Week 1 Response - Smallpox

Bioterrorism is a frightening idea - being attacked at the molecular level. Although frightening, it doesn't scare me much... yet. Just because it doesn't scare me doesn't mean a potential biological attack on the United States could be devastating. It's just if said attack were to happen, the nature of a hypothetical "bioterror" pathogen (at least in my mind) could be the equivalent of opening your mail and getting shot in the face. That is to say it would be unavoidable and deadly until the initial damage has run its course and we find a way to control and fight the pathogen.

Public Health could only be helpful prior to a bioterrorist attack if we have predictions or knowledge about potential methods of delivery or the pathogen in order to teach people how to prevent exposure. Otherwise this potential attack could be anything coming from anywhere, and when you're dealing with microorganisms the possibilities become endless. However post-attack Public Health would become invaluable, because if there is a way to prevent exposure or combat a pathogen, it's one of the best ways to inform people in how to do so.

I said i wasn't scared yet. That's because bioterrorism is a relatively new way of war, and most countries don't have the knowledge or resources to develop a legit biological weapon that is able to cause destruction on the scale of old-fashioned methods (hopefully...).

The resurgence of smallpox would be a concern, but only if we don't have a way to treat a potentially mutated strain. HIV/AIDS is much more dangerous... methods of transmission are "controllable" but there is no cure, and large populations throughout the world are already infected.