anthrax Essay -- essays research papers

Could someone use anthrax for a larger attack on American cities? Unfortunately, yes-and they could also use any of a series of other germs, some more lethal than anthrax. But it’s not easy to get anthrax, and it’s not easy to deploy. The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo tried to spread anthrax from its Tokyo office building in 1993 and failed dismally. Experts disagree on how dangerous it would be if someone sprinkled anthrax in, say, an office ventilation system or a subway car, but any larger attack would be hard to pull off. Which countries make anthrax? Government officials say America no longer has a bioweapons program, although the military continues to use anthrax for defensive purposes such as vaccine development. More than a dozen other countries may have programs that could make anthrax, including big powers (Russia, China, India), distinctly unfriendly countries (Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, North Korea, Cuba), and American allies (Israel, Egypt, South Africa, South Korea). More than 40 germ banks in the United States and around the world supply anthrax for scientific research. Has anthrax been used as a weapon before? Yes. Germany tried halfheartedly to use it during World War I. During World War II, most warring parties had biowarfare programs; Japan used anthrax in China. During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union set up large biowarfare programs. President Nixon banned the production and use of biological warfare agents in 1969. The Soviets carried on; in 1979, an anthrax leak from a Soviet weapons plant killed more than 60 people. WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT ANTHRAX The discovery of anthrax in mail sent to government offices and news organizations has Americans worried. The good news is that the disease is rare. It is extremely unlikely that children would be exposed to the disease. Junior Scholastic had these questions for U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher: Q: What is anthrax? A: Anthrax is a disease caused by bacteria. It most commonly occurs in animals such as sheep or goats, but can occur in people exposed to the bacteria. Q: How is it spread? A: Anthrax is not contagious -- it cannot be transmitted from person to person. Infection can occur (1) if spores enter through breaks in the skin; (2) through inhaling anthrax spores; and (3) through the digestive system. Q: Is anthrax treatable? A: Anthrax is very treatable. ... ...cades! Ricin, another threat, is regarded as one of the ten deadliest poisons known. There are no vaccines or antitoxins available for treatment of ricin exposure. Ricin was reportedly used in the assassination of Georgi Markov in London, in 1978, and an American, Tom Lavy, tried to import ricin into the United States in 1995. No doubt, ricin will appear again; it is a protein easily extracted from one of the world's most common crops, the Castor plant, source of the more familiar Castor Oil. Other weapons in the terrorist arsenal are as readily available. Anyone can still purchase fertilizer and fuel oil and concoct ANFO. Many biological and chemical agents can be produced or grown in simple laboratories with off-the-shelf equipment, such as refrigerators, separators, dryers, and fermentors. Nuclear bombs are not regarded by experts as an immediate threat because of the rarity of plutonium-239 and uranium-235. But other radioactive materials, such as cobalt-90, carbon-14, or cesium-137, are commonly used at industrial and medical sites. A chemical bomb laced with radiological contaminants could create widespread social disruption and achieve the attacker's central goal: terror.