adnt n diadv of biological warfare

7/27/2019 Adnt n Diadv of Biological Warfare

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Adv & disadv of biological warfare

Kang FairuzWalter Linggahan Sogudil


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Definition of Bio-terrorism

Bio-terrorism is the threat or use of biological agents byindividuals or groups motivated by political, religious,ecological, social, or for other ideological objectives to instillfear or cause illness or death in order to achieve theirobjective.


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Biological Weapons

Consists of either living organisms that can reproduce,such as bacteria, or viruses, or toxic materialsproduced by living organisms, such as toxins orphysiologically active proteins or peptides.

Viruses Venezuelan Equine Enchephalitis (VeryLethal)

Bacteria Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax)

Toxins Staphylococcal Enterotoxin and BotulinumToxin


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ADVANTAGES OFBIOLOGICAL WEAPON

AGENTS


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Efficient

Efficient to kill targeted enemy.

Hypothesized that one gram of purified botulinumtoxin could kill 10 million people. This is

approximately 3 million times more deadly thanSarin, a popular nerve agent.


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Cheapest

Biological weapons are the cheapest of thelot.

Ex: To "affect 1 square kilometer- $2000using conventional weapons, $800 usingnuclear weapons, $600 using chemicalweapons, $1 using biological weapons.


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Easy to produce

Easy to produce, quantify andweaponize, they are also alarmingly

easy to conceal.Equipment used to produce virusesand other such pathogens are "dual-

use", meaning that they can be bothused for illegal or legitimate purposes.


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Self replicating capacity.

Conventional weapon kill few hundredpeople, maim thousands of others, disrupttraffic and stop.

Biological agents, on the other hand, canspread from person to person. (Think of

AIDS). Finally, become epidemic.


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Difficult of immediatelydetecting

limitations in fielding amultiagent sensor

system on the battlefield. Prolonged incubationperiod preceding onset of

illness (or the slow onsetof symptoms) with somebiological agents.


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DISADVANTAGES


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Unpredictable

Risk of accidentallyinjure the population ofthe country that

launched the attack.

Genetically modaifiedbiological agents could

mutate and spread out ofcontrol in the globalpopulation


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Environmentally unfriendly

Finally, they could negatively affectthe environment, infecting wildlife

in the target area and upsettingthe surrounding ecosystem.


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Time

Requires relativelylong incubation

periods.


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Longevity

Anthrax, for example, can live for up to50 years in soil.


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Dependency

The dependence on prevailing windsand other weather conditions on

effective dispersion


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Negative reputation

They have a highly negative reputation ininternational circles, and any country thatemployed them would be condemned by

the international community.

adnt n diadv of biological warfare

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