Bioworry Sparked by Band Name, Flour

Emergency officials in one Arizona city thought they might have trouble upon discovery of a white powder near writing on a garbage bin seemingly identifying it as anthrax, United Press International reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 25).

Instead, they had flour and graffiti left behind by a fan of the heavy metal band Anthrax.  The anonymous tagger in Safford, Ariz., also expressed his appreciation in writing of hard-rocking bands AC/DC and Iron Maiden.

“We didn’t get the connection with the band Anthrax at first,” said Graham County bioterrorism coordinator Brian Douglas.

Empty flour bags were also discovered in the Dumpster, UPI reported.

“It went from an emergency to a nonemergency, but we decided to test it anyway,” Douglas said.

Tests proved the powder did not carry anthrax, plague, tularemia, pox virus, meliodosis or ricin (United Press International, Dec. 20).

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