One good quote in the article was “every time a new outbreak makes the headlines,
you can be sure someone is considering how to turn it into a weapon”, this
phrase shown the side of humans where they can turn every disease of infectious
virus into a weapon, were scientists from countries such as United States of
America, Canada, Soviet Union and many more hired scientists to research on a
kind of virus and expand it to a level of a biological weapon. Weapons range
from direct effect on human beings to the indirect harm on human beings by
cutting of food supply, in a range of many ways, this is my list from the most
powerful to the least powerful.
For the indirect biological weapons on humans will be
ranked respectively from worst to best, Rinderpest and Rice Blast. While those
that directly affect humans are Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever, Smallpox, Plague,
Tularaemia, Anthrax, Nipah Virus, Botulinum Toxin and the most devastating of
all the Chimera Viruses. Many of these viruses were outbreaks where some scientists
used it to find cures such as the Chimera when combined with polio could help
cure brain cancer. While others use the chance of every outbreak to find ways
to attack crops, respiratory systems and others too.
What I feel are the scary biological weapons are those
that could quickly kill people in a short amount of time, such as Nipah Virus
and Botulinum Toxin where the only chance to survive is to get botulism
antitoxin between 24 to 72 hours after you caught the virus. Another kinds are
those viruses which are more realistic to the society now which is rather more
newly invented, where it is not just a thing in the Scientific Fiction world,
which is not the case now, furthermore, there is no cure to the disease.
The Anthrax is another virus that, which in my opinion is
still a biological attack at large. In Civil Defence Force guide books to teach
us in a case of chemical attacks what shall we do, the Anthrax is illustrated
many times, where it is a white powdery substance where terrorists place in in
envelopes or bags and leave the items there. Once opened, the spores would
contact the skin causing them to get affected. Furthermore, this deadly weapon
is not like other bacterium which has a short “shelf-life”, Anthrax can stay
there for approximately 40 years and still remain as lethal as yet.
In conclusion, humans now use every single aspect of such
viruses to try to use it which is capable of destroying one another. Biological
weapons are intimidating viruses, bacteria and fungal spores naturally. These
instances started as early as 1500 BC, and even Genghis Khan accidentally
released Rinderpest, and till now the use of these biological weapons from
bacteria. However, even as biological weapons are now outlawed in 1972’s
Biological Weapons Convention and the Geneva Protocol, where many nations
destroyed their stockpiles, the lingering threat still remains.
This is the link to the article
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