Experts say that the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic have highlighted the potential threat from biological terrorism to Western countries.
Although not 100% conclusive, overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that the novel virus jumped from animals to humans by accident rather than being accidentally released from a lab or deliberately engineered.
Yet there are still significant concerns that Western countries are at risk of engineered pandemics or bioweapons, and claims that the security measures of the U.S. and its allies are not keeping up with the science.
Experts say that the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic have highlighted the potential threat from biological terrorism to Western countries. Pictured above, a patient is loaded into an ambulance in New York
The coronavirus pandemic has sparked security concerns for the U.S. and its allies. Pictured above, Defense Secretary Mark Esper
The dire health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic could be encouraging to terrorists, former U.S. and UK officials have warned. Pictured above, healthcare workers in New York City place a nasal swab from a patient into a tube for testing
The pandemic has highlighted how under-prepared even developed nations are for a global health crisis, with a lack of personal protective equipment and health care infrastructure, coupled with the difficulties of finding an effective treatment.
The dire health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic could give a ‘green light’ to terrorists, former U.S. and UK officials have told NBC News.
Assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Robert Kadlec told the news outlet: ‘Many of the very worst-case characteristics of an intentional event are also being seen in this naturally occurring pandemic.’
Assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Robert Kadlec told the news outlet: ‘Many of the very worst-case characteristics of an intentional event are also being seen in this naturally occurring pandemic.’
The former head of the UK government’s National Counter Terrorism Security Office, Chris Phillips has visited many of Britain’s university-operated or privately administered laboratories and had concerns that an insider could obtain a bioweapon.
‘If you were a hardened terrorist and had worked in a lab for years, you would know how to do it,’ he said, adding that the coronavirus crisis has proven that you ‘can never be secure enough.’
Modern gene-technology means that scientists are able to mutate and reconstruct viruses, enabling the creation of dangerous pathogens in a laboratory.
Dr. Asha George, a public health specialist who heads up the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, believes there is insufficient security in place to protect against havoc-wreaking pathogens, whether naturally-occurring or engineered.
George testified in front of Congress last year that the U.S. needed to upgrade its security measures to accommodate the threat from bio-terrorism.
Dr. Asha George, a public health specialist who heads up the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, believes there is insufficient security in place to protect against havoc-wreaking pathogens, whether naturally-occurring or engineered. Pictured above, Trump speaks during a National Nurses Day event at the Oval Office amid the coronavirus pandemic
The pandemic has highlighted how under-prepared even developed nations are for a global health crisis, with a lack of personal protective equipment and health care infrastructure, coupled with the difficulties of finding an effective treatment for the illness. Pictured above, a temporary field hospital at the Walter E. Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
Richard Pilch of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies speculated to Axios that a state actor like North Korea or a terrorist organization could see the devastation caused by the coronavirus and be ‘influenced by Covid-19 to consider pursuing a biological weapons capability.’
‘Potential adversaries are of course seeing the same things we’re seeing,’ he said.
Meanwhile the Pentagon and the intelligence community are reportedly investigating whether the coronavirus could be used as a bioweapon.
The US Defense Department, overseen by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, recently started investing resources into investigating if hostile actors could weaponize the pandemic, sources familiar with the situation told Politico.