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Anthrax: Spores Came From Domestic Source, White House Says The anthrax spores sent in several tainted letters probably came from a U.S. source, the Bush administration said yesterday, but a U.S. Army spokesman said the powder certainly did not come from Ft. Detrick in Maryland (see GSN, Dec. 17). Meanwhile, federal health officials said yesterday that workers at high risk to anthrax exposure, such as those at the U.S. Capitol, should be inoculated with the anthrax vaccine. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the administration’s belief that the spores came from a domestic source is based on “scientific means.” The U.S. Army said earlier this week that the Ames strain spores used in the letters exactly matched those the Army produced in small amounts for testing purposes. U.S. and British investigators have questioned researchers at laboratories where the Ames strain is stored, according to the Los Angeles Times. Subpoenas also have been issued for records of employees and visitors to the facilities in recent years. Some scientists, however, wonder if the investigators’ list of facilities is extensive enough, the Times reported. Previously, anthrax strains and other microbes could be sent from laboratory to laboratory with few records kept. “You’d get to know someone doing research and say, ‘Can I have selection of what you’ve got?’ and it turned up in the mail,” one anthrax researcher said (Megan Garvey, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 18). DOE Laboratory Illegally Obtains Anthrax Samples An Energy Department laboratory illegally received live anthrax samples from a U.S. university in late October, Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said yesterday. The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) “requested, received, and used virulent anthrax it was not authorized to possess,” Markey said. LANL received the anthrax from Northern Arizona University on Oct. 26, but did not report the shipment for more than a month, Markey said. He added that the laboratory was not authorized to work with virulent anthrax. The Energy Department had no comment (Gwen Robinson, Financial Times, Dec. 18). Army Has Its Doubts The scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases did not have the equipment or ability to make the kind of anthrax found in the tainted letters, Maj. Gen. John Parker, head of the facility, said yesterday. Parker made the statement in response to charges that the spores used in the letters were a genetic match with those used at USAMRIID and five other labs that received their samples from the facility, according to the Associated Press. Scientists at the Army facility grew the Ames strain for experiments that used a liquid form of the bacteria, and they never made the dry powder form, Parker said. “We don’t have that capability here nor do we have the scientists who know how to do that,” he said. “I can’t give credibility to others who say they would have had to have been in our program.” Parker said he doubted that a trained scientist would be responsible for the mailed anthrax. “This person is a criminal,” Parker said. “They have to be of the ilk of a terrorist. I don’t think they can be logical thinkers” (David Dishneau, Associated Press, Dec. 18). New Tests May Help Determine Source While previous testing showed that the anthrax sent in the letters was of the Ames strain, new, more refined testing methods may be able to more accurately determine where the anthrax originated, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Scientists are conducting the new tests at the Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, Md., a not-for-profit laboratory founded by human genome decoder Craig Venter. At the institute, investigators are attempting to find and catalog thousands of tiny genetic mutations, called single nucleotide polymorphisms, within the anthrax genome. These small changes occur as the cells of anthrax bacteria mutate, the Journal reported. Finding and identifying these differences could help investigators determine which of the existing anthrax stockpiles most closely resemble the mailed spores, according to the Journal. “The sophisticated tests aren’t done yet,” said an FBI agent. “There haven’t been any conclusions.” It is unknown whether investigators have taken anthrax samples from facilities known to have a supply, the Journal reported. A collection of samples would be needed in order to find a precise match. Institute scientists plan to find the polymorphisms by comparing two complete versions of the anthrax genome already mapped out. “It’s a pretty new field,” said David Alland, a researcher at the institute. “But we think these changes in the DNA provide a good way to identify a strain and even to understand its genealogy” (Regaldo/Fields, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 18). Vaccine Urged as Post-Exposure Treatment Federal health officials yesterday advised workers at the U.S. Capitol to get inoculated with the unlicensed anthrax vaccine to prevent against developing anthrax symptoms after their courses of antibiotics end. An inoculation plan could involve up to 3,000 Senate and U.S. Postal Service workers in Washington, New York and New Jersey, according to the Washington Post. Officials want to begin as soon as possible because many of the 10,000 Capitol staff members and postal workers placed on 60-day antibiotic treatments are starting to finish the regimens, the Post reported. They could still be at risk if anthrax spores are lingering in the body and their immune systems are not prepared. Capitol workers will be the first to be inoculated because Capitol officials requested they be so, health officials said. That plan, however, has generated controversy among Washington municipal health officials, according to the Post. “There are only 10,000 doses of the latest batch of vaccine—and that is the lot that the Capitol Hill physician has requested,” said Washington Deputy Health Director Larry Siegel. “We have made it very clear that if it is released, we want access to the same lot.” Siegel said he disagreed that only 3,000 workers were at high enough risk for the vaccine. “There’s no science yet that will allow anybody to make a determination that any of the 3,500 people in Brentwood [postal facility] are at any lower risk than the people in [Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s (D-S.D.) offices],” Siegel said. “If anybody is going to be offered vaccine, everybody should.” The Postal Service and the postal unions have made no decision on the vaccination plan, said Postal Service spokeswoman Kristin Krathwohl. “It’s an area that few of us know anything about,” said Barry Burns, a chief shop steward at the Brentwood facility. “The only thing we can do is put our trust in [the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention].” “We have very little trust of postal management and what the post office was telling us,” Burns said. “As of yet, we have no reason to distrust the CDC” (Vedantam/Connolly, Washington Post, Dec. 18). State Department Startled by Possible Anthrax Hoax A possible anthrax hoax shut down the office of Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage yesterday after a staff member opened an envelope containing white powder, according to the Washington Post. The hazardous materials specialists who responded to the incident said they believed the letter was a hoax because of the irregular-sized granules in the powder, a State Department official said. Powder samples were taken to the FBI for further testing and results should be available this week, the Post reported. State Department spokeswoman Eliza Koch said she believed the letter posed little risk because it had been irradiated at an Ohio facility. The bulk of the mail sent to the State Department has been sent through the Ohio facility after anthrax spores were found in a State mailroom two months ago. “Because it came through the postal service we assume it was irradiated and therefore poses no immediate health threat,” Koch said (Steven Mufson, Washington Post, Dec. 18). Hart Office Cleanup Delayed…Again The cleanup of the Hart Senate Office Building was delayed again yesterday after mechanical problems stopped the fumigation of the building’s ventilation system, according to Reuters. The fumigation of the ventilation system in the southeast quadrant of the Hart building was scheduled for Friday. Problems, however, delayed the process until late Sunday, according to Reuters. After seven hours, mechanical glitches stopped workers from reaching the needed saturation level in the building, which led them to cease operations, authorities said. Federal officials said they would attempt the plan again, but did not say when (Reuters/Boston Globe, Dec. 18).
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