Sociology

Anthrax history 
In history, major conflicts have taken place in which a lot of lives and property has been lost. All the parties that are usually involved in war attempt to make use of anything that might give them more advantage over their opponents.  One of the elements that have been used as a weapon is the bacteria that cause anthrax. It is quite effective since once an individual contract the disease, he or she must eventually die and infect other people. As a biological weapon, anthrax ensures that the opponents cause deaths among themselves and thus the side that introduced the weapon will not employ a lot of resources in defeating the enemy. The application of anthrax as a biological weapon initially had a small origin and it came to light only recently. Since 1880s, it has been well known that the disease is caused by some bacteria that grow well producing spores which are very resistant and capable of surviving for several years. When the Second World War was coming to an end, the intelligence services of Germany attempted exploiting the properties that were found in the organism so that it could be used as a weapon (Fong  Alibek, 2005).

Recent anthrax attacks 
The use of anthrax as a biological weapon resurfaced during the regime of the former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. It was believed that he was manufacturing several biological weapons whereby anthrax was one of them. The anthrax factor in the Saddams weapons that were believed to cause mass destruction set a very dangerous war ground in which millions of people could have been infected with the bacteria (Fidler  Gostin, 2008).

In the year 2001, the United States was attacked by anthrax which the FBI was swift at calling it Amerithrax. The attack took place in many weeks starting from 18th September 2001. Letters which had spores of anthrax were mailed to various offices of new media and two democratic senators of the United States. As a result of the attack, five people died while seventeen others were infected with the deadly disease. However, according to a study that was carried out in 2004, it revealed out that close to seventy people were harmed by the 2001 anthrax attack in US. The chief suspect behind the attack was not identified publicly until in the year 2008. The FBI narrowed its investigations on the matter in mid of 2008 and focused more on Ivins who was a scientist working in the bio defense labs of the government (Fidler  Gostin, 2008).  

Signs and symptoms of anthrax 
The symptoms and signs of anthrax take more than one week before they are noticeable after one is exposed to the bacteria that causes the disease. This is a long time that makes the bacteria fully grow and develop in ones body. By the time the symptoms and signs of the disease are evident, it is usually too late since the disease will have manifested itself properly in its host. The long duration taken before one notice that he or she is suffering from the disease makes anthrax to be an ideal biological weapon that can effectively be used to weaken the enemys side. In addition, the symptoms and signs of anthrax closely resemble those of flu. As a result, people infected with the disease are reluctant to seek proper medical care since to them, the disease they are suffering from is flu. Thus, before such people can deem it fit to seek good medication, it is usually too late making the disease to claim very many lives. If the symptoms and signs of anthrax are clear right from the beginning, then probably the disease could not be an ideal candidate to be used as a weapon (Fong  Alibek, 2005).

The symptoms and signs of anthrax include nausea, vomiting that is usually bloody as the disease grows in ones body, fever, loss of appetite, severe diarrhea that is bloody, sore throat that makes it difficulty for one to swallow food, a swollen neck, shock and difficulties in breathing. All these symptoms and signs of anthrax make the victim to be very weak and incapable of performing any particular duty effectively especially in cases where strength is required. Since the disease is highly infectious, a great number of people eventually suffer from the disease making the side of the opponent infected with the disease to have an acute shortage of people that can actively participate in the war. When making a decision as to which weapon to use, the choice of anthrax is inevitable since it is easy to use and it is quite effective (Fidler  Gostin, 2008).

Treatment and pathogenesis of anthrax
Despite the fact that vaccination against anthrax can be an effective and a safe way of ensuring that one does not contract the disease, it is possible to make use of the loopholes that exists in the vaccination against anthrax. In the real world, not everyone responds positively to anthrax vaccination and therefore a population cannot be protected one hundred percent from the disease. It is also practically not possible for everyone within a certain population especially during the period of conflicts to be vaccinated against anthrax. This is due to the fact that during such a time, people tend to concentrate more on the conflict itself rather than such things as biological weapons that might be used against them. It is also quite expensive to vaccinate everyone within a given population against anthrax. If at all everyone will have to be vaccinated against the disease, then the amount of resources that would be employed would be enormous and very few societies around the world can afford to immunize all their people against the disease (Paris, 2002).

The infection of anthrax starts once spores gain access via the skin that is non-intact, through mucosal membranes or via inhalation. The bacterium that causes the disease propagates and produces the edema together with toxins that are lethal, which impairs the functioning of the white blood cells of the infected person. This leads to pathological findings that are distinctive death of tissues, decrease in white blood cells and edema hemorrhage. Anthrax spores inhalation is absorbed in the membrane of alveolar. This membrane transports these spores to the lymph nodes of regional tracheobronchial, where germination takes place. The pathogenesis of anthrax takes place in such a manner that the victim of the bacteria cannot be in a position to prevent it from taking place. Furthermore, during the initial stages of anthrax development, it is very difficulty for the victim or any other person to detect with high accuracy that he or she has already been attacked by the bacteria. The implication of this is that the victim will take much longer before he or she can think of combating the disease and thus will be affected more severely. The pathogenesis of anthrax thus makes the disease to be an ideal weapon to be used during war time. This is because before the infected side notices that it has already been invaded by the disease, it will have almost if not completely lost the battle (Cordesman, 2002).

