Editing Bioterrorism (section)

==Response to bioterrorism incident or threat==
{{Globalize|section|USA|2name=the United States|date=June 2012}}
Government agencies which would be called on to respond to a bioterrorism incident would include law enforcement, hazardous materials and decontamination units, and emergency medical units, if available.

The US military has specialized units, which can respond to a bioterrorism event; among them are the [[United States Marine Corps]]' [[Chemical Biological Incident Response Force]] and the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]'s [[20th Support Command (CBRNE)]], which can detect, identify, and neutralize threats, and [[decontamination|decontaminate]] victims exposed to bioterror agents. US response would include the [[Centers for Disease Control]].

Historically, governments and authorities have relied on quarantines to protect their populations. International bodies such as the [[World Health Organization]] already devote some of their resources to monitoring epidemics and have served clearing-house roles in historical epidemics.

Media attention toward the seriousness of biological attacks increased in 2013 to 2014. In July 2013, ''Forbes'' published an article with the title "Bioterrorism: A Dirty Little Threat With Huge Potential Consequences."<ref>Bell, Larry. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2013/07/21/bioterrorism-a-dirty-little-threat-with-huge-potential-consequences/ "Bioterrorism: A Dirty Little Threat With Huge Potential Consequences"]. ''Forbes''. July 21, 2013 (Retrieved February 17, 2014)</ref> In November 2013, Fox News reported on a new strain of botulism, saying that the Centers for Disease and Control lists botulism as one of two agents that have "the highest risks of mortality and morbidity", noting that there is no antidote for botulism.<ref>Heitz, David. [https://www.foxnews.com/health/deadly-bioterror-threats-6-real-risks/ "Deadly bioterror threats: 6 real risks"]. Fox News. November 2, 2013 (Retrieved February 17, 2014)</ref> ''[[USA Today]]'' reported that the U.S. military in November was trying to develop a vaccine for troops from the bacteria that cause the disease Q fever, an agent the military once used as a biological weapon.<ref>Locker, Ray. [https://www.usatoday.com/story/nation/2013/11/15/q-fever-vaccine-search-continues/3527345/ "Pentagon seeking vaccine for bioterror disease threat"]. ''USA Today''. November 18, 2013 (Retrieved February 17, 2014)</ref> In February 2014, the former special assistant and senior director for biodefense policy to President George W. Bush called the bioterrorism risk imminent and uncertain<ref>Cohen, Bryan. [http://bioprepwatch.com/biological-threats/kadlec-says-biological-attack-is-uncertain-imminent-reality/335981/ "Kadlec says biological attack is uncertain, imminent reality"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209212132/http://bioprepwatch.com/biological-threats/kadlec-says-biological-attack-is-uncertain-imminent-reality/335981/ |date=February 9, 2015 }}. Bio Prep Watch. February 17, 2014 (Retrieved February 17, 2014)</ref> and Congressman [[Bill Pascrell]] called for increasing federal measures against bioterrorism as a "matter of life or death."<ref>Cohen, Bryan. [https://archive.today/20140217165044/http://bioprepwatch.com/bioterrorism/pascrell-says-bioterror-threat-a-life-or-death-matter/335939/ "Pascrell: Bioterror threat a life or death matter"]. Bio Prep Watch. February 12, 2014 (Retrieved February 17, 2014)</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote a story saying the United States would spend $40&nbsp;million to help certain low and middle-income countries deal with the threats of bioterrorism and infectious diseases.<ref>Tavernise, Sabrina. [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/14/health/us-backs-new-global-initiative-against-infectious-diseases.html?hpw&rref=health&_r=0 "U.S. Backs New Global Initiative Against Infectious Diseases"]. ''New York Times''. February 13, 2014 (Retrieved February 17, 2014)</ref>

