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BIOTERRORISM by Lauren Anderson BIOTERRORISM By Lauren Anderson INTRODUCTION In September 2001, the offices of Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Tom Daschle (D-SD) received envelopes that contained threatening letters and a dangerous white powder: anthrax. Anthrax, derived from the bacteria Bacillus anthracis, was a key weapon in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In addition to Senators Leahy and Daschle, various news outlets based in New York received envelopes laced The envelope with the lethal substance. In total, 22 individuals fell ill with anthrax received by Sen. related infections, five of whom died in this 2001 attack (Centers for Leahy’s office, Disease Control). which contained Seven years following the 2001 attack, a suspect within the US anthrax. government emerged. Bruce Edwards Ivins, a senior biodefense Smithsonian Magazine researcher for the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, was named as the sole suspect (Landers). His Bioterrorism – a seniority within the United States’ biodefense research teams raised terrorist act involving alarm, prompting investigations by the Federal Bureau of the intentional release Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ). of biological agents The threat of bioterrorism is real. The recent COVID-19 such as viruses, pandemic, though itself not a product of bioterrorism, has re-ignited bacteria, fungi, and debate on the capacity of the federal and state governments to toxins respond to public health and bioterrorism crises. The House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security is responsible for drafting legislation related to these issues. Additionally, the Committee oversees the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As representatives, you are tasked with creating legislation that provides the best infrastructure against future acts of bioterrorism, ensuring America has the defenses needed to survive an invisible enemy. HARVARD MODEL CONGRESS EXPLANATION OF THE ISSUE Historical Development The earliest known instance of bioterrorism dates to 600 BCE, when an aqueduct in the ancient Greek city of Krissa was purposely contaminated by a rival city-state. Acts of bioterrorism continued Bubonic Plague– A throughout the Middle Ages. In 1346 rival forces in the Crimean bacterial infection Peninsula used bodies infected with bubonic plague as a tactic transmitted by rats against enemies, while Spanish forces intentionally sold wine laced that forms black with the bodily fluids of leprosy patients to the French in 1495 buboes on an infected (Riedel). Throughout European colonization of the Americas, person’s skin indigenous people were intentionally infected with smallpox as a tool of political conquest. In the twentieth century, biowarfare – a variant of contemporary bioterrorism – was used in both World War I and World War II. Even countries that ratified the 1925 Geneva Protocol that prohibited the use of bacteria in warfare developed biological Smallpox– an weapons. During World War II, prisoners of war were subjected to infectious disease that biological research to test the synthetically modified viruses and has been largely bacteria used for bioweapons (Riedel). eradicated by In 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially vaccination declared the smallpox disease as eradicated. However, the United States and Russia were allowed to keep smallpox samples for future research and the existence of these samples have raised concerns over the possibility of future biowarfare attacks launched by the United States or Russia. Additionally, while over 180 countries are Biowarfare– the use signatory to the Biological Weapons Convention, the threat of of bacteria, fungi, and governments or terrorist cells violating this convention is of viruses with the intent particular concern given bioterrorism’s ability to cause mass to engage in warfare economic and social upheaval. Scope of the Problem Overview of Bioterrorism Bioterrorism is officially defined as “the intentional use of a pathogen or biological product to cause harm to a human, animal, Incubation Period plant, or other living organisms to influence the conduct of – the time between government or to intimidate or coerce a civilian population” (Gostin exposure to a et. al). This type of unconventional terrorism poses a formidable biological pathogen to threat because it can harm a large number of people using relatively the first display of few resources. One estimate posits that bioagents are 600 to 2000 symptoms times cheaper to manufacture, store, and disseminate than conventional weapons of mass destruction (SIU School of Medicine). Additionally, most bacteria and viruses have an incubation period of three to seven days, giving a physical perpetrator the opportunity to escape before any infection is reported. For these reasons, © HARVARD MODEL CONGRESS 2021 – REDISTRIBUTION OR REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 2 HARVARD MODEL CONGRESS bioterrorism is likely amongst terrorist cells that lack strong financial or technological resources. Bioterrorist attacks are likely to be covert, rather than overt. As a result of bioagents acting as “invisible enemies,” emergency planning and response poses a challenge to traditional defense policy. Instead, the US has historically taken a position of combining defense and health policy to uniquely respond to the bioterrorism threat (SIU School of Medicine). Upon a bioterrorism attack, healthcare professionals will likely be the first to notice a new trend in hospitalizations and illness. Indications of a likely bioterrorist attack would include outbreak of a new or rare disease, outbreak of a seasonal disease during the off-season, unusual distribution within particular demographics, and genetically identical pathogens Smallpox is one of appearing across disparate geographic areas (Miller). the diseases Threats to Human Populations, Environment, and Agriculture national security experts worry could Bioterrorism presents an enormous threat to human populations be used in an act of and potentiates a large-scale disruption to societies. First, an act of bioterrorism. The bioterrorism would cause visible illness, and possibly death, to the smallpox virus human population. Bioterrorism becomes acutely harmful when causes leisons and health care systems become overwhelmed and all infected people bumps on the skin of cannot be treated. This would result in a large number of people an infected person. being quarantined and economic activity coming to a halt. Because CDC.gov pathogens spread rapidly in confined areas, bioterrorism also threatens transport of passengers and critical resources. Bioterrorism can also be used to harm crops or livestock, posing a threat to American food security. Bioterrorism through agriculture could include the deliberate introduction of insects or viruses known to cause illnesses to plants and animals. While not as direct as causing sickness, bioterrorism can create food insecurity and result in mass hunger or maldistribution of food. Introduction of pathogens that makes soil infertile is an additional form of bioterrorism. Agricultural and environmental bioterrorism may be more The Bubonic challenging to detect and respond to as the outbreak may be initially Plague is estimated undetectable but result in a large outbreak (Johns Hopkins to have killed University). anywhere from Centers for Disease Control Classifications 20% to 60% of The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is the largest public Europe’s health agency in the United States. Following 9/11, the CDC was population in the tasked with issuing regulations and publicly disseminating Middle Ages. unclassified information about the United States’ bioterrorism preparedness. In line with this mandate, the CDC began categorizing bioagents based on the severity of the national security and health risk they pose. Each tier carries with it a particular set of regulations from the federal government, including restrictions on who can © HARVARD MODEL CONGRESS 2021 – REDISTRIBUTION OR REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 3 HARVARD MODEL CONGRESS research bioagents in that category, which labs can store those bioagents, and how those bioagents are to be transported. Category A bioagents are those which pose the highest risk to national security due to easy transmission, high rates of mortality, and need for a specialized public health response. Bioagents in this category include anthrax, smallpox, bubonic plague, rabbit fever, and viral hemorrhagic fevers similar to that caused by the Ebola virus. Category B bioagents have a lower mortality rate than those in Category A, but still have the possibility of causing a public health Federalism–a form crisis. Examples of Category B bioagents include salmonella, a of government that bacterium that makes affected food unsafe to eat, and encephalitis, a combines regional virus which causes brain swelling. authorities and a Category C bioagents are unique in that they are newly emerging unified central viruses that could be synthetically engineered and mass produced for authority bioterrorism. The only two viruses listed in this category are the Nipah virus and hantavirus. Preparedness at the Federal and State Levels Strategic While the federal government has its own plans for bioterrorism Stockpile– a preparedness and response, states are varied in their degrees of designated location to preparedness for dealing with bioterrorism. It is important to store vaccines, remember is that the US government is structured on the principle antibiotics, masks, of federalism. While there is unified
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