CBRNE: Public Would Participate in Anthrax Countermeasure Release: Report

Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011

A new study suggests U.S. residents would generally take part in a large-scale public health campaign to counter a deliberate release of anthrax into the air, despite concerns over potential threats to large gatherings of people and uncertainty about the government's ability to handle such an emergency, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reported on Monday (seeGSN, Aug. 4).

Most respondents to a telephone questionnaire expressed openness to retrieving antibiotic tablets from distribution locations as part of a public effort to supply countermeasures to all inhabitants of an urban jurisdiction within two days, according to the abstract for the Harvard University report. Willingness to participate in a preventive campaign was largely consistent between groups of roughly 500 people surveyed in three areas affected by the 2001 anthrax mailings -- New York City, Washington and Mercer County, N.J. -- and a more widely dispersed population of 1,092 individuals.

Inaccurate beliefs regarding anthrax as well as assumptions about the availability of countermeasures from alternative sources would pose additional difficulties for a response effort, the report states. Respondents noted reservations about the government's public health response capabilities amid setbacks in distributing the H1N1 flu vaccine in 2009, the study's authors said.

The journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism published the report (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy release, Aug. 8)
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TERRORISM: Norway Killer Wrote of Anthrax Attacks

Wednesday, July 27, 2011The man who confessed to carrying out last week's bombing and mass shooting in Norway wrote at length on the potential for waging biowarfare with anthrax, though specialists said there was no indication he possessed or was prepared to use the deadly pathogen, the New York Times reported on Tuesday (see GSN, May 18).

www.co.rockland.ny.us

"He obviously doesn't have any specialized knowledge," Harvard University biological weapons expert Matthew Meselson told the newspaper. "He's copied words from other places, and says himself that he doesn’t have the expertise."

Anders Breivik has admitted to carrying out the weekend bombing of a government facility in the capital of Oslo and the subsequent shooting spree on a political party youth retreat taking place at a nearby island. The two attacks killed a minimum of 76 people.

Shortly before the attacks, Breivik posted online a 1,500-page manifesto that addressed at length how to obtain and employ weapons of mass destruction including anthrax, which he described as "one of the most effective" threats. "Anthrax" was mentioned 50 times in the document and "spores" in 20 instances.   Read more

ANTHRAX HOAX > Alabama man pleads guilty to mailing hoax Anthrax letters

Wed, 2011-07-13 09:25 AM

By: Mark Rockwell

Robert S. Vance Federal Building

A man in Alabama pleaded guilty on July 12 in a federal courthouse to mailing a series of letters containing white powder to a state legislators, judges and a county sheriff.

Clifton Lamar “Cliff” Dodd, 39 of Lincoln, AL, pleaded guilty to 23 counts of mailing letters containing white powder “that could reasonably have been perceived” as anthrax, said the FBI’s Birmingham division in a July 12 statement. Dodd also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to mail eight of the hoax letters.

A series of the hoax letters was sent through the mail in March and April of last year, said the FBI, arriving at a wide range of locations, including the offices of a U.S. senator and state senator in a federal office building in Birmingham, as well as a county sheriff’s office.

U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby’s office in the Robert S. Vance Federal Building received one of the letters containing white powder on March 8, 2010. Dodd also admitted sending similar powder-laden letters Alabama Sen. Jim Preuitt in Talladega, two Talladega County state court judges, the county’s Sheriff Jerry Studdard, several Talladega County Jail inmates who were in the jail at the same time as Dodd, as well as police investigators from both the Lincoln and Oxford police departments who previously had interviewed Dodd.

Dodd and an accomplice, Millstead “Mickey” Darden, of Lincoln, AL, were first indicted in connection to the mailings in late April, 2010.  Darden pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy charges in the case.

“We are pleased with the defendant’s decision to plead guilty and look forward to sentencing,” U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance said.

According to the FBI, Dodd acknowledged sending 15 hoax anthrax letters between March 6 and April 5, 2010. He also pleaded guilty to mailing another eight letters containing white powder on April 24, 2010, and to conspiring with another man to mail those letters.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, the Federal Protective Service, and the Talladega County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Whisonant prosecuted the case.

ANTHRAX > Experimental Anthrax Vaccine Shows Three-Year Stability

image courtesy of:  scientistlive.com

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

A Maryland biotechnology firm on Tuesday said research has shown that an experimental anthrax vaccine can remain stable in the stockpile for three years (see GSN, Feb. 24, 2010).
PharmAthene's SparVax recombinant protective antigen vaccine is intended to provide protection against infection by the potential bioterror agent with fewer doses over a shorter timespan than the current treatment.
"Demonstration of 36 month final product stability is considered an important technical milestone under our current contract with the [Health and Human Services Department's] Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)," PharmAthene Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer Thomas Fuerst said in a press release. "We are extremely pleased to announce this achievement, which suggests that our rPA product candidate is both highly stable and potent. Stability has historically been a stumbling block for other recombinant anthrax vaccine programs, so we're especially excited about these ongoing results, which represent an important breakthrough for PharmAthene's rPA vaccine program" (PharmAthene release, July 12).

FREE > Isolation & Quarantine Response Planning Toolkit

In the absence of rapid and definitive diagnostic tests, vaccines, or cures, isolation and quarantine remains Public Health's best strategy against the spread of mass illness. Public Health - Seattle & King County (Public Health) is an Advanced Practice Center for Emergency Preparedness and established this Planning for Isolation & Quarantine Response Web Toolkit to support local Public Health jurisdictions in their efforts to plan for and manage a large-scale isolation and quarantine response. The Toolkit is designed for all types of users and is separated by topic for the ease of use and navigation.

BIODEFENSE > Nano detector spots deadly anthrax

Published 7 July 2011

image coutesy of powells.com

An automatic and portable detector that takes just fifteen minutes to analyze a sample suspected of contamination with anthrax is being developed by researchers in the United States. The technology amplifies any anthrax DNA present in the sample and can reveal the presence of just forty microscopic cells of the deadly bacteria Bacillus anthracis.

B. anthracis, commonly known as anthrax, is a potentially lethal microbe that might be used intentionally to infect victims through contamination of food and water supplies, aerosolized particles, or even dried powders, such as those used in bioterrorist attacks in the United States in fall 2001. Detection is crucial to preventing widespread fatalities in the event of an anthrax attack.

The complexity of the microbe’s biology have so far made it difficult to build a portable system that can be employed quickly in the field. That said, there are several systems available that use PCR to amplify a particular component of the genetic material present in anthrax and then to flag this amplified signal. These systems are fast and sensitive but do not integrate sample preparation and so are not as convenient as a single detector unit would be.  Full article

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