U.S. Response:  CDC Issues New Laboratory Guidelines

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines yesterday to increase security at laboratories that handle dangerous biological pathogens (see GSN, Dec. 4).

The recommendations — which call on laboratories to limit access to sensitive areas, to keep pathogens secure and to monitor areas where they are stored — are meant to aid facilities in developing soon-to-be required security plans, the Associated Press reported.  Previous information on such plans was a “fairly scampy” two pages, said Steve Ostroff, deputy director of the CDC National Center for Infectious Diseases.

The CDC is expected to require all laboratories to develop a biological security plan when it publishes new regulations next week to help improve security of dangerous pathogens.  The regulations also are expected to order tighter security at laboratories that handle “select agents,” which consist of more than 40 of the most dangerous pathogens such as anthrax and Ebola, AP reported.  The regulations will require personnel who work with select agents to undergo background checks, and they will require every facility that possesses a select agent to register with federal regulators and submit to inspections, according to AP.  Previously, only laboratories that transferred or received samples of select agents were required to register (Laura Meckler, Associated Press/Baltimore Sun, Dec. 6).

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Smallpox I:  U.S. Test Subjects Suffering From Aches, Pains, Fevers

U.S. trials of smallpox vaccine are revealing a variety of annoying — but not life threatening — side effects, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Nov. 25).

Immunization tests of healthy young men and women at a half dozen universities and clinics have resulted in fevers, aches, swelling, itching, rashes and a general unpleasantness, all considered routine responses to the receiving the smallpox vaccine.

“I just wanted to go to bed for a day or two,” said Alison Francis, a New York University graduate student who was recently inoculated.  “I thought, ‘Can you just chop off my arm?’” she added.

None of the 1,500 volunteers who have been tested in the last year have died, the Post reported, but in one government study of 200 young adults, 75 registered high fevers and several were put on antibiotics.  In a study at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, 5 percent of participants developed rashes that spread over their bodies, researcher John Treanor said.  Some test subjects developed significant swelling, he said.

Experts have said that a lack of recent smallpox inoculations has left the U.S. population unprepared for the vaccine’s effects, triggered by exposing vaccinees to a live virus.

“The reactions we are seeing are totally out of line with today’s vaccine experience and absolutely in line with historical experience,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  “In the 30 years since we had routine vaccination, the public’s tolerance level has gone way down,” he added.

Even some professionals have been taken aback by the immunization reactions because most U.S. health care workers have never administered the vaccine or treated its side effects.

“I can read all day about it, but seeing it is quite impressive,” said Kathy Edwards, a Vanderbilt University physician who oversaw a smallpox trial at Baylor University in Texas.  “The reactions we saw were really quite remarkable,” she added.

Studies have shown that a previous smallpox immunization can prevent much suffering and annoyance.  For those who were not inoculated — or born — when routine smallpox immunizations ceased in the United States, however, the experience can be “pretty miserable,” said Meg Gifford, a University of Maryland junior who took part in a study.

“You can’t scratch it — it’s all bandaged up.  All I could do was smack it,” she said (Ceci Connolly, Washington Post, Dec. 5).

Meanwhile, the largest U.S. union representing health care workers has demanded better protections for those who probably would be the first to receive the vaccine in an expected national inoculation plan, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported today.

Officials from the Service Employees International Union and the Bush administration met yesterday to discuss whether workers sickened by the vaccine would be allowed to take leave and whether officials would screen workers properly before immunizing them.  The union represents 710,000 health care professionals.

“Without better protections, the proposed plan could put hospital patients, caregivers and the public at risk,” the union said in a statement (Associated Press/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec. 5).

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Smallpox II:  Vaccine Promoter Is No Maverick, Sheriff’s Office Says

By David McGlinchey
Global Security Newswire

A Florida sheriff who was inoculated against smallpox Tuesday and encouraged his deputies to do the same is not trying to act ahead of U.S. leaders planning a national vaccination strategy, an official from his office said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 4).

Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary, is promoting an effort to produce vaccinia immune globulin, which is used to treat adverse reactions to smallpox vaccine, said Chief Steve Jones of the sheriff’s office.

