The term 'bioterrorism' denotes a kind of terrorism that is released or disseminated via biological agents. Some of the agents via which bioterrorism can be performed include fungi, bacteria, viruses, and their toxins. Terrorists use such agents to cause civilian or livestock death in a given population and to manipulate the government for their selfish gains, among other reasons. Some of the common agents that cause harm to both humans and livestock, and that shall be discussed in this essay are Ricin and anthrax.
According to Das & Kataria (2010), Ricin forms one of the most toxic biological agents known today and is a schedule number 1 chemical warfare agent. Letters laced with ricin poison have been intercepted on their way to past presidents of the United States as well as judges and senators (Bermana, Gavious, & Menezesc, 2012). Additionally, it forms a category B bioterrorism agent. Ricin is typically extracted from castor beans and treated. It is purified to create either a white pellet or white powder (Das & Kataria, 2010). When dissolved in water or a weak acid it is released as a liquid. The agent is stable under ambient conditions. Anthrax functions are similar in both the mechanism and structure of catalytic activity to botulinum toxin (Hicks et al., 2005). Both agents are exhibiting their biological activity through a specific substrate molecule bond of toxin enzymatic hydrolysis.
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Overall, a public bioterrorism attack is an act of public health concern. Authorities must collaborate with civilians for early detection and pay vigilant attention to the menace for it to be contained. Researchers must work fast to develop vaccines that help in providing such situations. Although there have been many advancements in the field of science and technology, some attacks present new and highly complex challenges that leave many fatalities and that take a long time to solve.
References
Bermana, O., Gavious, A., & Menezesc, M. (2012). Optimal response against bioterror attack on airport terminal. European Journal of Operational Science, 219 (2), 415-424. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0377221711011301
Das, S., & Kataria, K. (2010). Bioterrorism: A Public Health Perspective. US National Library of Medicine, 66 (3), 255–260. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27408313
Hicks, R., Hartell, M., Nichols, D., Bhattacharjee, A., Hamont, J., & Skillman, D. (2005). The medicinal chemistry of botulinum, Ricin, and anthrax toxins. US National Library of Medicine, 12 (6), 667-90. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7946204_The_Medicinal_Chemistry_of_Botulinum_Ricin_and_Anthrax_Toxin
