Bioterrorism & Biodefense

Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents like bacteria, viruses, or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form. Biological agents spread through the air, water, or in food. Some can also spread from person to person and very hard to detect. Anthrax, botulism, Ebola and other haemorrhagic fever viruses, plague, or smallpox could be used as biological agents. Biodefense uses medical measures to protect people against bioterrorism, includes medicines and vaccinations. It also includes medical research and preparations to defend against bioterrorist attacks.

A biological agent also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, or fungus that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrorism or biological warfare (BW). In addition to these living and/or replicating pathogens, biological toxins are also included among the bio-agents. Biological agents have the ability to adversely affect human health in a variety of ways, ranging from relatively mild allergic reactions to serious medical conditions, including death. Many of these organisms are ubiquitous in the natural environment where they are found in water, soil, plants, or animals. Bio-agents may be amenable to "weaponization" to render them easier to deploy or disseminate. Genetic modification may enhance their incapacitating or lethal properties, or render them impervious to conventional treatments or preventives.

Biological hazards, also known as biohazards, refer to biological substances that pose a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily that of humans. This can include medical waste or samples of a microorganism, virus or toxin (from a biological source) that can affect human health. It can also include substances harmful to other animals.

A biological attack, or bioterrorism, is the intentional release of viruses, bacteria, or other germs that can sicken or kill people, livestock, or crops. Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria that causes anthrax, is one of the most likely agents to be used in a biological attack

Biological warfare (BW) also known as germ warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with the intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons (often termed "bio-weapons", "biological threat agents", or "bio-agents") are living organisms or replicating entities (viruses, which are not universally considered "alive") that reproduce or replicate within their host victims. Entomological (insect) warfare is also considered a type of biological weapon. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare and chemical warfare, which together with biological warfare make up NBC, the military acronym for nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare using weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). None of these are conventional weapons, which are primarily effective due to their explosive, kinetic, or incendiary potential.

A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as a threat, destroy it, and keep a record of it, so that the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these microorganisms that it later encounters.

Nuclear terrorism denotes the detonation of a yield-producing nuclear bomb containing fissile material by terrorists. Some definitions of nuclear terrorism include the sabotage of a nuclear facility and/or the detonation of a radiological device, colloquially termed a dirty bomb but consensus is lacking. In legal terms, nuclear terrorism is an offense committed if a person unlawfully and intentionally “uses in any way radioactive material with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury; or with the intent to cause substantial damage to property or to the environment.

Information security, sometimes shortened to InfoSec, is the practice of defending information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction. It is a general term that can be used regardless of the form the data may take (e.g. electronic, physical). Sometimes referred to as computer security, Information Technology security is information security applied to technology. It is worthwhile to note that a computer does not necessarily mean a home desktop. A computer is any device with a processor and some memory. Such devices can range from non-networked standalone devices as simple as calculators, to networked mobile computing devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. IT security specialists are almost always found in any major enterprise/establishment due to the nature and value of the data within larger businesses.

Bioterrorism agents are living organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, or fungi, or toxins that are deliberately used to sicken and kill. They may be used by terrorists partially because of their psychological impact on the public and partially because they can be deadly, are easy to distribute, are a relatively inexpensive weapon, and are difficult to detect. Bioterrorism agents have been used in acts of warfare for thousands of years. This has included dipping arrows into toxins, poisoning food and water supplies, and deliberately spreading deadly infections. Bioterrorism agents can be carried in food products, dispersed into the air or drinking water, introduced into crops and livestock.

Biological weapons (BWs) deliver toxins and microorganisms, such as viruses and bacteria, so as to deliberately inflict disease among people, animals, and agriculture. Biological attacks can result in destruction of crops, temporarily discomforting a small community, killing large numbers of people, or other outcomes. The way that a biological weapon is used depends on several factors. These include: the agent itself; its preparation; its durability in the environment; and route of infection. Some agents can be disbursed as an aerosol, which can be inhaled or can infect a susceptible spot on the skin, like a cut or wound. Attackers can also contaminate food or water with some agents.

Probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) is a systematic and comprehensive methodology to evaluate risks associated with a complex engineered technological entity (such as an airliner or a nuclear power plant).Risk in a PRA is defined as a feasible detrimental outcome of an activity or action. In a PRA, risk is characterized by two quantities, the magnitude (severity) of the possible adverse consequence(s), and the likelihood (probability) of occurrence of each consequence. Consequences are expressed numerically (e.g., the number of people potentially hurt or killed) and their likelihoods of occurrence are expressed as probabilities or frequencies (i.e., the number of occurrences or the probability of occurrence per unit time). The total risk is the expected loss: the sum of the products of the consequences multiplied by their probabilities.

An emerging infectious disease (EID) is an infectious disease whose incidence has increased in the past 20 years and could increase in the near future. Emerging infections account for at least 12% of all human pathogens. EIDs are caused by newly identified species or strains (e.g. SARS, AIDS)[2] that may have evolved from a known infection (e.g. influenza) or spread to a new population (e.g. West Nile virus) or area undergoing ecologic transformation (e.g. Lyme disease), or be re-emerging infections, like drug resistant tuberculosis. Nosocomial infections, such as MRSA are emerging in hospitals and extremely problematic in that they are resistant to many antibiotics. Of growing concern are adverse synergistic interactions between emerging diseases and other infectious and non-infectious conditions leading to the development of novel syndetic.

Bio risk refers to the risk associated with biological materials and/or infectious agents. Lately the term is also used within the laboratory setting combining the term biological safety (biosafety) and biosecurity into one word. Bio risk is a DNV-trademarked term in Norway. The term is now gaining increasing recognition amongst regulators, laboratory personnel and industry alike and is used by the WHO. An international Laboratory Bio risk Management Standard developed under the auspices of the European Committee for Standardization defines bio risk as the combination of the probability of occurrence of harm and the severity of that harm where the source of harm is a biological agent or toxin. The source of harm may be an unintentional exposure, accidental release or loss, theft, misuse, diversion, unauthorized access or intentional unauthorized release.