Anthrax:  FBI Plans Polygraphs for U.S. Biological Defense Researchers

As part of the “Amerithrax” investigation into last fall’s anthrax attacks, the FBI plans to administer several polygraph tests to employees at U.S. biological defense research centers, an FBI official said yesterday.

Investigators plan to administer tests to workers at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., and the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.  The FBI has already administered polygraphs to a few scientists who might have had access to anthrax, including about 10 USAMRIID researchers, according to the Baltimore Sun.  The new round of tests, however, would be administered to 200 current and former employees of the two Army research facilities, the FBI official said.

There are 80 USAMRIID employees who have had access to anthrax during the last few years, according to Fort Detrick sources.  While fewer Dugway researchers have had access to anthrax, Dugway has produced small amounts of weapon-grade anthrax that is similar to the powder used in the attacks, the Sun reported (see GSN, Jan. 2).

The new round of polygraph testing could mean the FBI has run out of leads in its investigation and that the bureau is expanding its scope in an attempt to trip up whoever is responsible, said experts.

“It looks to me like desperation,” said one USAMRIID scientist.  “The trail has kind of gone cold.”

The FBI also might be expanding polygraph testing because investigators believe there might be a suspect or suspects at the two facilities and do not want to broadcast their suspicions, according to the Sun.

“Maybe they really have one or two specific people and they’re covering it with a large number of polygraphs,” said Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, a biologist at the State University of New York who has carefully followed the FBI’s investigation (see GSN, April 24).

Some USAMRIID employees, however, feel the FBI and the media have singled them out and that more polygraph tests will not reveal any new information, a Fort Detrick employee said.

“I think there’s going to be resentment,” the USAMRIID worker said.  “People feel we’re getting beaten up already” (Scott Shane, Baltimore Sun, May 21).

New Policies

There will soon be a new program to help clarify procedures for handling, shipping and storing biological weapons agents at USAMRIID, said Maj. Gen. Lester Martinez-Lopez, the facility’s commander.  The new rules should help increase the public’s confidence in the facility, he said.  Last month, an accidental release of anthrax was discovered within USAMRIID (see GSN, April 26).

“We have good systems, but we’re going to make them even safer,” Martinez-Lopez said.  “The safety and surety of USAMRIID is of overreaching concern” (Associated Press/New York Times, May 21).

World Bank Scare

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 World Bank employees in Washington were sent home yesterday after a batch of mail tested positive for anthrax in a preliminary check, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, May 20).  A second, more sophisticated test later contradicted the first, according to the Post.

In the first reported anthrax scare for the bank, 1,200 people in the bank’s Africa and training divisions were told to work from home for most of this week as a precautionary measure, according to bank spokeswoman Caroline Anstey.  Investigators will conduct more tests in West Virginia, and results are expected by Thursday, she said (Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, May 21).

“We’re taking every precaution,” Anstey said (Reuters, May 21).

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South Africa:  Project Coast Scientists Might Pose Proliferation Risk

Several South African scientists who worked for the former apartheid regime’s biological weapons program have had difficulties finding civilian scientific work, increasing concerns that they might sell their expertise to rogue states or terrorist groups, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday (see GSN, April 12).

Unemployed scientists from former biological weapons programs pose a large potential threat, said Amy Sands of the Monterey Institute of International Studies in March during testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“Some may be enticed by [high] salaries and other inducements to work for foreign governments, subnational groups and criminals to develop biological weapons,” she said.

Former South African biological weapons scientists, who worked for the apartheid-era “Project Coast” program, are among those most vulnerable for recruitment, Sands said.

Looking for “Stuff to Kill the Blacks ...”

Daan Goosen, a former Project Coast scientist, agreed that other countries might recruit former South African biological weapons scientists, according to the Journal.  Goosen is a former managing director of Roodeplaat Research Laboratories, a biological research company set up by the apartheid government to act as front for Project Coast.

Goosen said that ever since his role in Project Coast became well known, he has had several requests for “stuff to kill the blacks.”  At the beginning of this year, a group of whites from Zimbabwe visited him and asked if he had any biological or chemical weapons that could be used to kill Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, the Journal reported.

