Anthrax:  Hoax Suspect Captured

A man suspected of sending anthrax hoax letters to abortion providers last month was captured by the U.S. Marshals service yesterday.  Also yesterday, investigators examined the tainted letter sent to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

Clayton Lee Waagner was arrested yesterday at a Kinko’s copy store outside Cincinnati, Ohio, according to the Los Angeles Times.  Federal marshals had sent wanted posters with Waagner’s face on them to Kinko’s stores across the country on the suspicion that Waagner was checking his e-mail there, the Times reported.

“Clayton Lee Waagner’s run from justice is over,” said U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.  “We can write across the face of that [wanted] poster: ‘Apprehended’” (Simon/Jackson, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 6).

Waagner is suspected of sending the anthrax hoaxes while being on the run following an escape from a Clinton, Ill., jail in February, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Nov. 30).  He had been convicted in 1999 on federal firearms and auto theft charges.  Waagner said during his 1999 trial that he had monitored abortion clinics for months and stockpiled guns after God asked him to “be my warrior” and kill abortion providers, the AP reported (Larry Margasak, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Dec. 5).

FBI Profile Disputed

The former head of U.N biological weapons inspectors in Iraq yesterday disputed the FBI’s profile of a lone person being responsible for the anthrax incidents (see GSN, Dec. 4), according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The idea that one person with scientific knowledge is responsible is “a lot of hokum,” said Richard Spertzel, who led U.N. biological weapons inspection teams in Iraq following the Gulf War.  “I don’t believe that the material was made by some nut,” Spertzel said.  “It’s not the kind of thing you mess with in a university laboratory … The level of knowledge, expertise and experience required … to make such a quality product takes time and experimentation to develop.”

During his testimony yesterday before the House Committee on International Relations, Spertzel said the anthrax was probably made by some group with ties to a state-run biological weapons program, such as Iraq.  “Iraq has the equipment, facilities, material and expertise to have an active biological weapons program,” Spertzel said.

The FBI supports its profile, said FBI spokesman Bill Carter.  Based on “the analysis of the letters, done in consultation with the investigators, this is the ongoing belief of who the person might be,” Carter said (Eunice Moscoso, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec. 6).

Leahy Letter Opened

After weeks of careful planning (see GSN, Nov. 27), investigators yesterday opened the anthrax-tainted letter sent to Senator Leahy, the New York Times reported. 

Scientists at the U.S. Army’s biomedical research laboratory at Fort Detrick, Md., carefully slit open the letter using a scalpel and began removing what is suspected to be anthrax, the Times reported.  Specialized equipment was set up to help neutralize the tendency of the spores to float in the air, according to the Times.

After decontamination, the letter and envelope will be searched for possible clues such as DNA or fingerprints (Miller/Johnston, New York Times, Dec. 6).

Congressional Mail Will Be Double-Checked

Mail sent to the U.S. Congress will be both irradiated and visually checked for evidence of contamination, congressional aides said yesterday.  Mail will first be sent to private companies in Ohio and New Jersey for irradiation.  Afterwards, the firm Pitney Bowes will check for suspicious powders, aides said.  Any letters containing suspicious powder will be turned over to police.

The process of irradiating the mail takes two days, and the new inspections will add an additional three-day delay to delivery, according to aides (Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, Dec. 6). 

New Alert Issued on Handling Mail

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to issue an alert today on steps people can take to reduce the risk of contracting anthrax from potentially cross-contaminated mail, according to the Washington Post.  The new recommendations will likely be similar to ones issued in the past, which included being alert for suspicious packages and washing hands after opening mail.

Last month, CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan said it was “highly unlikely to virtually impossible” for someone to contract inhalational anthrax from a piece of cross-contaminated mail, according to the Post.  While the CDC still has no proof that cross-contamianted mail poses a health hazard, officials have become concerned that it may indeed pose such a risk, the Post reported.

