By Mary Kugler, BSN, RN
Guide to Rare/Orphan Diseases
Poison gas and other chemical weapons have usually involved troops in battle. However, in 1988 the Iraqi military, under President Saddam Hussein, dropped canisters of gas on the Iraqi Kurdish population in many different locations. Some towns, like Halabja, were hard hit--5,000 people there died immediately, and many more have died since. The exact ingredients in the chemical cocktail used are not known, but the aftermath has recently been examined in a medical survey of the region. The researchers discovered that rare cancers like esophageal cancer are occurring at high rates, as are birth defects, says U.S. News & World Report (November 27, 2000).

These gas attacks on the Kurds were outright attempts at repression, perhaps even genocide. But what if a government or terrorist organization wanted to unleash a silent killer, something that would be difficult to trace and would generate fear and panic in the targeted people? The (unfortunately) easy way to accomplish this would be through the use of deadly infectious diseases. These "biologic weapons" are inexpensive, and are easy to obtain, produce, deliver, and conceal.