Biological Warfare Research Paper
Pair of Cole Students
Doctor Professor Mr. Christopher Salber
World Geography
November 12, 2015
Biological Warfare Research Paper
For thousands of years biological weapons have been used even if the user did not know
he was using it. It was, and still is the biggest killer amongst men whether it be the common cold
or the chimera biochemical weapon. It has been used in all wars by all during war and even
during day to day life, if on accident to a friend or on purpose to an enemy. It can destroy
empires by killing everyone or destroy one's afternoon with a simple stomach ache. The weapon
might be man made or caused by the animals we live, eat, sleep and breath with.
The earliest recorded use of biological weapons are of the Hittite in 1500-1200b.c. They
were one of the few groups to actually use the biological weapons on purpose for their conquest
against their enemy. What they did was send their own civilians into enemy territory. However,
what made this a biological attack was that the civilians that they sent over were infected with
tularemia. That then caused an epidemic in the enemy territory and the enemy was then
conquered by the Hittite. However just because that is the first time it happened does not mean it
was the most dramatic use of biological warfare. Another example would be the use of smallpox
during the conquest of the new world by Spain. In the conquering of the new world over ninety
percent of the population of the new world were killed off without the intention of doing so.
Skip forward a few millennia, and you have a war. A war including almost all of the
world powers. The first world war, the first of its kind. This marked the beginning of widely
known uses of diseases and specimen against enemy personnel as weapons of mass killing.
Anthrax, derived from soil, was the most readily available thus the most used. An incident that
the germans were accused of, was with Anthrax. The germans to put dormant spores of bacillus
anthracis, otherwise known as Anthrax, into livestock and horses that would be distributed
amongst their foes. They planned to cause a mass killing of enemy soldiers destroying their
infrastructure before they came to finish the job with the mighty war machines they possessed.
Since you probably don’t know much about exactly how dangerous these types of
weapons are, here are some numbers to open to realization just how deadly and scary they are.
Anthrax, if inhaled, has a mortality rate of above eighty percent. If ingested [gastrointestinal], for
example the infected meat from an animal, the mortality rate is seventy-five percent. If Anthrax
enters a cut, the mortality rate is twenty percent but it’ll all end with blood poisoning so you’re
dead anyways. Another biological weapon is VX, which is British made. It is an extremely
deadly weapon and an easy way to put it is if you inhale it, you die, and if you come into direct
contact, you die. Zyklon B is a biological weapon as well. It was used to ‘gas’ the jews. Direct
contact with Zyklon B leaves you unscathed for it is a gas, however, if you inhale it, you are
dead.
Knowing the information from just three used biological weapons out of the thousands
out there, imagine what would happen if used against america. First of all there would be mass
havoc with many people dying all around dropping like flies. Then, if you are not killed, the
body of the victim would be extremely damaged. Depending on what is used the damage could
be physical, however, it is usually unseen to the eye, however, the body will usually have some
genetic problems. Consequently when, or even if, the victim tries to create offspring the
offspring will carry the damaged genetic material within himself. Because of heredity the
genetically damaged material will continue to travel through the family tree until the tree is
completely killed off or eventually a cure is found to counteract the damaged genetic material.
One might also wonder why this is bad for it does not seem like the genetically damaged
material is doing any harm? Well, the genetically damaged material could cause many extremely
bad problems. Problems such as heart conditions, malformation, physical pains, mental
deformities, etc. Many terrible things can come to the united states because of these weapons
allowing the whole of the U.S. to become destroyed from the inside out.
What if these weapons fell into the hands of terrorists and were targeted at us, specifically
the United States of America? All hell would break loose pretty much. It has happened before
but the effects were not to extreme measure, however, it very well could have gone worse. The
‘Amerithrax’ attacks of 2001 only killed five and sickened seventeen. There were letters sent to
citizens of New York that were laced with fatal amounts of anthrax. What if there were plenty
more letters going across the states. Imagine the havoc it would wreak on the populous. How
many fatalities would occur. This attack was just small scale only targeting a few of the millions
living in the United States. With isis growing larger and getting more ambitious in syria, just take
a second to think about what they could do with the resources they have and the weapons they
can produce. Also think of how available these types of weapons are.They pose a serious threat
to everyone, and much more worse with weapons capable of killing and spreading from one
person to another such as biological weapons.
Biological weapons have been used for thousands of years and have been the killer of the
majority of humanity next to old age. It still kills many thousands of the population of the rural
parts of earth today. It has been the main weapon of those conquering entire civilizations. It has
the potential to wipe out entire ways of life in a blink of an eye. It will and will always be the one
fear that the human race must fear for for the survival of this race to continue on.
Works Cited
Frischknecht, Friedrich. "The History of Biological Warfare." EMBO Reports. Nature Publishing
Group. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.
Govt., The. "Facts About VX." CDC. CDC, 5 May 2013. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.
NVIC. "Anthrax Disease - National Vaccine Information Center."National Vaccine
Information Center (NVIC). NVIC. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.
Riedel, Stefan. "Biological Warfare and Bioterrorism: A Historical Review." Proceedings
(Baylor University. Medical Center). Baylor Health Care System. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.
"U.S. Food and Drug Administration." Anthrax. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.