Findings in the investigations into the deaths of Kathy Nguyen and Ottilie Lundgren (see GSN, Dec. 4) “have raised concerns that the two unsolved cases of inhalational anthrax may be due to contact with cross-contaminated mail,” said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner.  “This could make some people feel nervous about opening their mail,” Skinner said.  “We’re saying people who think they may have gotten a cross-contaminated letter and are concerned about opening the mail may take the following steps to help reduce the already low risk” (Connolly/Nakashima, Washington Post, Dec. 6).

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Smallpox I:  Lawmakers Advocate Dead-Virus Vaccine

Four members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed a letter asking Congress and health officials to pursue a safer form of smallpox vaccine.  The four representatives are expected to hold a briefing on the subject today.

Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) called for the briefing after meeting with representatives of the Maryland-based biotech firm Novavax, which has been working to develop a smallpox vaccine using a dead virus, rather than a weakened live one that previous and current vaccines use.  The letter, signed by Weldon, Joseph Hoeffel (D-Pa.), Connie Morella (R-Md.) and Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), followed a decision by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department last week to award a second contract to the British firm Acambis to produce more smallpox vaccine using the live virus (see GSN, Nov. 29).

The Acambis vaccine could have serious side effects for some people, and 20 percent of the U.S. population could not receive the vaccine safely, said the letter from the representatives.  People at high risk for negative side effects would include young children, the elderly, people with eczema, pregnant women and anyone with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV (see GSN, Nov. 21).

Health officials have said that due to negative side effects, they have no plans to mass-vaccinate Americans against smallpox (see GSN, Nov. 30).  They currently plan to vaccinate only people who are directly at risk when an outbreak occurs.

The United States needs a vaccine that could be administered to the population before a smallpox outbreak occurs, so a safer vaccine is necessary, the representatives said.  Novavax said its dead virus vaccine might fill that need, but some experts question the vaccine’s effectiveness.  Novavax said it planned to begin producing the vaccine early next year but would need months or years to test it.  The firm has asked for U.S. funding assistance.

“If they need a billion dollars to do this [develop a safer vaccine], add $4 to everyone’s tax bill … If we had a good, safe vaccine, we would revaccinate the U.S.,” said Roger Pomerantz of the Center for Human Virology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia (Julie Appleby, USA Today, Dec. 6).

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Smallpox II:  Could We Choose to Vaccinate?

U.S. health officials should provide Americans with the choice to vaccinate themselves if they wish, CATO Institute health policy analyst Veronique de Rugy said today.

Rugy criticized a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that included draft legislation to prevent the spread of smallpox and other contagious diseases by granting U.S. states the power to enforce quarantine and other measures (see GSN, Nov. 8).  Rugy said the report indicated that the CDC and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department had not planned appropriately for the future and would not provide Americans with the choice to receive smallpox vaccination.

“We need to recognize that in a case of an outbreak, these unfortunate measures might be necessary to stop the disease from spreading because our population is not vaccinated at all.  However, it seems that the mere existence of this report is a sign that CDC, HHS and others did not … prepare the U.S. population for bioterrorist attacks,” Rugy said.

The report assumed that the U.S. population would not receive the smallpox vaccine and that HHS would maintain full control over the availability of the vaccine, she said.  “The report does not consider the possibility of making the vaccine available to the American public … The right thing to do is to make the smallpox vaccine immediately available to the public.  Americans should be allowed to individually decide for themselves whether they consider vaccination to be a good thing,” Rugy said (CATO release, Dec. 5).

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Food Safety:  Industry Fights New Regulations

The U.S. food industry has fought to prevent or weaken new food safety measures, even though officials have warned that the U.S. food supply could be a terrorist target, the Washington Post reported today.

A mass biological warfare attack on the U.S. food supply, such as widespread poisoning of food processing plants, would be nearly impossible, according to bioterrorism experts.  Terrorists could cause panic, however, by infecting even a small amount of food shipments or U.S. livestock and crops, the Post reported.

“While you would certainly inflict some casualties, what you’re really doing with agriculture bioterrorism really is attacking our economy,” said Jerry Jaax, a bioterrorism expert at Kansas State University.  “It’s an assault on our way of life.”

