Chemical and Biological Weapons

Will the human race still be in existence in fifty more years? Although likely, there is a very real possibility that we will not be here. For example, after the Gulf War, we found Saddam Hussein stockpiling Weapons of Mass Destruction. Did you know that he had enough weapons to kill every single human, dog, and cow on the face of the earth? When I found that out, I thought it was very interesting, so I decided to do a report on it. If you keep reading, you'll find out what I've found out.

Who funds the making of chemical or biological weapons? The answer is many people. However... the government is the main source of money. For example, they make labs built to find defenses against new chemical or biological weapons. The catch is that in order to find new defenses, they must first build new weapons. That brings us to terrorists. Government officials make the information on how to make these weapons of mass destruction too accessible to terrorists, which eventually results in successful terrorists attacks that injure or harm many people. An example of this was in the spring of 1995 when a Japanese mafia gang set off sarin gas and killed 12 people in a subway, while injuring over fifty.

Now, you might be asking yourself, what's the difference between chemical and biological warfare? Some major differences are when each has been used in history and / or what makes up a chemical or biological weapon.

First, there's the obvious difference of what makes up a chemical or biological weapon. Chemical weapons use chemical agents while biological weapons use bacteria from the earth and weaponizes the bacteria. While biological weapons have never been used for a modern war, they were once a very common weapon. You see, biological weapons were used for centuries in such ways as throwing dead bodies into their enemies' water supply to sabotage it.

Chemical weapons were never used in ancient times, as they didn't have the technology. They have however found much use in our modern world. In fact, during World War I, chemical weapons found more use than ever before. The main weapon was mustard gas, it was responsible for two percent of the total deaths during that period. The next time chemical warfare was used on a large scale was during the Vietnam War. The main thing used was called "Agent Orange" which was used to kill off important plants, food, or livestock.

If you're wondering, "how the heck can chemicals or bacteria change my body" you would be surprised at the things they can do. For example they can cripple you (permanently or temporarily). They can paralyze you (permanently or temporarily). They can even disfigure you or turn your skin inside out. Another thing they can do, is they can immobilize one part of your body but not another; they can do this to the extent of paralyzing your index finger and your ring finger on one hand, but not harm anything else.

The delivery method for chemical or biological weapons can be artillery shells, bombs, sprays, darts, or pretty much anything that can explode, pierce the skin, or infect in some way. If in a bomb or shell, the chemicals or bacteria usually spread out after impact. On a dart, all you do is cover the tip and pierce someone else skin and they are infected.

There are many different kinds of chemical and biological weapons in existence today. Here are some of the kinds of biological weapons being used today in modern science.

One disease is anthrax. Anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by Bacillus anthracis. It has two types; cutanous which means in the skin, and inhalation which means inhaled into the lungs. Inhalation is the deadlier type of anthrax exposure.

The incubation period for cutanous anthrax ranges from one to seven days which is not much different from inhalation anthrax whose incubation period ranges from one to six days. The mortality rate for cutanous anthrax without treatment is ten to twenty percent. After treatment, it drops to less than one percent. The mortality rate for inhalation anthrax without treatment is ninety to one hundred percent and is usually not diagnosed in time for treatment.

Another biological weapon is Botulinum Toxins. Botulism is caused by intoxication with any of the seven distinct neurotoxins produced by the bacillus, Clostridium botulinum. In pure form, the toxin is a white crystalline substance which is readily dissolvable in water but decays rapidly in the open air. The incubation period for inhalation botulinum ranges from one day to several days after exposure. Reported cases of botulism prior to 1950 had a mortality rate of sixty percent. With tracheotomy and ventilator assistance, fatalities should be five percent.

Initial signs and symptoms of botulinum include ptosis, generalized weakness and dizziness. Diminished salivation with extreme dryness of the mouth and throat may cause complaints of a sore throat. Urinary retention may also occur. Motor symptoms usually are present early in the disease; cranial nerves are affected first with blurred vision, diplopia, ptosis, and photophobia. Development of respiratory failure may be abrupt. Mucous membranes of the mouth may be dry and crusted. Deep tendon reflexes vary from intact to absent.

Brucellosis is next. Brucellosis is a systemic zoonotic disease caused by one of four species of bacteria: Brucella melitensis, B. abortus, B. suis, and B. canis. Fatality rates tend to decrease for humans somewhat the farther down in the order you go. Brucella canis is primarily a pathogen of dogs, and only occasionally causes disease in humans. Humans are infected when they inhale contaminated aerosols, ingest raw (unpasteurized) infected milk or meat, or have abraded skin or conjunctive surfaces that come in contact with the bacteria. Brucellosis' incubation period normally ranges from one to four weeks but can vary from one week to several months.

Now, we have cholera. Cholera is a diarrheal disease caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholera, a short, curved, gram-negative bacillus. Humans acquire the disease by consuming water or food contaminated with the organism. The organism multiplies in the small intestine and secretes an enterotoxin that causes a secretory diarrhea. If used in a biological attack, it would most likely be used to contaminate water. Without treatment, death may result from severe dehydration or shock. Symptoms do not include fever or abominable pain. Clostridium Perfringens Toxins is next. Clostridium perfringens is a common anaerobic bacterium associated with three distinct disease syndromes; gas gangrene or clostridial myonecrosis; enteritis necroticans (pig-bel); and clostridium food poisoning. It is difficult to imagine a general scenario in which the spores or vegetative organisms could be used