image coutesy of: diseasepicture.com

Anthrax Attack Threat Persists, DHS Says

Wednesday, May 18, 2011The U.S. government must remain poised to deal with another attack involving anthrax, a senior Homeland Security Department official warned last week (seeGSN, May 9).The U.S. government must remain poised to deal with another attack involving anthrax, a senior Homeland Security Department official warned last week (seeGSN, May 9).The U.S. government must remain poised to deal with another attack involving anthrax, a senior Homeland Security Department official warned last week (seeGSN, May 9).

"The threat of an attack using a biological agent is real and requires that we remain vigilant. A wide-area attack using aerosolized Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria that causes anthrax, is one of the most serious mass casualty biological threats facing the U.S.," DHS chief medical officer Alexander Garza said during a May 12 hearing of the House Homeland Security emergency preparedness subcommittee.

Five people died and more were made sick by the 2001 anthrax mailings. The FBI years later identified Army scientist Bruce Ivins as the perpetrator, but the microbiologist committed suicide before charges were filed (see GSN, April 21).

"An anthrax attack could potentially encompass hundreds of square miles, expose hundreds of thousands of people, and cause illness, death, fear, societal disruption and economic damage," Garza said. "If untreated, the disease is nearly 100 percent fatal, which means that those exposed must receive life-saving [medical countermeasures] as soon as possible."  Full article