The U.S. food industry, led by the National Food Processors Association, the National Growers Association and the American Frozen Food Institute, however, has argued that existing food safety standards are enough to combat any terrorist threat, according to the Post. 

Instead of new regulations, what are needed are more inspectors and more funding for them, industry officials said. “I think we’ve already got the system in place to deal with terrorism, said Kelly Johnston, chief lobbyist for the food processors.  “We just need more information from the government to make sure we can address any potential threat.”

The food industry opposes new security measures because they add to operating costs, force companies to give inspectors access to their financial records and could result in shipping delays, the Post reported. 

Industry officials have blocked or weakened several Congressional proposals in the past, including plans to consolidate all federal food inspection agencies for better coordination (see GSN, Nov. 26), continuation of new limits for salmonella in meat and poultry and plans to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration greater authority over domestic and international food processors, according to the Post. 

“What this says is, Congress is willing to protect us but only to the extent that the new law doesn’t offend the food industry, change existing federal bureaucracy or cost much money,” said Carol Tucker Foreman, of the Consumer Federation of America.  “In the end, Congress will do a lot of talking and flapping and then bring forth a very small egg” (Eric Pianin, Washington Post, Dec. 6).

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Anthrax:  Postal Service Tries to Calm Public

U.S. Postal Service officials yesterday tried to reassure the public that there was no health risk from mail potentially cross-contaminated with anthrax.  Meanwhile, investigators discovered new findings in the first cases of anthrax in Florida.

Deputy Postmaster General John Nolan downplayed a statement made Monday by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Jeffrey Koplan that possibly “tens of thousands” of letters are lightly tainted with anthrax (see GSN, Dec. 4).

“There is no evidence” that large numbers of mail have been contaminated, Nolan said.  “There have been some letters that have been cross-contaminated.  But the numbers we have seen are extremely small… To indicate that there are tens of thousands of letters that were contaminated is pure speculation.”

If necessary, the Postal Service could track the thousands of pieces of letters that passed through the same mail-sorting machine near the same time as the anthrax-tainted letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), officials said.  There are no plans to do so, however, because the CDC has said the health risk to the public from the mail was very low, officials said.

“It’s not our decision,” said postal spokesman Azeezaly Jaffer.  “We have asked the CDC over and over and over… They have told us repeatedly: There is no risk here.  No need to do any notification” (Nakashima/Weiss, Washington Post, Dec. 5).

New Florida Findings

New tests results from the American Media Inc. headquarters in Florida, the workplace of the first two anthrax victims, show a much broader pattern of anthrax contamination than previously thought, according to the New York Times.

Tests that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted throughout the three-floor building found spores not only in the building mailroom and on the computer keyboard of Robert Stevens, the first anthrax casualty, but also in places such as atop a room divider and in a space between banks of shelves, the Times reported.  Out of 462 samples tested, 84 places were contaminated.

Officials said they were surprised by how much the anthrax had spread.  That may mean that the anthrax in the Florida incidents was prepared in a manner identical to the spores sent to Senators Daschle and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), investigators said.

Other findings, however, suggest otherewise.  Some contaminated locations were along routes taken by people traveling from the first floor mailroom back to desk and cabinets, investigators said.  This could mean that spores were moved about the building as the mail was delivered.  If so, the Florida spores were prepared through a less-dangerous method which caused them to fall where they were released, rather than float throughout the air, according to the Times.

Investigators said they were frustrated as the AMI investigation heads into its third month.  “We still don’t have a letter.  We still have a death and a lot of anthrax that was there,” a federal law enforcement official said (Revkin/Canedy, New York Times, Dec. 5).

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Smallpox:  AMA Opposes Mass Vaccination

The American Medical Association, the largest U.S. association of doctors, decided yesterday to oppose proposals to vaccinate the entire U.S. population against smallpox, saying the potential threat of terrorists releasing smallpox did not outweigh the risks of mass vaccination (see GSN, Nov. 27).

The AMA supported studying alternative strategies, such as vaccinating people if they have contact with smallpox victims (Reuters/New York Times, Dec. 5).

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