This just in. The Center for Disease Control has
just declared a state of emergency in Salt Lake City, Utah. Doctors have
yet to determine the cause of the outbreak but victims of the illness
reported having very high fevers followed by a dry cough and runny nose.
A few of the victims developed open sores on
their face and neck and one of them has fallen into a deep coma.
Investigators have discovered that all those that affected all attended
the Utah Jazz – Chicago Bulls basketball game at the Delta Center last
weekend. Authorities have asked that anyone attending that game to
immediately seek medical attention. If you have experienced any of the
symptoms described earlier, please go to the hospital at once.
This is a terrifying, yet probable description
of what an attack by a crazed madman using biological weapons might
sound like. The reality is indeed frightening. A single ounce of Anthrax
released into the central air conditioning system of an indoor stadium
could infect around 80000 spectators within an hour while an aerosol
attack on a densely populated area, such as New York would result in
over 600000 deaths.
There are many factors pointing to
an increase in the use of biological and chemical weapons by terrorists.
The first is the development of a binary weapon. Essentially, this is a
weapon in which the agent is stored as two precursor chemicals that only
need to be combined to form the lethal final product.
Individually, both
precursors are harmless. But when combined, the ensuing chemical
reaction produces a deadly weapon. In this way, some sort of time delay
can be rigged and so the terrorist could be far, far away by the time
the lethal agent is manufactured.