“I told them no.  Full stop.  There was nothing that I had to give them,” Goosen said.  “Fortunately, no one asked for the recipes.”

Goosen said a Chinese firm also requested his help in developing animal vaccines.  Creating vaccines is a process not much different from creating biological weapons, he said.

There are several cases of former South African biological weapons scientists being approached by other nations, according to Chandre Gould of South Africa’s Center for Conflict Resolution.  In 1993, two Syrian military officials interested in biological weapons visited several former Project Coast scientists, Gould said.  Although the South African scientists were interested in assisting the Syrians, the meeting produced no results, she said.

“The point is that these scientists were accessible,” Gould said.  “Not much has changed.  Whether they will do anything depends on their financial situation, if they are gainfully employed and how they feel about their past.”

Waiting for a Telephone Call ...

Many of the scientists who worked for the Project Coast program have said that Western governments have ignored their situation, in part because their work was often focused on developing biological weapons against blacks, according to the Journal.

Through tactics such as lacing lipstick and chocolate with anthrax and bottles of beer with botulinum toxin, Project Coast scientists worked to develop biological weapons to use against anti-apartheid activists, the Journal reported.  The program also examined ways to render South Africa’s black population sterile, according to the Journal.

A decade ago, U.S. and British officials were concerned enough about the activities of Project Coast that they demanded that it be closed and that its head, Wouter Basson, be closely monitored, according to the Journal.  The program shut down in 1993 during the transition to majority rule, the Journal reported.

“It was our assessment that Basson was a one-stop shop for anyone interested in how to put a (bioweapons) program together,” said a senior U.S. diplomat who was involved in the negotiations to close Project Coast.

In 1997, Basson stood trial for several criminal charges, including drug dealing and murder, which stemmed from his involvement in Project Coast, the Journal reported.  After the longest trial in South African history, Basson was found not guilty last month on all counts (see GSN, April 11).

After his trial, Basson said that while he would return to his private medical practice, he would also decide what to do with his biological and chemical weapons expertise.

“I am not sure how much those are in demand,” he said.  “I’ll have to wait and see how many phone me to ask.”

Basson also said that South African scientists who took part in Project Coast could still make contributions to the fields of biological and chemical warfare.

“We’re a bit rusty, but we could take it up quite easily and carry on,” he said (Robert Block, Wall Street Journal, May 20).

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United States:  Pentagon Denies Biological Weapon Charge

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — A U.S. military special weapons office is denying accusations it is seeking to develop biological agents that attack military equipment and material, but not personnel. 

Such agents are banned by U.S. law, experts said.

The Joint Nonlethal Weapons Directorate — created in 1997 under Marine Corps command to recommend, develop and field nonlethal weapons research and development for the U.S. armed services — last year asked the National Academy of Sciences to study new nonlethal technologies and included two controversial proposals in its request — Navy and Air Force proposals to develop offensive, anti-materials biocatalysts.

Anti-material biocatalysts are microorganisms that can rapidly degrade certain materials as metals, fuels, paving materials and synthetic products.  Military research already has been underway for using such organisms in nonoffensive purposes such as degrading paint on ships and aircraft and neutralizing environmental toxic spills.

Offensive research could violate the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, which some experts said can be interpreted to ban all forms of offensive biological agents, whether harmful to humans or not.

Furthermore, the research would certainly violate the U.S. Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, according to Edward Hammond, co-director of the Sunshine Project, a nongovernmental organization working to prevent the use of biotechnology advances to develop new weapons.  The act provides for strict penalties, including life imprisonment, for development, production or use of “any biological agent, toxin or delivery system for use as a weapon.”

No Such Research Considered

“We have no work going on in either area,” wrote directorate head Col. G.P. Fenton in an e-mail to Global Security Newswire, referring to agents for use against equipment or as sensors.

In written answers to questions, the directorate said it had received unsolicited proposals from other military offices for funding to conduct research on such agents and has rejected them.

“The directorate has and will continue to decline considering these proposals as they do not represent the types of nonlethal technology deemed appropriate to the directorate’s mission,” it said in an e-mailed statement.

