Bioterrorism

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses various historic epidemic diseases, such as the black plague and smallpox. The paper presents a brief history of the use of these diseases as weaponry. Modern-day biological threats, such as anthrax, botulism, tularemia, and Ebola are explored in the paper. The paper explains that the relatively small size of biologic weapons to their large-scale destructive capabilities make them a very real threat in modern warfare and terrorism.

From the Paper:

"The Black Plague killed an estimated forty percent of the population of Europe between 1347 and 1427; with some cities and villages experiencing seventy or eighty percent mortality (Herlihy 2, 43). Out of its ashes rose a new understanding of medical science, the European renaissance, as well as a powerful respect for disease. Over five hundred years later Western scientists, armed with post World War II technology, seemed prepared to rid the world of any disease that could threaten humanity. Yet, despite the new weaponry on the side of humans and the heightened optimism of the time, new plagues seemed ready to meet the challenge medical science was the real underdog. During the twentieth century western medicine has gone through several phases, all as responses to immediate medical needs and pervading public worries of the time. Most recently, the threat of bioterrorism has stirred-up many fears that a new plague might ravage our world, and this mindset has demanded a response form the medical community."

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