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The Bioterrorist Threat

© Adelle Vancil Tilton

When we think of terrorism, we normally think of events like the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City or the World Trade Center bombing. But another, real terrorist threat is one which deals directly with the public health. That threat is bioterrorism.

Bioterrorism is simply the introduction of a biological agent, such as a virus into the environment. Its purpose is to spread a disease organism to people, animals or crops that would effectively cost millions of dollars and/or countless lives and would render a defenseless country helpless. This isn't a science fiction scenario or a Hollywood script. It is a very real threat which is being discussed over the next few weeks in the Congress of the United States. The reason for those discussions is simple. At the present time, the United States is unprepared for such an assault and plans must be made to counteract the results of this type of terrorist activity.

On a limited scale, centered around the military, this threat is called biological warfare. Taken to its extreme, however, this threat becomes what has been called, "the poor man’s atomic bomb". And its consequences are equally as devastating as an atomic bomb. Soldiers in the Gulf War faced this threat from Iraq, and many have lingering after effects from possible exposure to such weapons. Because of this, the military has developed procedures to deal with the problem, and now the federal government is studying ways to improve the general public's ability as well. Thus the Congressional hearings into the topic.

In fact, the threat is so real that John's Hopkins University, one of the most respected institutions in the United States has established a Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies. Its assessment of the potential threat is that, "Recent events indicate that neither technical factors, such as arms control treaties, nor the moral repugnance long associated with the use of biological weapons will deter the use of these agents as weapons of mass destruction."

You might ask, why is this topic being discussed in a Public Health Issues article? The answer can best be summed up in a statement by Robert Jay Lifton in his book Indefensible Weapons, "In many cases, there appears to be an extraordinary impact made upon people simply by new information.... New information makes contact with amorphous fears.... The menace one has known, but kept hidden comes into the open. And there is a beginning sense that one might, just possibly, be able to do something about it." Hopefully for many of you, this article is the beginning of that awareness.

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