Biological and Chemical warfare is one of the most dreaded forms of attack on the battlefield. We have used technology to save many lives by curing diseases and vaccinating against viruses, but it seems that whenever we have a breakthrough in science, there is an ever-present danger of a form of weapon resulting from the discovery. Biological Warfare is defined as bacteria, viruses, fungi or rickettsia, which are used in wartime to cause disease or death in people. Fermentation can be used to produce other bacterial agents as anthrax, brucellosis, cholera, meloidosis, plague, q fever, or tularemia. Other viral agents are smallpox, cimean congo HF, and rift valley fever. It seems like a contradiction. Doctors work hard to find cures and vaccinations for the various diseases and viruses that plague our population. On the other side of the coin, however, there are people that would use disease as a weapon. They not only use the sort of disease that nature provides, but try to create more effective and horrific manmade diseases. .
Biological weapons, as opposed to chemical weapons, are effective with a relatively small quantity of agent. However, most of these agents have a limited shelf life, as their activity is continually declining. Most biological agents are dispersed in aerosol form. They can be sprayed from a small cylinder with compressed air, spread by guided missiles, dispersed as a powder from aircraft, or used in a cluster of bombs. The danger is the potential for these biological agents, if successful in infecting a population, can be spread quickly. To cause an epidemic, an enemy would select a highly contagious virus or bacteria. They would decide whether to use an extremely lethal agent or one that would temporarily incapacitate a population or army to weaken defenses. Most biological weapons are influenza viruses or pneumonic plague bacillus. These meet the requirement of being highly contagious by human contact.