The globulin — known as VIG — is produced from blood plasma extracted from people who have recently been immunized against smallpox.  U.S. officials have contracted with several companies to produce VIG, which would be needed if the United States conducts large-scale immunizations (see GSN, Nov. 12).  Experts have estimated that for every 1 million people who are inoculated against smallpox, fewer than 50 would become seriously ill from side effects of the vaccine, and one or two would probably die.

It had been reported that Beary was seeking to protect his force from smallpox even though U.S. President George W. Bush, who is reportedly considering inoculating 500,000 emergency workers and 500,000 military personnel, has not yet announced national plans.

Although immunity to smallpox is a benefit of inoculation, Beary is primarily advocating producing VIG for the national stockpile, Jones said.

The sheriff’s office received calls from news organizations across the country when the VIG drive was announced, but Jones said he had not expected that Beary would be depicted as maverick local official.

“Before it gets to the end, it’s all twisted around,” Jones said.

The sheriff’s “primary goal” is to encourage voluntary participation in the VIG drive and to assuage fears, Jones said.  Health officials have said that a thorough screening process, which the Florida program has in place, should drastically reduce the chances of complications from the vaccine.

“He’s basically trying to tell people, ‘I did it.  I had no reaction to it,’” Jones said.

Beary is encouraging his law enforcement agency to follow his lead, and the program so far has enrolled about 10 of his 1,400 deputies, including Jones, who said he has felt “absolutely no ill effects.”

The office supports the drive but is not pushing it, Jones said.  Beary is not paying deputies “on our time” to be vaccinated, he added.

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U.S. Response:  Scientists Readying for New Laboratory Regulations

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — U.S. microbiologists anticipate publication of federal regulations Monday that will require increased government oversight and new security measures at laboratories and clinics across the country.

They will be looking to see how the new regulations balance changing perceptions of security needs with openness in scientific research.

“We … clearly are going to have a new biosecurity component of the regulations that we have not seen yet,” Ronald Atlas, president of the American Society for Microbiology, told a conference here yesterday.

“The potential for misuse of scientific information is pitting national security concerns against traditional openness of biomedical research,” Atlas said.

The regulations will be published as an interim final rule, as required by the Bioterrorism Preparedness Act, which became law in June (see GSN, June 12), and are scheduled for publication in final form in February, after a 60-day comment period.

The act requires facilities possessing certain dangerous biological materials to provide the Justice Department the names of individuals with access to those agents for screening against criminal, immigration and national security databases.  Previously, since 1997, federal law only required persons transferring restricted agents to notify the U.S. Centers for Disease Control before the agents are shipped.

The regulations are expected to set out procedures for registering people and facilities dealing with such agents.  Exemptions will be allowed for medical, clinical and diagnostic laboratories and for approved investigational products, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Marburger said in congressional testimony in October, giving a preview of the new regulations.

Strengthened Security Measures Required

The regulations also are expected to specify requirements for laboratories to increase security in ways relevant to the nature of the facility and the types of agents possessed.

“Institutions will be required under the new regulations to prepare a comprehensive security plan based on threat analyses and risk assessments.  The decision to purchase ‘guns, gates and guards’ should be thought through carefully and any security enhancements should be based on a thorough, professional risk assessment,” Marburger said.

“We’re all going to have to consider how you don’t leave the door open for someone, how you have appropriate surveillance, how you have an inventory of what you do,” said Atlas.

Atlas said he expects the regulations to require reporting to federal authorities of suspicious incidents.

“This is new for the scientific community.  Not a lot of my colleagues meet regularly with FBI agents.  I think many will find this a new and challenging aspect of entering into biodefense,” he said.

Impact on Research

The Bioterrorism Preparedness Act implements a new government approach to biosecurity set out in the Patriot Act, passed in the wake of the Sept. 11 and subsequent anthrax terrorist attacks in 2001 (see GSN, May 9).  The Patriot Act made it crime to knowingly possess any biological agent, toxin or delivery system that cannot be “reasonably justified” for prophylactic, protective, “bona fide” research or other peaceful purposes.

