of China. Everyone on the subway suffocated to death. Biological and chemical arsenals are effective in eliminating a large number of people in a short period of time. It is economical, efficient and swift. The victim is unaware of the chemicals effects. The poisonous gases can be distributed immediately or time released. As technology advances, so does our capability to design and manufacture more deadlier and dangerous weapons. Biological weapons are the harmful use of micro organisms or toxins that attack a person or animals bod
Biological and chemical arsenals are not a new tactic to war. Humans had developed primitive forms of biological warfare for thousands of years. In Medieval times, corpses were catapulted into an enemy's fortress. The body would be infected with a deadly disease that would spread with the enclosed walls of the castle. This tactic was used by the Romans. Disease infected bodies were also put into streams near the enemies castle. This would make the enemies water supply infested with deadly micro organisms. The oldest record use of germ warfare dates back to 600 BC, when the Athenians used hellebores (skunk cabbage) to contaminate the River Plieisthines. The defenders of Kurha suffered violent diarrhea that led to their defeat. The first use of poisonous gas was in the Peloponnesian war between 431- 404 BC. The Spartans would burn wood that was saturated with pitch and sulphur, to release a sulphur dioxide gas. In 200 BC, a Carthaginian general ordered his soldiers to retreat and leave behind wine poisoned with mandragora. Mandragora is a narcotic which makes a person fall asleep. The enemy soldiers drank the wine, and while they were sleeping the Carthaginian soldiers slaughtered them. The Britains covered North American Indians with blankets that were infected with small pox. Biological and Chemical Defence Regiment. Currently under development at the Chemical Defence Establishment, the vehicle will be equipped with the joint United States and United Kingdom Integrated Biological Detection System. Detection systems- Only primary field units currently available for a few specific agents. The threat of poisonous gases increased and so did the demand for protection. This led to the first gas masks in 1915. They were also known as respirators and were only a cloth tied around the soldiers face. Soldiers carried a bottle of soda solution or other chemical to moisten the cloth supplying filtration. The masks provided little protection for soldiers who were breathing gas in a four hour attack. The Geneva Protocol of 1925 banned the method of bacteriological warfare. The ban had the reverse affect and started a biological arm race. Immunization techniques were developed and offered protection against some bacteria. This also eliminated the major disadvantage of using biological weapons, the boomerang effect. This is the possibility of your own weapon back firing against your own people. Clostridium Botulinum Bacteria-Produces Botulinum toxin, which causes botulism. Symptoms Vaccination- Must be for specific agent. Some agents require several inoculations over an extended period before immunity is conferred. For many agents, no vaccine is available. If there ever is a chemical or biological war, how can people protect themselves from the microscopic attackers? People can be immunized to certain diseases. However, there might be new viruses that we know nothing about and have no defence against. Immunizing only protects a person from one certain virus and we can never guess which virus the enemy will fire at us. Injecting ourselves with every antidote known to man is not the answer either because a person could die from over immunizing. In the future, every home might be equipped with gas masks, protective suites for every family member. If an attack suddenly happened out of the blue, people who were not able to protect themselves within a five square mile area would be infected. The cloud of biological or chemical agents would penetrate homes and other structures. After the cloud dispersed, people would still h
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Approximate Word count = 2410
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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