U.S. Scientists Find No Smallpox in Iraq

Senior U.S. military officers involved in the search for evidence of alleged Iraqi WMD efforts have said that a team of U.S. scientists has found no evidence of smallpox stockpiles or production capabilities, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Sept, 18).

A six-member team of scientists, known as “Team Pox,” conducted a three-month search for evidence that Iraq had the capability to produce smallpox, as some Bush administration had previously claimed.  The team found, however, only equipment that had been previously dismantled by U.N. inspectors and abandoned facilities, AP reported.

“We found no physical or new anecdotal evidence to suggest Iraq was producing smallpox or had stocks of it in its possession,” a U.S. military officer said, adding that the team’s findings do not preclude that smallpox could still be found (Dafna Linzer, Associated Press/USAToday, Sept. 19).

Prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom, several senior Bush administration officials raised the prospect of Iraq either possessing smallpox or having the capability to produce the agent, according to the Associated Press.

“One of the real concerns about [former Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein, as well, is his biological weapons capability, the fact that he may at some point try to use smallpox … against other nations, possibly including even the United States,” Vice President Dick Cheney said Sept. 8, 2002 (Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News, Sept. 18).

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Indian Authorities Concerned Terrorists Could Conduct Ricin Attacks

Indian security agencies are concerned that terrorists could conduct attacks using the toxin ricin after learning how to do so from al-Qaeda, the Times of India reported today (see GSN, June 3).

Recent references by al-Qaeda to the disputed region of Kashmir have raised concerns that al-Qaeda may have ties to terrorist groups operating there, a senior home ministry official said.  According to intelligence reports, al-Qaeda leaders have provided information to operatives on the production and use of ricin, the official said.

Some experts suspect that several outbreaks of “mysterious diseases” occurring in various parts of India could be “tests” of biological attacks, the Times reported (C.R. Jayachandran, Times of India, Sept. 19).

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2001 Anthrax Survivors Report Lingering Symptoms

Survivors of the 2001 anthrax attacks have said they continue to suffer from lingering physical symptoms and psychological effects that interfere with their daily lives, the Baltimore Sun reported today (see GSN, Sept. 5).

“Some days I get up, and after an hour and a half I have to lie back down,” said David Hose, who became infected while working at a U.S. State Department mail-handling facility.

Tyler Cymet, head of family medicine at Baltimore’s Sinai Hospital, has conducted telephone interviews with five of the anthrax survivors every three months since late 2001, according to the Sun.  He has found they all continue to report similar symptoms, such as weakness, memory problems and low-grade fever.

“It’s tough to ferret out what’s psychological, what’s physiological and what’s post-traumatic stress disorder,” Cymet said.

Some of the families of the anthrax survivors have complained that Washington has “forgotten” those affected by the attacks.

“These guys are also victims of terrorism,” said Ramesh Patel, whose wife, Jyotsna Patel, a New Jersey postal worker, survived inhalation anthrax but still has lingering symptoms.  “I would say they should be treated like anyone who was at the World Trade Center or the Pentagon.  But they’ve been completely forgotten,” Patel said (Scott Shane, Baltimore Sun, Sept. 18).

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U.S. Researchers Seeking Thai Help on Potentially Deadly Bacteria

U.S. biologists have recently sought to collaborate with their Thai counterparts to learn more about a deadly bacterium that appears commonly in Thailand, the Bangkok Nation reported yesterday.

The collaboration was an effort to improve U.S. defenses against terrorists using the bacteria as a weapon, said Sirirurg Songsivilai, a molecular biology professor at Mahidol University.

Burkholderia pseudomallei appears widely in northeastern Thailand and could be used as an weapon agent because it is a catalyst for the disease called melioidosis, which has no vaccine (see GSN, Jan. 16, 2002).  About 5,000 Thais die annually from the disease, according to Stitaya Sirisinha, also a Mahidol University molecular biology professor (The Nation, Sept. 17).

Melioidosis, also called Whitmore’s Disease, is an infection that can usually be treated with antibiotics if detected early, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control fact sheet (CDC release, Sept. 18).

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Soldiers, Families Ask Pentagon to Investigate Pneumonia Cases More Thoroughly

U.S. soldiers who have experienced pneumonia-like symptoms have complained that the U.S. Defense Department has not adequately investigated whether vaccines they received played a role in their illnesses, United Press International reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 10).

Some of the ill soldiers have said they started suffering pneumonia-like symptoms after receiving vaccines, particularly the anthrax vaccine, according to UPI.  Air Force Staff Sgt. Neal Erickson said he was hospitalized at Incerlik Air Force Base in Turkey in March 10 days after receiving the fourth in a series of anthrax vaccinations.  He said that he received another anthrax vaccination in August and 10 days later was hospitalized again with the same symptoms.

Erickson said the Pentagon has not considered that the vaccines are what made him ill and that he is now afraid of receiving the next planned anthrax vaccination, scheduled in five months.

“I’m real touchy here.  Come a few more months, I’m in line to get another.  It’s not like we have a choice in the matter,” he said.

The Pentagon is currently investigating an outbreak of 19 pneumonia cases among U.S. troops in southwestern Asia.  Statistical analysis has indicated that vaccinated military personnel are no more likely to develop pneumonia as those who have not been vaccinated, said Pentagon officials.  They added that there is also little evidence that military personnel are more likely to develop pneumonia after being vaccinated.

“We knew beforehand that the rate of pneumonia in anthrax-vaccinated people and in anthrax-unvaccinated people were essentially the same, so our starting point was that this was unlikely,” said Col. John Grabenstein, deputy director of the Military Vaccine Office (Mark Benjamin, United Press International, Sept. 16).

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U.S. Announces Cooperative BW Nonproliferation Effort With Russia

The U.S. State Department yesterday announced a $1.7 million contract to support collaboration between U.S. and Russian scientific centers as part of a new biological nonproliferation effort (see GSN, Aug. 18).

The contract will help fund collaboration between the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology in Boston and the International Science and Technology Center in Moscow, according to a State press release.  The contract was awarded through the department’s BioIndustry Initiative, which seeks to transform Russian biological weapons facilities into civilian institutions through U.S.-Russian research partnerships (U.S. State Department release, Sept. 15).

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U.S. Awards More Than $26 Million for Biodefense Training

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department Friday awarded more than $26 million in grants to medical facilities and universities in 23 states to help improve biological defense training and education (see GSN, June 17).

The department’s Bioterrorism Training and Curriculum Development Program has awarded more than $22 million to help provide bioterrorism-related continuing education for health care workers.  The program has also provided more than $4 million to develop new emergency preparedness curricula in medical schools.

“Our health care professionals need to be prepared for the special demands that a bioterrorism attack could make on them and on our health care system,” Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said in a press statement.  “This new program is an important part of our broader efforts to prepare our public health system, develop effective medical countermeasures and stand ready to respond if bioterrorism should strike,” he said (U.S. Health and Human Services Department release, Sept. 12).

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