-Chapter4-
History Present Issues Types
Definition of a Biological Weapon: Any organism such as bacteria or a virus found in nature that could potentially be used to harm or kill another person
The current U.S. Biological Warfare Policy is as follow:
"The United States Government has vowed to never use Biological Weapons under any circumstances." They said that all the BW work has been limited to defensive measures such as developing new immunizations. As for the other kinds of weapons the US has said they would only use Nuclear Weapons as a "last resort" and chemical warfare might be used in retaliation.
What is the difference between Biological Warfare and Chemical Warfare:
Biological Weapons are alive. All they need is something to transport them to the location. Something that could do that could be a SCUD missile. An example of a BW could be Anthrax which would need to be delivered in a way that it could be inhaled.
Chemical Weapons involve chemicals that when combined can cause a deadly reaction to harm a human. Mustard Gas would be an example of a chemical weapon and just like a BW it could be delivered in a SCUD missile.
Helpful Web Sites
http://www.who.int/csr/delibepidemics/informationresources/en/index.html
(WHO= World Health Organization)