Anthrax is usually very swift at disarming the immune system of the body sentinels, thus impairing their capacity of defending the body against bioterrorism agent that is potentially lethal. Anthrax is very effective in weakening the immune system of the body making the body very ineffective in fighting other diseases. Once the white blood cells are reduced and weakened by the bacterium that causes anthrax, then the body becomes very weak and very vulnerable to any other disease that might attack the victim. Due to the fact that anthrax weakens the immune system of the body, it can therefore be used as a weapon since once the enemy side is attacked with these spores, then their survival chances are highly reduced and so are their winning chances. Therefore, using anthrax as a weapon against the enemy is almost a sure way of winning the battle since the enemy will not even be able to defend himself from small ailments, leave alone the bullet of the enemy (Paris, 2002).

Antidotes refer to a substance that can be used in counteracting poisoning. In order to reduce the effects of anthrax, some toxins need to be manufactured that can then be injected into the body of the victim so as to reduce the severity of the disease. In some incurable diseases, antinodes have proven to be very effective as the disease is made weaker and thus the victim can regain his or her health once more. However, antinodes are not always effective in reducing the severity of such diseases. Anthrax is one of the diseases whereby an antidote is yet to be developed. This therefore means that the dire consequences of anthrax cannot be counteracted by the use of an antidote. As a result, the disease can be used as a weapon to fight ones enemy since you are sure that there is no antidote that will be used on the victims in order to save them from the disease. Anthrax is therefore a good candidate to choose when making decisions as to which weapons to use in a conflict (Hsin, 2003).

Anthrax is curable if it is diagnosed quite early. During the early stages of anthrax infection, one can easily be treated by the use of antibiotics. However, people that are infected with the bacterium that causes anthrax in most cases confuse the early symptoms of anthrax with other infections that are more common and are thus reluctant at seeking any medical assistance. They only do so in later stages of the disease when it is much more advanced. Unfortunately, by then, the toxins that are destructive, will have already have risen to very high levels, thus making treatment of anthrax very difficult. The general delay in seeking treatment of the disease at an early stage makes it to be an ideal weapon to be used in case of a conflict since the enemies will die without being attacked directly by the opponent (Fidler  Gostin, 2008).

The application of anthrax as biological weapon 
Anthrax can be a very ideal candidate to be used as a weapon this is because it is a disease that is very acute affecting both animals and human beings. Once anthrax is used as a biological weapon, which affects the health of the fighters from the other side, then the enemys force is greatly weakened. For people to be able to fight effectively they have to be strong physically, otherwise they will be easily conquered. Livestock are greatly affected by anthrax and causing a lot of deaths on them. Meat or any other product from animals that have been infected by anthrax is highly poisonous once consumed by humans. Therefore, by using anthrax as a biological weapon, basically means that the food reserve of the enemy is substantially reduced since all their cattle and other livestock cannot be consumed and if consumed, then they will cause a lot of human deaths. Sufficient food reserves are very important during a battle since starving people cannot be in a position to fight effectively in war and eventually win. Instead, they are easily fought and conquered by the stronger enemy (Cordesman, 2002).

During periods of war, a lot of resources require to be employed in purchasing various weapons to be used during the conflict as well as for maintaining the military personnel that are involved either directly or indirectly in the conflict. However, when a biological weapon such as anthrax is used by one side in a battle, it compels the other side of the conflict to employ more resources on combating the disease as opposed to fighting the opponent. The introduction of a disease such as anthrax as a weapon thus weakens the enemy making it easier to conquer him. Anthrax introduction also shifts the focus of the side where it has been introduced. Instead of concentrating fully on fighting the enemy, the side of the conflict that has been infected by the disease is forced to divide its concentration between the disease and the enemy and hence it becomes more vulnerable to attacks and eventual defeat (Hsin, 2003).

Anthrax is an ideal candidate to be used as a weapon due to the numerous benefits it has on affecting individuals as well as their livelihoods. Its microbiology enables it to spread rather fast making it possible for many people to be infected with the disease within a short period of time. Its symptoms and signs are not very unique from those of other common ailments such as flu, this makes people suffering from the disease to be reluctant in search of medication and thus increase the severity of the disease. Once an individual is infected with the disease his or her immune system is severely weakened thus making such people to be more vulnerable to other diseases thus significantly lowering their rate of survival.  It is also very difficult to vaccinate everyone within a certain population against the disease and again not everyone responds positively to anthrax vaccination. All the major characteristics of anthrax such as its symptoms and signs, pathogenesis, immunology, response to vaccines, treatments and antidotes make it ideal to be used as a biological weapon.