Bioterrorism can additionally harm the psychological aspect of victims and the general public. Victims exposed to biological weapons have shown an increased presence of clinical anxiety compared to the normal population. <ref>Mason, B. W., and R. A. Lyons. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/25570007 "Acute Psychological Effects of Suspected Bioterrorism."] Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (1979-), vol. 57, no. 5, 2003, pp. 353–54. JSTOR, Accessed 27 Oct. 2024.</ref> 

[[Bill Gates]] has warned that bioterrorism could kill more people than nuclear war.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bioterrorism could kill more people than nuclear war, Bill Gates to warn world leaders|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/17/biological-terrorism-could-kill-people-nuclear-attacks-bill/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/17/biological-terrorism-could-kill-people-nuclear-attacks-bill/ |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=February 19, 2017|work=The Telegraph|date=February 18, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In February 2018, a [[CNN]] employee discovered on an airplane a "sensitive, top-secret document in the seatback pouch explaining how the [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Department of Homeland Security]] would respond to a bioterrorism attack at the [[Super Bowl]]."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.deseret.com/2018/2/12/20639780/jay-s-jokes-did-you-forget-your-bioterrorism-report-on-the-plane/|title=Jay's Jokes: Did you forget your bioterrorism report on the plane?|last=Evensen|first=Jay|date=February 12, 2018|work=DeseretNews.com|access-date=February 16, 2018|language=en|archive-date=February 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217082409/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900009991/jays-jokes-did-you-forget-your-bioterrorism-report-on-the-plane.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 2017 U.S. budget proposal affecting bioterrorism programs ===
President Donald Trump promoted his first budget around keeping America safe. However, one aspect of defense would receive less money: "protecting the nation from deadly pathogens, man-made or natural," according to ''The New York Times''. Agencies tasked with biosecurity get a decrease in funding under the Administration's budget proposal.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/28/us/politics/biosecurity-trump-budget-defense.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/28/us/politics/biosecurity-trump-budget-defense.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022 |url-access=limited|title=Trump's Proposed Budget Cuts Trouble Bioterrorism Experts|last=Baumgaertner|first=Emily|date=May 28, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 30, 2017 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

For example:<ref name=":2" />
* The Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response would be cut by $136&nbsp;million, or 9.7 percent. The office tracks outbreaks of [[disease]].
* The National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases would be cut by $65&nbsp;million, or 11 percent. The center is a branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that fights threats like anthrax and the [[Ebola virus]], and additionally towards research on HIV/AIDS vaccines.
* Within the [[National Institutes of Health]], the [[National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases]] (NIAID) would lose 18 percent of its budget. NIAID oversees responses to Zika, Ebola and [[HIV/AIDS]] vaccine research.
"The next [[weapon of mass destruction]] may not be a bomb," Lawrence O. Gostin, the director of the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights, told ''The New York Times''. "It may be a tiny pathogen that you can't see, smell or taste, and by the time we discover it, it'll be too late."<ref name=":2" />

=== Lack of international standards on public health experiments ===
Tom Inglesy, the CEO and director of the Center for Health Security at the [[Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tom Inglesby, MD |publisher=Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health |url=https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-people/inglesby/}}</ref> and an internationally recognized expert on public health preparedness, pandemic and emerging infectious disease said in 2017 that the lack of an internationally standardized approval process that could be used to guide countries in conducting public health experiments for resurrecting a disease that has already been eradicated increases the risk that the disease could be used in bioterrorism. This was in reference to the lab synthesis of [[Orthopoxvirus|horsepox]] in 2017 by researchers at the [[University of Alberta]]. The researchers recreated horsepox, an extinct cousin of the [[Smallpox|smallpox virus]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/how-canadian-researchers-reconstituted-extinct-poxvirus-100000-using-mail-order-dna|title=science}}</ref> in order to research new ways to treat cancer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://homelandprepnews.com/featured/23673-bioterrorism-threats-require-common-global-experimentation-oversight-expert-says/|title=Bioterrorism threats require common global experimentation oversight, expert says|last=Riley|first=Kim|date=August 10, 2017|work=Homeland Preparedness News|access-date=January 15, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>