Some scientists have expressed concern the new government approach to security could hamper civilian research using sensitive biological materials.

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology panel produced a well-publicized report in June called In the Public Interest that argued against conducting classified research on campuses, requiring security checks of students seeking to perform thesis research and restricting foreign nationals with valid visas from access to courses, research or publications on campus (see GSN, June 14).

“Openness enables MIT to attract, educate, and benefit from the best students, faculty and staff from around the world.  This is especially important, as competence in science and technology has grown throughout the world so that access to research and knowledge outside the United States is critical to our own progress,” said MIT professor and former Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall, also testifying in October.

Widnall said Patriot Act requirements regarding personnel, students, faculty, and staff, “are not consistent with MIT’s principles.  It is likely that in the current climate, the number of biological agents on the list will grow and the restrictions placed on personnel, physical access, and publication of research findings may grow as well.”

In a high-profile application of the new law, the Justice Department this year was preparing to prosecute a University of Connecticut graduate student for retaining two vials of tissue samples from a cow that died of anthrax, he reportedly said, for possible future research.  The student was charged with possessing anthrax “not reasonably justified by a prophylactic, protective, bona fide research, or other peaceful purpose” (see GSN, July 23).

The charges were dropped in exchange for community service, but Atlas said the incident was intended by the Justice Department to “send a message” and has “led many of my colleagues to destroy cultures.”

Atlas told Global Security Newswire he had no inherent problem with the Patriot Act requirement, saying rather that it requires interpretation in the courts so the civilian community can properly implement them.

“The law set up an ambiguity that has to be interpreted.  Saying that you have to have bona fide reason, that’s not going too far,” he said.  The question, he said, is “how you interpret bona fide.”

Question Over Consultation

Altas’ organization has charged the Centers for Disease Control and the Agriculture Department with allowing civilian experts an insufficient opportunity to influence the new regulations.

He appeared to reiterate that concern in his comments to the conference yesterday.

“In theory, there is a 60-day comment period.  In reality, if we follow the Bioterrorism Preparedness Act, it says the regulations will go into effect by the time we hit the end of the 60-day period,” he said.

Marburger suggested in October the Bush administration was attempting to address concerns about scientific openness. 

“The administration is sensitive to the need to avoid erecting barriers to legitimate scientific research,” he said.

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Smallpox:  Orlando Sheriff Begins Smallpox Immunizations

Impatient with indecision in the upper echelons of U.S. government, a Florida sheriff has begun a program to administer smallpox vaccinations to his 1,400-member force of deputies, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Nov. 25).

Orange County, Fla., Sheriff Kevin Beary received a smallpox inoculation yesterday and plans to offer immunizations to his deputies.  Mid-Florida Biologicals — a company that is producing a treatment for adverse reactions to the smallpox inoculations — has provided the vaccine to Orange County officials (see GSN, Nov. 12).

Beary’s efforts are believed to be unique, national law enforcement officials said.  U.S. President George W. Bush has not yet made a decision on a national plan that could include immunizing 500,000 emergency workers and 500,000 military personnel.

“The best place to be is the lead dog on the sled,” Beary said.  “We on the local level are waiting for the federal government to get things done.  They’re doing a good job up there but I don’t have time to wait,” he added (Mike Schneider, Associated Press, Dec. 3).

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International Response:  WHO Announces 24-Hour Bio-Response Fund

By Bryan Bender
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The World Health Organization and the Nuclear Threat Initiative yesterday announced establishment of an emergency fund to enable the U.N. agency to respond to a disease outbreak — whether naturally occurring or from the release of biological weapons — anywhere in the world within 24 hours.

The WHO and NTI formally announced establishment of the WHO-NTI Emergency Outbreak Fund, setting aside an initial $500,000 to give the U.N. agency greater flexibility to respond immediately to a biological incident with medical teams, vaccines and drug supplies.

“Crucial hours lost in the early days of a disease outbreak can mean the difference between a handful of cases and a major epidemic,” WHO Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland told a Washington news conference.  When “an outbreak occurs, it is critical to get people on the ground as soon as possible.  This revolving fund will enable WHO to provide medical experts and equipment immediately,” she said.

