Homeland Security Responding to Bioterrorism

This threat is new to the US. The American people have not experienced this type of attack; we are used to the oh-so-familiar guns, knives and people blowing up buildings-- now we have to deal with a higher and quicker death factor. To make things worse, we cannot even trace the biological agents, which are not so visible to the naked human eye without proper equipment. Anthrax and smallpox are the two leading biological threats. Both of these diseases are incurable; once in contact one has to just let the disease run its course, hoping the victim is strong enough to withstand it. The consequences of a more coordinate attack could be very serious. “In a large urban center, the true costs of a bioterrorist attack might be the conse

Another possible alternative is to vaccinate the entire general population. This would generate fewer worries among the public. Preventing the disease is the best possible way of handling the medical problem. But it would cost a lot. We do not have a stockpile of vaccine to use for the general public, and terrorists could use a virus cocktail that vaccinations would do little to prevent.

Some have argued that more support should be given to the military and to law enforcements personnel. If an attack were to occur one would have a better chance of finding out who did it and getting rid of them. However there is a risk of giving too much power to military and law enforcement personnel. The fear of movies about armies taking over is far more scary then the thought of an outbreak occurring.

One possible solution to bioterrorism is to do nothing. One advantage to this approach is that less time is wasted and we do not put money into something that hypothetically may never occur. No money would be wasted. Hospitals are potentially advanced enough to deal with any outbreaks. However, if an outbreak were to occur we would not be able or ready to handle it. We might not have enough vaccine for the entire population.

quences of panic, such as a stock market collapse in New York or a commodities market crash in Chicago.”

Another kind of response is the technological alternative. These are the machines that would sample the air, chips lined u

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