Bioterrorism and Biological Warfare

Researchers working at the U.S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories located in Maryland (1940).

By : Taylor Tompkins
Oct. 24, 2018

Biological warfare can be defined as the use of toxins of biological origin or microorganisms as
weapons of war. Many countries deliberately release these “weapons” to raise death tolls in opposing
countries, assassinate, incapacitate, etc. In many aspects, biological warfare can be an element of
bioterrorism, which involves the release of toxic biological agents with terrorist intentions. However,
as technology continually evolves, there are many questions to ask about the use of biological
warfare - Has biological warfare been used before? What are the direct consequences of deploying
it? What can we, as global citizens, do to prevent its use?
Biological warfare has been around for a very long time - according to Biological Warfare, an
article written by Edmond Hooker, the use of biological warfare dates as far back as 400BC, when
“Scythian archers infected their arrows by dipping them in decomposing bodies or in blood mixed with
manure” (Hooker). Other literature quotes that the corpses of dead animals were used to contaminate
wells, venomous snakes sent to enemy ships, etc. More modernly, biological warfare reached a peak
sophistication in the 1900s, around the time of the world wars. During World War I, countries began to
develop biological weapons - the German Army developed anthrax, glanders, cholera, wheat fungus,
plague - in order to gain an advantage by infecting opposing countries. By World War II, Japan had
joined in on biological warfare and they now conduct human experiments in order to test the effects of
their creations - plague, anthrax, syphilis, and other agents. Bioterrorism is a byproduct of the
creation and use of biological warfare - terrorist organizations have also begun to utilize biological
warfare in order to enforce their own regimes. In a more recent case, ricin was found in the mail room
that services Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s Office. Hooker says, “The threat that biological agents
will be used on both military forces and civilian populations is now more likely than it was at any other
point in history” (Hooker).
 Biological weapons have the ability to kill millions of people, in a much more effective manner
than a chemical weapon, which is a toxic chemical contained in a delivery system, such as a bomb or
shell. However, biological weapons can be hard to preserve and deliver, and they act slower than
chemical weapons, therefore, “they are regarded as most effective on large populations of civilians
rather than as a military weapon” (Hays). Biological weapons are used for several different reasons -
they are considered a relatively easy weapon to produce, can produce high casualty figures, are
extremely powerful agents, etc. Some of the most well known biological weapons are botulism and
salmonella, both types of food poisoning, which can easily be used to attack a population’s water or
food supply. Other biological weapons include - anthrax, small box, ricin, aflatoxin, plague, tularemia,
and Q fever. Frischknecht states that “during the past century, more than 500 million people died of
infectious disease. Several tens of thousands of these deaths were due to the deliberate release of
pathogens or toxins…” (Frischknecht). Biological warfare agents can be dispersed through the air by
an aerosol spray, in explosives - artillery, missiles, bombs - digested through food or water, absorbed
or injected into the skin.
There have been many previous attempts to shield the world from the uses of biological
warfare - in 1925 and 1972, two international treaties were formed to outlaw biological weapons, but
have since failed to prevent countries from using and deploying them. Again in 1874 in Brussels and
1899 in The Hague, the dangers of biological warfare were recognized, and international declarations
were made that prohibited the use of these weapons. These attempts at prohibiting and preventing
the use and spread of biological warfare have been futile, as they hold no control over the likes of
other countries. There are few protective measures that can be taken against these weapons - gas
masks or HEPA filter masks can filter out many agents, but face masks can leak if the seal does not
fit properly. Majority of surface contamination, approximately 99.99%, can be removed simply by a
thorough shower and removal of contaminated clothing, as most biological agents do not penetrate
unbroken skin and do not stick to skin or clothing. Currently, protective vaccines are available for a
variety of biological warfare agents - anthrax, Q fever, yellow fever, and smallpox - and the production
of vaccines against other agents may be possible in the future.
Biological warfare has been used all throughout history, from 400BC to present times, and
there are new protective and preventive measures currently in place to help prevent death rates from
rising. However, it is futile to attempt to prevent all countries from using biological warfare, as not one
country has significant reign over all of the others, and would be able to enforce this law. Preventative
measures are the best way to protect the lives of global citizens from deadly exposure to biological
weapons.

Rationale
 I wrote my written task in relation to Part Two : Language and Mass Communication. While
writing this article, I drew research from articles and posts written by Edmond Hooker, Jeffrey Hays,
and Friedrich Frischknecht, each of which provided information that contributed to the production of
my written task. I wrote a news article for the New York Times about biological warfare as an
attempt to inform and educate the public mind about the issue and what can be done to prevent, or
prohibit, its use. In my article I assess a few of the previous and current uses of biological warfare,
and how it relates to bioterrorism, the use of which has increased throughout modern history. In
addition, I discuss different types of biological warfare agents and how they can be deployed, as
well as the different ways that have been tried to prevent the use of biological warfare, or to protect
the global citizens from it.
I selected to write an article because it is a very effective way of informing the public mind.
Since I selected a topic that is widely science and history oriented, I believe that an article best suits
the aforementioned ideas. For my introductory paragraph I decided to ask the readers questions
which would intrigue them, keep them reading, and set up the structure for the rest of the article.
Each of the questions asked in the introduction directly correlates with a topic later mentioned in the
article. In addition, these questions act as rhetoric, which contributes to the overall mysterious
aspect of the article. The author of this article is myself, and the intended audience is the general
public, as well as those who are more specifically interested in the nature of biological warfare and
its uses throughout history.
 Annotated Bibliography

Frischknecht, Friedrich. EMBO Reports, Nature Publishing Group, June 2003,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1326439/.

In the source The History of Biological Warfare, Frischknecht discusses the deaths of people

who have died because of deliberate release of illnesses and diseases. Many of these attacks

occurred during the Second World War by the Japanese, which eventually led to the outlawing

of biological weapons. However, international treaties have failed to prevent countries from

producing and using these biological weapons. The source uses the use of poison in

assassinations as an example to describe the outlawed uses of biological warfare - soon after

these uses were discovered, more treaties were put into place to prohibit the use of biological

warfare.

Hays, Jeffrey. “BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS AND TERRORISM.” Facts and Details,

factsanddetails.com/world/cat58/sub384/item2384.html.

In the source Biological Weapons and Terrorism, the author presents facts about biological

weapons and the use of biological warfare. Biological weapons are more deadly than chemical

weapons, which have an even larger impact on the death tolls - thousands to millions.

However, biological weapons are not well suited for extended use as they can be difficult to

preserve, deliver, and execute. The author also suggest that biological warfare can potentially

produce high casualty figures, are easy to produce, and are powerful and concentrated. In

addition, the author suggests various different types of biological warfare - botulism,

salmonella, anthrax, ricin, aflatoxin, plague, tularemia, Q fever, etc. - as well as the steps to

make them.
Hooker, Edmond. “Biological Warfare Facts & History of Biological Agents.”

EMedicineHealth,

www.emedicinehealth.com/biological_warfare/article_em.htm#what_is_the_history_of_biologica

l_warfare.

In the source Biological Warfare, Edmond Hooker presents the history of biological warfare, as

well as its role in the acts of bioterrorism. Hooker clearly states the relationship that ties

biological warfare to present times - isolated assassination, incapacitation, death to thousands,

etc. By providing extensive history, the author establishes the long background of biological

warfare that is present, providing individual instances from numerous countries. In addition,

Hooker connects biological warfare to modern times, providing more individual instances to

support his clause. Furthermore, the author provides facts on both bioterrorism and biological

warfare, and how they can be detected, delivered, prevented, etc.