Officials believe rapid detection, identification and response are key to saving lives and controlling infectious diseases.  A rapid response could make the difference in identifying whether an outbreak is intentional or naturally occurring.

Officials acknowledge, however, that because of a lack of adequate resources, WHO until now had to depend on donor countries in a time of crisis, risking valuable time.

“WHO has been underfunded like all international organizations,” Margaret Hamburg, NTI vice president for biological programs, said, adding, “there are many competing priorities and limited resources.”  She told Global Security Newswire the new fund will give the organization “the cushion they need to always respond in a prompt and effective way, recognizing that the half a million dollars will have to be replenished by member nations.”

She added, “The full response to an outbreak may require additional funds for medical materials, care for the sick and those at risk.  But the revolving fund enables them to immediately respond to a potential outbreak whatever and wherever it is.”

Brundtland said the new fund “removes immediate barriers” that could delay an urgent response and will allow the WHO to mobilize immediately in the event of an outbreak, whether large or small.  She said the fund would ensure a more rapid response to epidemic meningitis, yellow fever outbreaks and viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola.

For NTI, the emergency fund is one of more than a dozen projects designed to reduce the threat of bioterrorism.  “The nexus between health and security has become increasingly clear,” NTI Co-Chairman Sam Nunn said yesterday.   “Diseases don’t recognize national boundaries,” he said.

According to Hamburg, former New York health commissioner and a former U.S. assistant secretary of health and human services for planning and evaluation, the emergency fund will strengthen the fight against bioterrorism. 

“Improving global capacity to detect and rapidly respond to outbreaks of infectious disease is key to the goal of reducing the damage — human, economic and otherwise — from a biological threat,” she said.

A related NTI project is funding the WHO to expand language capabilities for the Global Public Health Information Network, which would be used to detect a disease outbreak.

NTI’s next target in reducing the biological threat is the pharmaceutical industry, which Nunn said could play a significant role in reducing the threat of deadly pathogens. 

“We’re trying to get the pharmaceutical community in this country and around the globe, as well as the biotechnology community, to recognize their responsibility over protecting dangerous pathogens,” Nunn said.  “We’re saying to our pharmaceutical friends and our biotechnology friends … ‘it’s time to have your own voluntary efforts,’” he said.

The fight against bioterrorism, he added, is also the fight for public health.  “The good news in this grim bioterrorism business is that the steps that we must take to protect against bioterrorism are the same basic steps we should already be taking to protect against infectious disease.”

[EDITOR’S NOTE:  The Nuclear Threat Initiative is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by the National Journal Group.]

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Smallpox:  Officials Worldwide Plan for Attack

Officials in several countries have recently announced plans to prepare for possible smallpox outbreaks in the event of a terrorist attack, according to reports this week.

The United Kingdom plans to vaccinate hundreds of civilian and military health care professionals against smallpox, the prime minister’s office said in a press release yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 9).

By the end of January, 350 health care workers comprising 12 Regional Smallpox Response Groups should be immunized and prepared to respond to a smallpox attack, British Health Minister John Hutton said.  “They will consist of infectious disease physicians and pediatricians, public health physicians, microbiologists/virologists, acute care and communicable disease control nurses and occupational health staff,” he added.

Additionally, the British Defense Ministry is working closely with the British Health Department to coordinate vaccinations for military health specialists, according to the release.

“We have decided to offer vaccination against smallpox to a small number of specialist military personnel whose specialization means they face a greater risk of exposure to smallpox,” British Defense Minister Lewis Moonie said.  “This will include those nuclear-biological-chemical specialists and specialist medical personnel who would form the spearhead of our defensive response,” he added (British release, Dec. 2).

U.S. Cities

Meanwhile, health officials in California and New York City have been working to meet a Dec. 9 deadline to submit a request for U.S. counterterrorism funds, according to reports.

Los Angeles County health officials are requesting 20,000 doses of smallpox vaccine and California health officials are asking for an additional 40,000 to 50,000 doses, the Associated Press reported today.  The Los Angeles doses would go to health care workers who would respond to a smallpox terrorist attack, said Jonathan Fielding, Los Angeles County public health director (Associated Press, Dec. 3).

