Bill Gates Says, The damage could “reach untold magnitude” if we don’t act fast.
As a businessman, Gates’ approach to solving the world’s problems consistently focused on maximizing profits through toxic methods such as chemical agriculture, genetically modified organisms, and pharmaceutical drugs.
In a TED Talk in 2015, Gates warned that a pandemic was only a matter of when, not if, and that the world was not prepared to deal with it. Lately, his warnings have centred on another growing threat to global security: bioterrorism.
In a recent interview with the BBC, British journalist Amol Rajan asked Gates what was in his view the big future threat facing humanity that we were not thinking about enough.
Because we were starting “to think enough about climate change,” Gates replied, the answer was “bioterror, which is really awful”.
According to INTERPOL, Bioterrorism is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, toxins or other harmful agents to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants.
- Bill Gates recently told BBC that bioterrorism is a future threat we aren’t thinking enough about.
- Interpol says the threat from bioterrorism is real and that criminals now have the capability to harm society.
- The CDC believes anthrax could be the most likely weapon.
Bill Gates is sounding an alarm that hasn’t been ringing loud enough: the looming threat of bioterrorism.
In a recent BBC interview, Gates says that since we’ve started to think about climate change, “bioterror, which is really awful,” is the next thing to ward off, even if doing that is a bit ambiguous.
“Bioterror is a little harder to defend against,” Gates tells BBC, “because whoever’s trying to do it is [doing it] consciously and understands your defense system, so they can be trying to design around them.”
Interpol seems to agree. “The threat from bioterrorism is real, with current reports indicating that individuals, terrorist groups and criminals have both the capability and intention to use biological agents to cause harm to society,” the organization writes.
And with the increased knowledge and data, Interpol says the “damage caused by such an event could reach untold magnitude, causing widespread illness and death, and instilling fear and panic on a global scale.” That’s comforting.
The threat of anthrax attacks
Interpol says there is sufficient information available to indicate that some individuals and terrorist groups have the capability and intent to use biological agents to cause harm to society.
The international police organisation has even developed an operational manual for investigating potential biological and chemical terrorism on the dark web, to help intelligence officers and investigators worldwide.
While a biological or toxic agent will presumably spread unexpectedly, the effective response to a biological event depends on the coordination of several actor sectors, says Interpol. “Structured prevention, preparedness and response strategies are therefore essential”.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that if a bioterrorist attack were to happen, it would most likely involve the bacteria causing anthrax, a disease that can make humans and animals seriously ill.
Symptoms vary depending on how the bacteria enters the body – typically through the skin, lungs, or gastrointestinal system – which also determines the type of the disease.
Bill Gates spoke in conversation with Executive Director Michael Fullilove about global challenges. Watch this video at the time stamp 11:00
Source: Popular Mechanics, Euronews