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The Dangers Of Bioterrorism

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Bioterrorism
Over the past decades, America and many other countries around the world have been and continue to be the subjects of various incidents and threats of terrorism; therefore one cannot ignore bioterrorism. A topic that is becoming more and more of a widespread concern as it captions the attention of many legislations and governments. Bioterrorism is a terrorist act that is characterized by the release or use of biological agents with the intent of causing illnesses or death to people, plants and animals. Such agents can be commonly found in nature; however, when used as bioterrorism agents, they are genetically altered making them resistant to current medicines and more likely to spread into environments such as air, water and even …show more content…
Because of the incubation period of these organisms, the impact of a biological attack is usually not immediate (Veenema, 2003). The CDC and their disease surveillance system work to detect any unusual patterns of disease, notify the local or federal levels in order to respond efficiently using the knowledge and the resources available; cooperation from the public and other health agencies is needed. A process that must be completely in a timely matter, as it allows the healthcare professionals involved to provide effective treatment and minimize the transmission of the pathogen as these attacks are often unpredicted. Until patients start to arrive at the Emergency Department (ED) and doctors’ offices, detection and identification of a biological agent cannot happen; at times, even with patients in the ED, one cannot identify a bioterrorism attack as the symptoms are flu like …show more content…
It is a continuous process for nurses to become better prepared to identify and response to bioterrorism attack. Regardless of their education level, expertise’ areas or settings, nurses should participate in educational session that will engage them in the bioterrorism preparedness process. Nursing bioterrorism preparedness is essential as it will facilitate nurses to gain knowledge, plan and practice response behaviors in order to evaluate their knowledge level of the response

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