Research on the biochemical agent of Anthrax started more than 80 years ago and continues today. Biochemical warfare has been seen since World War II and the most recent event in the United States was in 2001. During World War II Anthrax was a new biochemical warfare weapon that was being tested around …show more content…
This attack happened by letters laced with anthrax spores sent through the United States postal service. The terrorist group associated with the 9/11 attacks used powdered anthrax spores and intentionally placed this toxic material in envelopes. There were 10 confirmed cases of inhaled anthrax during this attack (Jernigan et al. 2001). All 10 patients received medical attention and were ordered to get chest x-rays immediately. People who received the letters and a few postal service mail handler employees were affected by this attack and had exposure to the bacteria. These letters killed 5 citizens and injected 22 others (Kau et al. 2009). The powdered anthrax spores that were used during the 9/11 terrorist attack were a serious and expensive warfare tactic. Airborne anthrax is a difficult agent that takes serval years to design and experiment with. Airborne anthrax must be in a perfect clumpless states and many factors must apply to create it. These factors include high weapon grade bacteria, high concentration of spores, uniform pattern and size of spores, and a low electrical charge. Even though this process is time consuming and tough many military officials believe terrorist groups have it readily available. (Sarasin,