Global Security Newswire

Two air-monitoring stations near Houston, Texas, recently detected signs of the biological weapons agent tularemia, but officials have said they do not think it is indicative of a terrorist attack, the Houston Chronicle reported yesterday.  The stations, located in east Harris County, are part of a national system of biological detection stations (see GSN, Jan. 24).

The two stations detected three fragments of the bacteria that cause tularemia Sunday and Monday, officials said.  The Houston Health and Human Services Department, along with the U.S. Homeland Security Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have warned area hospitals to watch for human cases of the disease, but none have yet been reported.  While tularemia is a biological weapon, it also occurs naturally.

"Everyone is, obviously, very convinced that we haven't had a terrorist attack," Houston health department spokeswoman Kathy Barton said.

The detection of tularemia in Houston is the first biological agent of concern detected by the national network -- a sign that the system is working, said Homeland Security spokeswoman Michelle Petrovich.

"It shows the system is working, and protecting people," Petrovich said (Eric Berger, Houston Chronicle, Oct. 9).