Biological Warfare

Biological Warfare Questions and Answers

What measures should be taken in order to minimize the risk of a biological weapons attack? This can be directed in two ways: minimizing the risk associated with acquiring these weapons and on the other hand, minimizing the risks of a potential release of these weapons, if acquisition is successful.

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Which of the following threats poses the greatest threat to human health and security in the near future and why?  The deliberate or accidental release of a biological warfare agent by a state power, the deliberate use of BW agents by nonstate actors in an act of terrorism, or the emergence of a dangerous new form of communicable disease.

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What factors are taken into account when a state power decides whether or not to release Biological Weapons on an enemy or population?

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Why would the emergence of a new natural and communicable disease be the greatest threat to human health and security in the near-future, when compared to a human attack with bio-weapons?    

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What difficulties do non-state actors (i.e terrorist groups) face when they attempt to effectively acquire and disseminate biological weapons? Terrorist groups often have limited resources: So would a few difficulties include: lack of sufficient technical and scientific knowledge to effectively produce, weaponize, and disseminate a lethal strain of a virus, along with other operational, and organizational deficiencies?  

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