New York City health officials submitted a preliminary smallpox response plan yesterday but details have not been made public, the New York Post reported today.  Other proposals that officials have said they plan to submit next week might recommend smallpox vaccinations for 100 medical personnel in each city hospital, according to the Post.  U.S. officials granted New York City $26 million earlier this year to prepare for a biological terrorist attack (Frankie Edozien, New York Post, Dec. 3).

Canada

In Canada, a government requisition for enough vaccine to immunize the entire country will probably go to the Ontario-based company Aventis Pasteur, Reuters reported Friday (see GSN, June 12).

Canada currently has vaccine to inoculate 1.5 million people.  It could take 10 months to produce an additional 10 million doses, which, when diluted, would be enough for every Canadian, officials said.

“The view is that the possibility that smallpox could be used as a biological weapon is low,” said Tara Madigan, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Health Ministry.  “However, Canada felt it was prudent to take all necessary steps to protect the health and safety and security of all Canadians,” she added (Rajiv Sekhri, Reuters, Nov. 29).

Japan

In Japan, officials want to buy 10 million doses of smallpox vaccine by 2003, the Economist reported Friday.  Japan has spent more than $47 million to prepare for a biological terrorist attack (Economist, Nov. 28).

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Iraq:  Russian Scientist Might Have Delivered Potent Smallpox Strain

A Russian virologist might have brought an especially lethal strain of the smallpox virus to Iraq in 1990, according to a CIA informant, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Nov. 30).

Officials from the CIA are attempting to verify that Nelja Maltseva — who died two years ago — visited Iraq in 1990 and brought with her a strain of virus developed in the Soviet Union.  Malseva worked at Moscow’s Research Institute for Viral Preparations for more than 30 years.

Soviet scientists tested a strain of the smallpox virus on Vozrozhdeniye Island in the Aral Sea and caused an outbreak of smallpox in what is now Kazakhstan, according to a report from the U.S.-based Monterey Institute of International Studies (see GSN, June 17).  The link between the open air test and the epidemic could point to a more contagious and vaccine-resistant strain of smallpox, according to Alan Zelicoff, a scientist at Sandia National Laboratory and a co-author of the Monterey report.

It is this strain that Malseva might have brought to Iraq, an informant has told the CIA.  Malseva visited Iraq in 1972 and 1973 as part of the worldwide effort to eradicate smallpox.

Denials

Svetlana Sergeyevna Marennikova — Maltseva’s deputy at the viral institute — said that she did not know of her boss taking any trips to Iraq.

“She worked, and then when she got sick, she took a sick leave when she was no longer able to work,” Marennikova said.  “I don’t know about Iraq.  I didn’t know about a trip there.  I don’t think she was there.  I would know,” she added.

Maltseva’s daughter, a Moscow doctor, said she does not know of her mother taking any trips to Iraq.

Russian officials have confidentially admitted that Maltseva brought strains of the Vozrozhdeniye Island smallpox back to Moscow, but said that those strains were destroyed when Russian smallpox stockpiles were moved to their current, internationally sanctioned Moscow laboratory, according to the U.S. officials.

Many in the U.S. government and scientific community, however, believe Russia probably did not destroy those strains.  The military took control of the particularly virulent strains when the move was made, according to former Soviet germ warfare scientists.

Lack of Cooperation

The possible existence of a strain of smallpox virus that is resistant to current vaccines has renewed U.S. interest in obtaining information from Russia.  That information is not forthcoming, despite an agreement last year between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush to cooperate in fighting biological terrorism, according to the Times.

“There is information we would like the Russians to share as a partner of ours,” said William Winkenwerder Jr., U.S. assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.  “Because if there are strains that present a unique problem with respect to vaccines and treatment, it is in the interests of all freedom-loving people to have as much information as possible,” he added.

Officials have speculated that Russia has not been forthcoming with information because of military secrecy or Putin’s own aversion to sharing state secrets.

“The record so far suggests he is either unable or unwilling to push the military on this front,” an administration official said.  “We think it may be a little of both, but we’re not really sure at this point or what to do about it,” he added (Judith Miller, New York Times, Dec. 3).

