Background:

the control of transmittable diseases contributes to the illegitimate use of biological agents, initially for war or criminal purposes and currently for terrorist purposes.

Objective:

to describe the problem of the use of biological weapons, its different edges and in its current form for terrorist purposes and the aspects that prohibit its use according to current international regulations.

Methods:

a bibliographic review was made with the bibliographic analysis method with a search conducted between 2000 and 2017, where specialized databases were consulted and 31 scientific publications on the subject were selected.

Development:

an analysis on the issue of biological warfare was made based on the agents used and the threat that constitutes their use, since they cause diseases and cause death by affecting the health of living beings and the environment. They are harmful and include knowledge of science, technology, engineering and involve other areas, such as economics, law, the legal framework that limits or not the obtaining of materials and the psychological aspects of such attacks. The technological advances in Biology and Genetic engineering of recent decades make it possible to modify and create new microorganisms that are more resistant to treatment and in particular in the search for the inoculation of diseases such as cancer. The biodefense is the set of measures for the prevention and action facing a sanitary alert where the use of the biological agents with war aims is implied.

Conclusions:

biological agents are used as weapons to cause damage in circumstances of biological warfare and bioterrorism, as it is potentially the most destructive weapon known to humanity that involves political, economic, scientific-technological, legal and psychological aspects, which is why biodefense protects people and the environment with the use of sanitary measures against above-mentioned agents.

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