The Air Force and Navy laboratories proposed developing the microorganisms for offensive uses, such as against runway and road surfaces, metal parts, coatings, lubricants and fuels of vehicles, weapons and equipment.  “Vaccinations” would be needed to prevent harm to friendly equipment.

“The application of this technology is limitless.  Catalysts can be engineered to destroy whatever war material is desired,” said the Air Force proposal.

The directorate said in its statement it “has not and will not” solicit proposals involving anti-material biocatalysts or sensors, but added, “it is not unusual however for the directorate to receive unsolicited proposals based on biological research.”

Legal Questions

Asked whether it believes the Biological Weapons Convention and U.S. law allow offensive anti-material biocatalyst work, the directorate responded:

“The tenets of the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 are clear. Neither the United States Marine Corps nor the Joint Nonlethal Weapons Directorate believe that any research that deviates from strict adherence to the guidelines set forth in the act is appropriate.”

In 1997, a U.S. Navy deputy assistant judge advocate general issued a legal review that offensive use of nonlethal anti-material biocatalysts would violate the convention.

“They say that they know it’s illegal, and if they know it is illegal, why on earth are they continuing to promote the technology by continuing to distribute information about it and ask the National Academy of Sciences to study a proposal for development of illegal biological weapons?” asked Hammond.

“Why did they send it to NAS to examine? It makes no sense to send information on an illegal technology,” said Hammond, who suspects the directorate might be hoping for “NAS to give a green light” to begin work on it.

The Proposals

Marine Corps Public Affairs Spokesman Capt. Shawn Turner, who serves as a spokesman for the directorate, said sending the documents to the National Academy of Sciences did not indicate the directorate is considering the technologies.

“When the Nonlethal Weapons Directorate went to NAS to ask for an assessment — I guess an audit for lack of a better term — both proposals that had been solicited and unsolicited, everything that had been discussed went to the NAS, that was just for a complete and thorough assessment,” he said.

Referring to the many documents sent to the NAS, he said, “If you look at those documents, you’ll see that there are all kinds of ideas in those documents and the Nonlethal Weapons Directorate director just passed it all to the NAS … There is lots of stuff in there that will never be acted upon.”

The cache of documents, including the two proposals, was pulled from public inspection earlier this year, pending a security review, according to Turner.

The National Academy of Sciences report is due for release late this month at the earliest, NAS staffers said.

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Smallpox:  WHO Drops Virus Stock Destruction Deadline

World Health Organization member states decided Saturday to drop a deadline this year for the destruction of smallpox virus stocks, citing concerns that bioterrorism could necessitate research on a new vaccine from the almost extinct disease (see GSN, Jan. 18).

Countries at the organization’s latest World Health Assembly session, which wrapped up this weekend, approved a measure first submitted in January to the WHO Executive Board by Executive Director Gro Harlem Brundtland (see GSN, May 13).  They agreed to halt plans to destroy stocks of the virus now held at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and a Russian research center in Siberia.

“We regard the potential release of smallpox as a critical national security issue, not only for us, but for the entire world,” said U.S. Assistant Surgeon General Kenneth Bernard.

The Chinese WHO delegation had previously expressed opposition to the move, saying the continued existence of the virus posed a global threat.  They reversed their position, however, on the condition that a new date for the destruction of the virus be set soon (Jonathan Fowler, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, May 19).  Under the measure adopted Saturday, the body will review the issue no later than 2005.

While existing vaccines for smallpox played the leading role in stamping out the once-prevalent disease, immunization can be fatal in a small number of cases and cannot be administered to people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV/AIDS or recent organ transplant recipients (Reuters/CNN.com, May 18).

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U.S. Response:  Disease Monitoring Worked Well at Olympics, Experts Say

The 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City provided a good test for the Real-Time Outbreak and Disease Surveillance system, an information tracking system used to detect the initial stages of a biological attack, NewsRx.com reported today (see GSN, Feb. 26).

“If you’ve got a lot of people in the community getting sick at the same time with the same thing, this system will see it,” said Per Gesteland, a physician at the University of Utah.

