Weapons Of Mass Destruction: Plague Of The Fourteenth Century
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Everest University Online
12/14/2013
Amy Nelson
Weapons of mass destruction include biological, chemical, and nuclear. I will analyze the history of these three aspects of weapons of mass destruction, and give my opinion of the future threat of these weapons. Biological Weapons: From the plague of the fourteenth century in Europe that reportedly killed about one-third of the population to the use of smallpox infected blankets given to Native Americans in the 1760s, to the German’s purportedly spreading different diseases throughout Italy, St. Petersburg, Mesopotamia, and Romania during WWI, states have been using weapons of mass destruction. Chemical Weapons: Chemical agents, including bio-toxin …show more content…
Within 3-5 days of infection, victims would suffer chills, headaches, and weakness. Subsequent inflammation and hemorrhaging of the airways can be fatal, and no vaccine is currently available; Smallpox is an infectious agent that is highly contagious and would quickly spread because vaccinations for this disease ceased more than twenty-five years ago. An aerosol release of smallpox infecting only fifty people could easily unleash an epidemic that would kill about thirty percent of those infected with the painful, disfiguring disease (Combs, 2013, P. 333); Anthrax is an acute infectious disease that most commonly occurs in mammals, however, can infect humans that have been exposed to these infected mammals. Anthrax is not contagious. Anthrax has been used as a biological weapon since approximately 1876…In theory; a cloud of anthrax spores inhaled by a city’s population would create widespread severe, flu-like symptoms, killing eighty percent of those infected within 1-2 days after their symptoms appeared. Anthrax can be treated with antibiotics if treated early, if not, it can be fatal (Combs, 2013, Pp. 334-335); Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHF) is a term used to describe a syndrome that severely affects multiple organs in the body; caused by several distinct
Everest University Online
12/14/2013
Amy Nelson
Weapons of mass destruction include biological, chemical, and nuclear. I will analyze the history of these three aspects of weapons of mass destruction, and give my opinion of the future threat of these weapons. Biological Weapons: From the plague of the fourteenth century in Europe that reportedly killed about one-third of the population to the use of smallpox infected blankets given to Native Americans in the 1760s, to the German’s purportedly spreading different diseases throughout Italy, St. Petersburg, Mesopotamia, and Romania during WWI, states have been using weapons of mass destruction. Chemical Weapons: Chemical agents, including bio-toxin …show more content…
Within 3-5 days of infection, victims would suffer chills, headaches, and weakness. Subsequent inflammation and hemorrhaging of the airways can be fatal, and no vaccine is currently available; Smallpox is an infectious agent that is highly contagious and would quickly spread because vaccinations for this disease ceased more than twenty-five years ago. An aerosol release of smallpox infecting only fifty people could easily unleash an epidemic that would kill about thirty percent of those infected with the painful, disfiguring disease (Combs, 2013, P. 333); Anthrax is an acute infectious disease that most commonly occurs in mammals, however, can infect humans that have been exposed to these infected mammals. Anthrax is not contagious. Anthrax has been used as a biological weapon since approximately 1876…In theory; a cloud of anthrax spores inhaled by a city’s population would create widespread severe, flu-like symptoms, killing eighty percent of those infected within 1-2 days after their symptoms appeared. Anthrax can be treated with antibiotics if treated early, if not, it can be fatal (Combs, 2013, Pp. 334-335); Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHF) is a term used to describe a syndrome that severely affects multiple organs in the body; caused by several distinct