Anthrax:  Maryland Pond Search Turns Up No New Evidence

Law enforcement sources have said that soil samples taken from a pond near Frederick, Md., which the FBI drained as part of its investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks, tested negative for anthrax, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, July 3).

The FBI spent three weeks and $250,000 to drain the pond, where agents had earlier recovered pieces of laboratory equipment (see GSN, June 30).  However, the operation revealed only discarded items, such as a gun and a bicycle, that appear to be unrelated to the anthrax attacks, sources said.

“Clearly there were no home runs,” a law enforcement source said.

Investigators are now focusing on working with scientists to determine the genetic code of the anthrax used in the attacks in an attempt to link it to a specific laboratory, law enforcement sources said.  In addition, investigators are also reinterviewing people, the Post reported (Lengel/Gugliotta, Washington Post, Aug. 1).

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U.S. Response:  Report Says Laboratories Unprepared for Chemical Attack

By David McGlinchey
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — U.S. laboratories are not prepared to analyze or respond to a chemical weapons attack, the Association of Public Health Laboratories announced today.

If terrorists attacked using dangerous chemical agents, laboratories would not be prepared to test environmental samples and provide crucial information on contaminated areas, according to an APHL report.  While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has taken steps to test victims in a chemical attack, environmental testing has lagged, the association says.

“State public health laboratories will be left in the lurch if the homeland were attacked today,” according to the report.

“Suppose a terrorist attacks an arena in Phoenix with a chemical weapon,” APHL Executive Director Scott Becker said, “doctors and patients’ families are clamoring for rapid identification of the agent, but the laboratory director has to send samples to a high-security laboratory on the other side of the country.  It’s the best he can do.”

Last month, the Trust for America’s Health released a similar report that said the U.S. public health system was “woefully unprepared” to deal with a terrorist attack.  That report faulted the analytical capacity of U.S. laboratories (see GSN, June 4).

Safety Concerns, Personnel Shortages

The APHL report also noted that laboratory employees could be subjected to unsafe working conditions.

“Those who weathered the anthrax attacks [of 2001] understand the consequences of accepting samples that are meant to harm … At this time, public health laboratories are being asked to evaluate chemical terrorism threats, but are not equipped to do so safely,” the report says.

Echoing a common complaint, the association said the nation’s public health infrastructure is underfunded and that an attack would stretch already scarce resources.

“There is simply no reserve workforce available to help states cope with chemical testing in the aftermath of a terrorist attack,” according to the report.

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Anthrax:  Antibiotic Treatment Might Need to Be Extended, Researchers Say

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found that people exposed to high levels of anthrax spores may need to take antibiotics for longer than the 60-day period now recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, July 28).

Those exposed to high levels of anthrax spores may need to take antibiotics for up to four months, according to a study published yesterday in the online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  The researchers came to their conclusion using a mathematical model they developed to determine the germination time for anthrax spores in the lungs and the time needed for antibiotics to eliminate them (Associated Press/Washington Post, July 29).

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Anthrax:  White House Orders NIH to Research New Vaccine Without Additional Funding

The White House has told the U.S. National Institutes of Health that it must conduct research on a next-generation anthrax vaccine without additional funding, Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday (see GSN, July 11).

Funding for the vaccine project was not included in the $1.75 billion allocated for biological defense research in 2003 and 2004, according to Newsday.  The project marks the first time in NIH history that the agency has been ordered to conduct a specific research project and reallocate funds from other projects to carry it out, Fauci said.

To make up for the lack of allocated funding for the vaccine project, hundreds of scientists have seen their research grants become reduced, Newsday reported.  For example, many four-year grants have been reduced by six months.

“We’re not happy about it, but we tried to do what was least painful,” Fauci said (Laurie Garret, Newsday, July 28).

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