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U.S. Response: Pentagon Seeks Improved Sensors for Aerosol AttacksBy Bryan Bender The effort will focus on technologies that can detect optical characteristics, invisible to the naked eye, of biological agents released in vapor or spray form, according to a project description. DARPA said it is seeking proposals to design and develop “high-risk, high-leverage technologies and prototypes that have the potential to greatly reduce the false alarm rate of trigger sensors for biological warfare agents.” Supporting a Nationwide Biological Defense Network The effort, which is seeking proposals from qualified corporations, research centers, and universities, would support a Pentagon-wide program to develop the first multilayered, nationwide biological detection system to defend highly populated areas from germ warfare (see GSN, Sept. 5, 2002). A primary objective of the multibillion-dollar Biological Defense Homeland Security Support Program, which officially got underway in October at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, is to combine traditional detection techniques such as environmental sensors with medical data from hospitals and health care providers to create an overarching, computerized biological surveillance system. Officials hope to field a prototype as early as next year in Washington. The newly announced Spectral Sensing of Bio-Aerosols Program is designed to assist that wider effort by providing more effective means to quickly identify biological pathogens released into the air by relying on a series of novel detection techniques. “A critical component of an effective biological warfare defense is real-time, pre-exposure detection, discrimination, and identification of the full spectrum of threats: spore, bacteria, virus and toxin,” according to a Dec. 30 public notice. “The goal of the program is to develop point detection sensors with response times of less than one minute” and with fewer false alarms than current sensors, the notice said. The program will establish a “government referee” to develop an aerosol test facility. Proposals will be tested against a “matrix of specific threat organisms, the maximum time allowed for detection, the threshold levels of threat quantity and the detector performance.” DARPA will also evaluate sensors’ ability to detect biological agents from a distance. Optical Signatures and Other Novel Technologies The project places emphasis on new detection techniques capable of identifying the optical characteristics of a biological release. Little work has been done in this area and as a result the level of effectiveness remains unclear, according to DARPA. “Investigators of biosensors have long held the belief that useful optical signatures can be exploited to detect bio-aerosols with improved selectivity and reduced false alarm rates,” according to a DARPA program document. “DARPA will conduct a rigorous evaluation of the potential to exploit these signatures with the goal of developing systems that rapidly detect biological agents,” the document says. Quick Timeline Program officials have established a short timeline for the bio-aerosols research and development program. A bidders conference will be held March 5. “Source selection will be completed in April 2003, followed immediately by contracting,” DARPA said. The urgency in developing enhanced biological detection systems comes amid new indications of the growing threat of biological terrorism. The program gets underway as British authorities this week arrested six men of North African descent found with ricin, the deadly agent extracted from castor beans (see related GSN story, today). Andy Oppenheimer, a chemical and biological weapons experts for Jane’s Information Group, told the Associated Press this week that terrorists could kill large numbers of people with ricin if it were successfully dispensed in aerosol form. “You only need milligrams to kill somebody,” he said.
From January 8, 2003 issue.Anthrax: Brentwood Road Survivor Files $100 Million LawsuitLeroy Richmond, an employee at the Brentwood Road postal facility in Washington who survived an anthrax infection caused by the 2001 attacks, filed a $100 million civil lawsuit yesterday against three U.S. Postal Service officials for failing to quickly close the facility after anthrax spores were found (see GSN, Dec. 9, 2002). The lawsuit claims that Postmaster General John Potter, as well as Brentwood’s plant manager and the Washington postmaster, acted in “deliberate indifference” to Richmond’s safety by failing to take appropriate safety precautions after the anthrax attacks, according to the Washington Post. “This is about finding some justice and closure in this case,” Richmond said yesterday. The officials’ actions also violated Richmond’s rights to equal protection under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit says. While congressional staff members received prompt attention after an anthrax-tainted letter to then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) was opened, Brentwood employees, who are predominately black, were considered “expendable” and the facility remained open, according to the lawsuit. The U.S. Postal Service refused to comment on the lawsuit, saying it had not yet received it, the Post reported. “Our first consideration has always been our employees’ safety and health,” said postal spokeswoman Deborah Yackley (Manny Fernandez, Washington Post, Jan. 8).
From January 7, 2003 issue.Smallpox I: Bush Feels No Ill Effects From Smallpox VaccineU.S. President George W. Bush has suffered no side effects after receiving a smallpox vaccination Dec. 21, the White House said yesterday. Bush announced Dec. 13 that he would receive the vaccine along with 500,000 U.S. military personnel (see GSN, Dec. 13, 2002). “The president has not had any adverse reactions,” said White House press secretary Ari Fleischer (Associated Press/Washington Post, Jan. 7).
From January 7, 2003 issue.Smallpox II: Kuwait Wants Smallpox VaccineKuwait has asked the United States for smallpox vaccine stocks, Kuwaiti U.S. Ambassador Salem Abdullah al-Jaber al-Sabah said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 6). “We have had a request to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for about three months to supply the needed vaccines,” he said, adding, “We are still waiting to hear.” The CDC was unable to immediately confirm the Kuwaiti request, USA Today reported today. To date, the agency has concentrated on stockpiling enough smallpox vaccine for the U.S. population, according to spokesman Llelwyn Grant. The request could be a sign that a conflict between Iraq and the United States is coming, USA Today reported. War is not “inevitable” but “time is running out,” the ambassador said (Richard Willing, USA Today, Jan. 7).
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