Logistics and Security

LOG 401 Module 4 – Case #4

Case Assignment

Based upon your reading of the Background materials, and your own additional research, prepare an essay discussing the use of infectious disease as a weapon of international terror.  You should address the following questions: 

·         What are the advantages and disadvantages of microbes, vis-à-vis destructive “hardware” such as guns and bombs?

·         What would be the characteristics of an ideal “weapon bug?”  Things to consider:

o    Vector (i.e., carried by people, animals, in foodstuff, on other goods?)

o    Lethality

o    Transmissibility (ease with which it is spread)

o    Mode of transmission (airborne, direct contact, indirect contact)

o    Arrival mode (airplane, ship, on foot)

o    Based upon the above, select an organism. Explain your selection.

o    Describe the most effective countermeasures. 

o    What precautions, if any, should logistics companies take, in addition to those prescribed by government regulation?  Explain.

REFERENCES

Fidler, D. (2006).  International law, infectious diseases, and globalization. (Appendix B: The impact of globalization on infectious disease emergence and control:  Exploring the consequences and opportunities. US Institute of Medicine.)  Retrieved on 19 March 2015 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56586/ *

Hadal, R. (2010).  People crossing borders: An analysis of U.S. border protection policies,
Congressional Research Service, retrieved from http://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R41237.pdf

IM (2010).  Infectious disease movement in a borderless world (Institute of Medicine Workshop).  Retrieved on 21 March 2015 from http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12758/infectious-disease-movement-in-a-borderless-world-workshop-summary*

Khosla, S. (2014).  The planet’s deadliest infectious diseases, by country (Salon.com., Nov. 1)  Retrieved on 21 March 2015 from   http://www.salon.com/2014/11/01/the_planets_deadliest_infectious_diseases_by_country_partner/