The Terrorist Threat

Biological threats/weapons are described as living organisms with an ability of infecting and leading to both death and sickness in plants, animals and people. "Toxins, bacteria, parasites, viruses, fungi and yeasts, Chlamydia and rickettsia, and prions are the kinds of biological agents" (Campbell & Smith, 2008).  However out of the aforementioned, only three agents: toxins, bacteria and viruses are regarded as agents that can be utilized for biological attack. Toxins are regarded as biological agents albeit they are not living organs. These biological agents can be spread through fomites, food or water, as aerosols suspended in dry or wet formulations, or vectors like insects. The use of these biological agents or the threat is referred to as bioterrorism.

According to Campbell & Smith (2008), the city of Atlanta has time and again been one of the major target areas for tourism activities or been used as a base to stage terrorism activities. This is because Atlanta has the busiest airport in the world; Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport. This is in terms of landings number, take-offs and passenger traffic since 1999. The high traffic activities and interaction of people around the airport has increased the chances of risk of attack within the region. The airport has been used as an entry point for terrorists together with their weapons into America.

Consequently, the city of Atlanta is not only susceptible to threats of biological weapons attack but to all others forms of terrorism because of the high number of people passing through the city from different parts of the world. Even though, the cases of this nature have not been reported recently, officers within the region have been trained to be vigilant always to deal with any situation as far as terrorism is concerned (Ryan, 2009).

To sum up the whole discussion, it is very important to note that the presence of Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport has put the city at risk of terrorism activities. More than 20, 000 passengers are checked by anti-terrorism officers daily to stop the act.