Adv & disadv of biological warfare

Kang Fairuz Walter Linggahan Sogudil

Definition of Bio-terrorism
Bio-terrorism is the threat or use of biological agents by

individuals or groups motivated by political, religious, ecological, social, or for other ideological objectives to instill fear or cause illness or death in order to achieve their objective.

Biological Weapons
Consists of either living organisms that can reproduce,

such as bacteria, or viruses, or toxic materials produced by living organisms, such as toxins or physiologically active proteins or peptides.
Viruses Venezuelan Equine Enchephalitis (Very

Lethal) Bacteria Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax) Toxins Staphylococcal Enterotoxin and Botulinum Toxin

ADVANTAGES OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPON AGENTS

Efficient
Efficient to kill targeted enemy.

Hypothesized that one gram of purified botulinum

toxin could kill 10 million people. This is approximately 3 million times more deadly than Sarin, a popular nerve agent.

Cheapest
Biological weapons are the cheapest of the

lot. Ex: To "affect 1 square kilometer- $2000 using conventional weapons, $800 using nuclear weapons, $600 using chemical weapons, $1 using biological weapons.

Easy to produce
Easy to produce, quantify and

weaponize, they are also alarmingly easy to conceal. Equipment used to produce viruses and other such pathogens are "dualuse", meaning that they can be both used for illegal or legitimate purposes.

Self replicating capacity.

Conventional weapon kill few hundred

people, maim thousands of others, disrupt traffic and stop. Biological agents, on the other hand, can spread from person to person. (Think of AIDS). Finally, become epidemic.

Difficult of immediately detecting

limitations in fielding a

multiagent sensor system on the battlefield. Prolonged incubation period preceding onset of illness (or the slow onset of symptoms) with some biological agents.

DISADVANTAGES

Unpredictable
Risk of accidentally

injure the population of the country that launched the attack. Genetically modaified biological agents could mutate and spread out of control in the global population

Environmentally unfriendly
Finally, they could negatively affect

the environment, infecting wildlife in the target area and upsetting the surrounding ecosystem.

Time
Requires relatively

long incubation periods.

Longevity
Anthrax, for example, can live for up to

50 years in soil.

Dependency
The dependence on prevailing winds

and other weather conditions on effective dispersion

Negative reputation
They have a highly negative reputation in

international circles, and any country that employed them would be condemned by the international community.