“This sort of system is essential as an early detector for bioterrorist events,” said Reed Gardner, chairman of medical informatics at the University of Utah.

The system twice detected unusual activity during the two sporting events, according to NewsRx.com (see GSN, Feb. 6).  The first occurred midway through the Olympics, when the system detected that the number of viral infections reached seven in one county that hosted the games, Morgan County.  The alarm level for viral infections per day for Morgan County was 6.69, NewsRx.com reported.

The second incident occurred near the end of the Paralympics, when the system detected 33 incidents of patients seeking treatment for bleeding in the seven Utah counties monitored by the system.  The expected number of cases typically was 29.34, according to NewsRx.com. 

In each of the two incidents, the system alerted Gesteland, Utah State Epidemiologist Robert Rolfs and the system’s developers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, NewsRx.com reported.  When alerted, Gesteland examined details and then consulted with the system technical advisory group, a panel of state and local public health officials.

If there had been a real biological weapons attack, the panel would have had to report within two hours to a policy advisory group, which then would have had to devise a plan of action, according to NewsRx.com.  After examining information provided by the system, however, Gesteland was able to determine that both events were false alarms, according to NewsRx.com.

Gesteland is attempting to obtain funding to keep the system, which is still operational, running on a permanent basis and to expand its information-gathering capabilities (NewsRx.com, May 20).

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Anthrax I:  Potency Differences Do Not Indicate Pattern, FBI Says

The FBI criticized the New York Times Saturday for attacking the bureau’s handling of the investigation into last fall’s anthrax attacks (see GSN, May 7).

“Far from ‘bureaucratic bungling,’ this complex investigation represents a case study in cooperation between the scientific community and government agencies,” John Collingwood, assistant director of the FBI Office of Public and Congressional Affairs, said in a letter to editor of the Times.  His letter was written in response to a May 11 Times editorial on the investigation.

Collingwood also disputed the Times’ claims that the anthrax used in last fall’s attacks became increasingly potent as the attacks progressed.  Although there were differences in the anthrax mailed to media organizations in New York and to members of the U.S. Senate, there were no significant differences in the anthrax mailed to individual senators, he said.  The FBI also has not narrowed its investigation down to one type of suspect or motive, Collingwood said (John Collingwood, New York Times, May 18).

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Anthrax II:  Pentagon Likely to Drop Vaccine Requirement, Officials Say

The U.S. Defense Department probably will abandon its policy of vaccinating all U.S. soldiers against anthrax and instead will vaccinate only those considered at high risk, officials said Friday (see GSN, May 15).

Vaccine shortages and reluctance by some soldiers to be vaccinated prompted Pentagon officials to re-examine the military anthrax vaccination program, according to the Associated Press.  Defense officials have looked at intelligence assessments, dose requirements and national security considerations when re-evaluating the anthrax vaccination plan, said Jim Turner, Pentagon spokesman on health issues.

After a three-month study on the issue, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last month approved a new plan to only vaccinate those at high risk, according to Pentagon officials who have seen the plan.  The change in policy was supposed to be announced two weeks ago, but was delayed because of concerns over vaccine shortages for the general public, AP reported.

The Pentagon is not expected to say which soldiers will fall into the high-risk category because of security reasons, officials said.  The idea is that attackers using biological weapons would not know who had been vaccinated against anthrax and who had not, according to AP.

Civilian Response

The U.S. Homeland Security Office is still determining how much anthrax vaccine would be needed for first responders — police, fire fighters and emergency personnel who would respond to a biological attack, AP reported.  The number of U.S. first responders is estimated at 2 million, officials said There is no need for the general U.S. public to be vaccinated against anthrax, health officials said (Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, May 18).

The Pentagon has created an initial plan on forming an interagency working group with the Homeland Security Office on the anthrax vaccine, but there are still unanswered questions as to civilian use, said Homeland Security Office sources.

“It is not clear whether first responders will need the vaccine,” said a Homeland Security Office source.  “Issues are being looked at, and no decisions have been made” (Guy Gugliotta, Washington Post, May 20).

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