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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Selectric II who wrote (6770)	10/22/2001 4:08:07 PM
From: margie	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

During the press conference Debbie ? last name a supervisor from the post office said they were told initially by the CDC and various health departments that it was not possible to get anthrax just by touching an envelope, and they were told that there was no need for testing at the end of last week. However the Post Office employees were concerned and ordered testing themselves, independently, at the end of last week, even tho the CDC or health departments did not recommend it. The Post Office supervisor said the Post Office has just been doing what the CDC and Health Department told them; and was almost apologizing for "someone" saying the last case of inhalational anthrax was in 1978 and there is not much experience dealing with it. <The government's attempt to falsely reassure the public is costing lives> I hope not but with with 30 or so confirmed positive exposures to Anthrax in the Senate last week, apparently from one piece of mail; they might have been suspicious of the post office that processed the envelope, especially after one employee was diagnosed last Friday. And they were only looking for cutaneous. Both cutaneous and inhalational anthrax are caused by the same spores; the disease they get depends on how the spores enter the body. So they should be watching for either type of disease, in all these cases. The mortality is high with inhalational anthrax -over 70% and once the second stage of symptoms develop, it may be too late for treatment. Even cutaneous anthrax has a 20% mortality rate, it is not as innocuous as they are making it out to be. So delays in diagnosis or treatment for those exposed are not good. I don't think the House should have been criticized for leaving. The Senate should have done the same. They knew there was an exposure in the Senate and they should have been told to leave. No need for heroics. Apparently the AMI building was not quarantined till 3 days after Mr. Stevens died; and more were exposed over the weekend. I don't think Thompson has been too truthful from the first case in Florida. At the first press conference Thompson claimed it was most likely an isolated case, from natural causes, as Mr. Stevens was an outdoors type, he had drank from a stream in North Carolina, and it was probably obtained through exposure to that. He neglected to mention that Mr. Stevens lived a few hundred yards from where the terrorists took flying lessons, at Lanata Field. And I think Mr. Stevens rented an apartment to one of the terrorists. And Mr. Stevens’ newspaper published some nasty articles about Bin Laden. Nor could anyone get the story straight with Mr. Blanco, not even his family. they finally said it was inhalational anthrax after several weeks. It is not contagious but anthrax spores are in the air, can be spread in the air and on clothing. After an exposure, the individual, his clothes, and the the environment need to be de-contaminated. For some facts: Anthrax as a Biological Weapon Medical and Public Health Management jama.ama-assn.org "Two Washington Postal Workers Die in Anthrax Scare" peculiar title