As anthrax contamination spreads from Florida to New York and then to Nevada, the country is being pushed to the brink of hysteria. Many people believe that a terrorist organization is behind the anthrax contaminations. However is all the "hype" surrounding anthrax necessary? Although there has been one fatality due to the anthrax virus, the other cases of anthrax had been treated and quickly and efficiently. Anthrax a very difficult virus to manipulate in weapon form even superpowers such as the United States and Russia has had difficulties developing anthrax. In the late nineteen eighties, Russia accidentally released a deadly strain of anthrax into a city of a million inhabitants, and only 66 of them died. Seeing that Russia had a difficult time developing anthrax, it would be virtually impossible for a terrorist cell to develop it. Therefore anthrax takes expertise, time, and money, none of which a terrorist group has time to develop such a deadly virus.
The expertise it takes to develop a virus such as anthrax is very scarce. The "hype" surrounding the spread of anthrax is very premature. There are only a few qualified individuals who are trained to handle viruses such as anthrax, and it is still very dangerous for them to handle it. Anthrax is a very complex virus, and it would be very hard to for a terrorist cell to develop the right strain. The terrorist would have to.
get the concentration of chemicals high enough to kill or wound you. Too little and it is nothing, too much and it is wasted. Creating chemical weapons attack that kill many civilians is incredibly hard to do with military grade agents and equipment so, it would be virtually impossible for terrorists.
Also, time is a factor that plays in the development of anthrax. The countries that have successfully developed anthrax, they have been researching and experimenting with it for years. The United States and Russia have been researching and developing biological weapons for decades, and still they have difficulties making an effective weapon.
