Bioterrorism and Its Categories

BIOTERRORISM AND ITS CATEGORIES

Bioterrorism is defined as the release of biological agents or toxins that impact upon human beings, animals or plants with the intent to harm or intimidate, in the name of a political or other cause. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a biological agent as an agent that produces its effect through multiplication within a target host and is intended for use in war to cause disease or death in human beings, animals, or plants. It could also include protein biotoxins produced by microorganisms, poisonous animals and plants. Unlike nuclear, chemical, and conventional weapons, the onset of a biological attack is insidious. Biological agents stimulate terror in the affected population because they cause injury and death in strange and prolonged ways. Biological weapons are nearly as easy to develop, far more lethal, and easier to deliver than chemical weapons and, unlike nuclear weapons, they are inexpensive to produce and the risk of detection is low.

The US anthrax bioterrorism attack in 2001, when letters containing Bacillus anthracis were sent within the country, showed the real dimensions of the epidemic of fear and panic. In total, 22 persons were diagnosed with B. anthracis infection of whom five died, over 32 000 people were treated with antibiotics and a tremendous epidemic of panic and fear overwhelmed the whole population. In the aftermath, a large number of letters, approximately 12 000, with suspect contents were discovered in the USA, as well as 7622 harmless letters across Europe, as imitations of the real attack. They amplified and expanded the epidemic of panic and fear, giving it characteristics of pandemic.

Biological agents can be categorized by the following intrinsic features, which influence their potential for use as weapons:

1. Infectivity-/capability to enter, survive and multiply in a host. It is expressed as the proportion of persons exposed to a given dose, that become infected.

2....