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U.S. Response:  Universities Provide Free Monitoring Software

Two Pennsylvania universities announced yesterday that they would provide health professionals with new software free of charge to track suspicious disease outbreaks.

The Real-time Outbreak Disease Surveillance (RODS) software — developed by the BioMedical Security Institute, which is jointly operated by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh — is now available online.  Health care workers may enter patients’ symptoms, their ZIP codes and the dates of their visits into the program, which can then alert medical and emergency response officials to any suspicious spikes in symptoms.

The program is currently in use at about half of the healthcare organizations in the Pittsburgh area, said Michael Wagner, co-director of the institute.  The system was also used at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah (see GSN, May 20).

The institute is also working to develop a program to monitor pharmaceutical sales, which also could indicate a biological weapons attack (Dan Nephin, Associated Press, Dec. 3).

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Smallpox:  Bush Favors Extensive Immunization

U.S. President George W. Bush is nearing a decision to make smallpox vaccine available to hundreds of thousands of military personnel and health care workers and to eventually expand the inoculations to millions of emergency workers, the Washington Post reported Saturday (see GSN, Nov. 8).

Bush is leaning against nationwide immunization, but he has not made a final decision and will probably wait for the results of vaccinations in troops and health workers, senior White House officials said.

“The subsequent steps will very much depend on the successes and experience of the first round,” said Dartmouth University scientist John Modlin, the chairman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Israeli officials have immunized 12,000 people and reported four cases of mild side effects (see GSN, Oct. 24).

The expected decision would make vaccine available to 500,000 troops and 500,000 emergency hospital workers, with an eventual progression to 10 million personnel trained to respond to emergencies.

The plan would surpass the advisory committee’s October recommendation, which called for immunizing 500,000 emergency workers (see GSN, Oct. 17).

“It looks like more people are going to get vaccinated than we originally suggested,” said committee member Myron Levin.

The administration has also been considering offering inoculations to members of the public who feel strongly that they need to be immunized.

“There is some discussion of making it available to people who feel they absolutely have to have it,” a senior administration aide said.  “The question is, can the government just hold on to a stockpile,” the aide said.

The administration has reportedly been divided on the question of widespread immunizations.  Smallpox expert and top White House adviser D.A. Henderson has cautioned against it, showing Bush pictures of victims of side effects from the vaccine.  On the other hand, Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly supports widespread immunizations.

Several leading lawmakers have indicated that they plan to hold hearings on smallpox vaccinations in the next congressional session.

“Ordinarily it’s more of an executive function, but it’s a big issue and Congress can act on it,” said Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the incoming chairman of the Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on health issues.

Meanwhile, Republican governors gathered in California yesterday asked the administration for more access to the vaccine (Dana Milbank, Washington Post, Nov. 23).

The vaccine stockpile is reserved for an attack, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said.  Insufficient antidote and the Food and Drug Administration licensing process are holding up a vaccine plan, he said (see GSN, Nov. 12).  In the meantime, states should develop their own plans, he added.

“You can imagine, if we do go to war in Iraq, and there is some kind of smallpox epidemic, all of you are going to be held responsible if you are not prepared,” Thompson told the governors (Ralph Hallow, Washington Times, Nov. 24).

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Anthrax:  Postal Service Is Optimistic After Fumigation Test

The U.S. Postal Service has cleared another hurdle in the process of sanitizing the anthrax-contaminated Brentwood Road processing facility in Washington, the Washington Times reported Saturday (see GSN, Nov. 13).

A test of repaired fumigation equipment Thursday was successful, service spokeswoman Debbie Yackley said Friday.  The Environmental Protection Agency must confirm the service’s conclusions, however, before technicians begin to fumigate, according to the Times.

“We are optimistic,” Yackley said.  “We’ve been working very closely with the EPA,” she added.

Officials have said they plan to pump 500 pounds of chlorine dioxide gas into the postal facility, which has been sealed to confine any spores of anthrax that might be left from last year’s anthrax attacks (Patrick Badgley, Washington Times, Nov. 23).

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