BIOWEAPONS IN AMERICA AND THE ETHICS INVOLVED
BIOWEAPONS IN AMERICA AND THE ETHICS INVOLVED
TYLER TURNER
BIOETHICS
2014
Bioweapons are defined as the deliberate use of disease-causing biological agents, such as protozoa, fungi, bacteria, or viruses, to kill or incapacitate humans, other animals, or plants (Johnson, 2014). These types of weapons are living organisms or replicating entities (such as viruses) that reproduce or replicate within their host victims (Ravitsky, 2009). Bioterrorism is the act of using bioweapons to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants. These agents can be spread through the air, water, and/or food supplies and can be very difficult to detect initially due to the specific entities incubation periods (Loike, 2013). Some viruses, such as the viral outbreak in West Africa, the Ebola virus, Zaire ebolavirus, have an incubation period of two to twenty-one days. Since it can take a long duration of time for the virus to replicate inside the body to an extent where symptoms become apparent and transmission is possible, one can be infected with Z. ebolavirus for up to twenty-one days without knowledge of the contraction. Incubation periods can make it very difficult for victims of a bioterrorism attack to initially be recognized. Informative research shows that bioweapons were used as early as 1500 BC and is a very controversial and uprising issue that is being addressed in the present day (Atlas, 2014). Hittites, in 1500 BC, used Francisella tularensis (Pahvant Valley Plague) as a bioweapon by parading infected victims into the cities of enemies (Loike, 2013). Yersinia pesti, also known as Black Death or the Bubonic Plague, was the origin of the European pandemic in the 14th century. Transmitted to humans by rodents (rats) and fleas that carried the virus, F. tularensis has made its appearance throughout history in wartime as a bioweapon. During the 14th century, Tartar militia catapaulted the cadavers of F. tularensis victims into the cities of enemies (Riedel, 2004.
TYLER TURNER
BIOETHICS
2014
Bioweapons are defined as the deliberate use of disease-causing biological agents, such as protozoa, fungi, bacteria, or viruses, to kill or incapacitate humans, other animals, or plants (Johnson, 2014). These types of weapons are living organisms or replicating entities (such as viruses) that reproduce or replicate within their host victims (Ravitsky, 2009). Bioterrorism is the act of using bioweapons to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants. These agents can be spread through the air, water, and/or food supplies and can be very difficult to detect initially due to the specific entities incubation periods (Loike, 2013). Some viruses, such as the viral outbreak in West Africa, the Ebola virus, Zaire ebolavirus, have an incubation period of two to twenty-one days. Since it can take a long duration of time for the virus to replicate inside the body to an extent where symptoms become apparent and transmission is possible, one can be infected with Z. ebolavirus for up to twenty-one days without knowledge of the contraction. Incubation periods can make it very difficult for victims of a bioterrorism attack to initially be recognized. Informative research shows that bioweapons were used as early as 1500 BC and is a very controversial and uprising issue that is being addressed in the present day (Atlas, 2014). Hittites, in 1500 BC, used Francisella tularensis (Pahvant Valley Plague) as a bioweapon by parading infected victims into the cities of enemies (Loike, 2013). Yersinia pesti, also known as Black Death or the Bubonic Plague, was the origin of the European pandemic in the 14th century. Transmitted to humans by rodents (rats) and fleas that carried the virus, F. tularensis has made its appearance throughout history in wartime as a bioweapon. During the 14th century, Tartar militia catapaulted the cadavers of F. tularensis victims into the cities of enemies (Riedel, 2004.
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