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Biological warfare (BW)—also known as germ warfare—is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons are living organisms or replicating entities. Entomological (insect) warfare is a subtype of BW.
Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attacks and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation and recovery. Programs of this sort were initially discussed at least as early as the 1920s and were implemented in some countries during the 1930s as the threat of war and aerial bombardment grew. It became widespread after the threat of nuclear weapons was realized.
Biodefense refers to measures to restore biosecurity to a group of organisms who are, or may be, subject to biological threats or infectious diseases. Biodefense is frequently discussed in the context of biowar or bioterrorism, and is generally considered a military or emergency response term.
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous humans or cause great damage to human-made structures, natural structures, or the biosphere. The scope and usage of the term has evolved and been disputed, often signifying more politically than technically. Originally coined in reference to aerial bombing with chemical explosives during World War II, it has later come to refer to large-scale weaponry of other technologies, such as chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear warfare.
Iraq actively researched and later employed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) from 1962 to 1991, when it destroyed its chemical weapons stockpile and halted its biological and nuclear weapon programs as required by the United Nations Security Council. The fifth President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, was internationally condemned for his use of chemical weapons during the 1980s campaign against Iranian and Kurdish civilians during and after the Iran–Iraq War. In the 1980s, Saddam pursued an extensive biological weapons program and a nuclear weapons program, though no nuclear bomb was built. After the Persian Gulf War (1990–1991), the United Nations located and destroyed large quantities of Iraqi chemical weapons and related equipment and materials; Iraq ceased its chemical, biological and nuclear programs.
The Iraq Survey Group (ISG) was a fact-finding mission sent by the multinational force in Iraq after the 2003 invasion of Iraq to find the weapons of mass destruction alleged to be possessed by Iraq that had been the main ostensible reason for the invasion. Its final report, Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence on Iraq WMD, was submitted to Congress and the president in 2004. It consisted of a 1,400-member international team organized by the Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency to hunt for the alleged stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological agents, and any supporting research programs and infrastructure that could be used to develop WMD. The report acknowledged that only small stockpiles of chemical WMDs were found, the numbers being inadequate to pose a militarily significant threat.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is an agency within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and is the official Combat Support Agency for countering weapons of mass destruction. According to the agency's Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2018 to 2022, the DTRA mission "enables DoD and the U.S. Government to prepare for and combat weapons of mass destruction and improvised threats and to ensure nuclear deterrence." The agency is headquartered in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
An NBC suit, also called a chemsuit or chem suit or chemical suit is a type of military personal protective equipment. NBC suits are designed to provide protection against direct contact with and contamination by radioactive, biological or chemical substances, and provide protection from contamination with radioactive materials and some types of radiation, depending on the design. They are generally designed to be worn for extended periods to allow the wearer to fight while under threat of or under actual nuclear, biological, or chemical attack. The civilian equivalent is the hazmat suit. The term NBC has been replaced by CBRN, with the addition of a new threat, radiological, meaning radiological weapon.
Urban Search and Rescue California Task Force 1 or CA-TF1 is a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force based in Los Angeles, California and sponsored by the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The European Commissioner for Crisis Management is a member of the European Commission. The portfolio was previously titled Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection. The post is currently held by Janez Lenarčič.
This article deals with activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, specifically dealing with arms control, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and weapons proliferation. It attempts to look at the process of tasking and analyzing, rather than the problem itself, other than whether the CIA's efforts match its legal mandate or assists in treaty compliance. In some cases, the details of a country's programs are introduced because they present a problem in analysis. For example, if Country X's policymakers truly believe in certain history that may not actually be factual, an analyst trying to understand Country X's policymakers needs to be able to understand their approach to an issue.
The Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) is the only U.S. federal facility chartered to provide comprehensive preparedness training programs to the nation's emergency response providers. The facility provides all-hazards training to approximately 50,000 emergency responders annually, or a total of 1.1 million responders since its inception in 1998. Trainees hail from state, local, tribal, territorial, and federal governments, as well as private entities. Training for state, local, tribal, and territorial governments are entirely funded by the United States Department of Homeland Security, whereas responders for foreign federal governments and private entities may be trained on a fee-for-service basis.
Presidential Decision Directive 62 (PDD-62), titled Combating Terrorism, was a Presidential Decision Directive (PDD), signed on May 22, 1998 by President Bill Clinton. It identified the fight against terrorism a top national security priority.
A Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team supports civil authorities in the event of the use, or threatened use, of a weapon of mass destruction. CSTs are federally funded units established under Presidential Decision Directive 39. There are 57 National Guard and one Army Reserve full-time teams: one in every U.S. state, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Germany, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands with an additional team each in California, Florida, and New York.
The Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (WMDC) is established on an initiative by the late Foreign Minister of Sweden, Anna Lindh, acting on a proposal by then United Nations Under-Secretary-General Jayantha Dhanapala. The Swedish Government invited Hans Blix to set up and chair the Commission. He presented the composition of the Commission to the public on 16 December 2003 and explained what he saw were major tasks for it.
Biosecurity in the United States is governed by the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, which is part of the US Department of State. It obtains guidance and advice on specific matters relating to biosecurity from various other government agencies.
Operations Plus WMD is a training level in dealing with hazardous materials.
The Emergency Management (EM) career field is the United States Air Force's (USAF) primary organization responsible for implementing an installation-level EM program. Emergency Managers, also known by the Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) 3E9X1, are the Air Force's subject matter experts for all non-medical Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) passive defense and consequence management matters.
During wartime operations, 3E9X1s are assigned to CBRN reconnaissance teams responsible for detecting, identifying, quantifying, and collecting CBRN material ensuring mission continuation and force survivability.
John ("Jack") Payne Woodall (1935–2016) was a British/American entomologist and virologist who made significant contributions to the study of arboviruses in South America, the Caribbean and Africa. He did research on the causative agents of dengue fever, Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever, o'nyong'nyong fever, yellow fever, Zika fever, and others. He served as a staff member of the Rockefeller Foundation, and director of the Foundation's laboratory in Brazil, as a research fellow at the Yale Arbovirus Research Unit, was head of the Arbovirus Laboratory for the New York State Health Department, and worked for the Centers for Disease Control. Woodall spent 13 years at the World Health Organization developing and evaluating health programs. After retirement in 2007, he continued as a consultant and professor at the Institute of Medical Biochemistry in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he had worked since 1998. In 1994, he cofounded the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED-mail). Woodall's emails concluded with a quote from the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, "God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I'm so far behind I will never die."
Prof. Robert Steffen is an Emeritus Professor at the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Switzerland and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Public in Houston, U.S.A, and he is an Editor of the Journal of Travel Medicine.
References
- ↑ Steffen, R; Mellin, J; Woodall, JP; Rollin, PE; Lang, RH; Lüthy, R; Waldvogel, A (March 1997). "Preparation for emergency relief after biological warfare". The Journal of Infection. 34 (2): 127–32. doi:10.1016/s0163-4453(97)92433-6. PMID 9138135.
- ↑ "EU launches medical emergency corps". Yahoo News. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
