January 2002

Below is a listing of bioterrorism-related events this month, part of an ongoing bioterrorism chronology that begins with Sep 11, 2001. To see events from other months, go to the Bioterrorism Watch index page.

Jan 31

HHS releases bioterrorism preparedness funds to states
The Department of Health and Human Services announces the release of the first 20% of the $1 billion in bioterrorism preparedness funds to be sent to states this year for hospitals and state and local health agencies. States will get allocations ranging from $6.5 million for Wyoming to $69.7 million for California. About one-eighth of the $200 million being released is going to hospitals for emergency planning and most of the rest to public health agencies. The next $800 million will be released after states turn in preparedness plans, which are due by April 15.

FDA clears BioPort to distribute anthrax vaccine
The Food and Drug Administration announces it has approved BioPort Corporation's anthrax vaccine production plant and released 209,000 doses of vaccine to the military. The plan allows the Pentagon to resume inoculation of US troops. The FDA says BioPort, of Lansing, Mich., has corrected problems discovered in earlier FDA inspections and can produce a safe and effective vaccine. The company has been working for FDA approval of the plant since taking over the facility from the state of Michigan in 1998. The agency says the 209,000 doses, manufactured last year, have passed quality-control tests and are safe to use in troops. Vaccination of soldiers has been stalled largely because of a vaccine shortage caused by BioPorts production problems.

FBI reports evidence of danger to water supply systems
The FBIs National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) says it has uncovered evidence that terrorists may have planned attacks on water supply systems in the United States and abroad. According to an NIPC bulletin, a computer, owned by an individual with indirect links to Osama bin Laden, was confiscated and found to contain several software programs used for structural engineering of dams and other water-retaining structures.

Jan 30

To warn investors, SEC creates Web site touting phony biohazard-detector
 As a warning to naïve investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) created a Web site about a fictitious company that is said to sell a handheld gadget "guaranteed" to detect anthrax and other deadly pathogens, according to a CNN report. The Web site touting "McWhortle Enterprises Inc." is one of a number of phony sites the SEC created, says the report, which quotes an unnamed SEC official. The SEC issued a fake news release last week on behalf of McWhortle, which triggered more than 120,000 visitors to the Web site. The site has glowing testimonials about McWhortle. But those who burrowed into the site to try to invest money received a warning that people responding to investments promotions of this kind could be cheated.

Jan 29

Ames strain of anthrax didn't come from Ames
The Washington Post reports that the "Ames" strain of anthrax did not originate from Ames, Iowa, but from a Texas strain, cultured from a Texas cow. Federal officials say confused labeling and mistaken identity in the Defense Departments quest to find the perfect vaccine to protect troops caused the confusion. The Ames strain, one of 89 known genetic varieties of anthrax, was used in each of the attacks on US Senate offices and Florida and New York media companies in September and October 2001. It was called Ames because researchers believed the shipping package bore a return address from the USDAs National Veterinary Services Laboratories, an Ames lab that diagnoses illness in cattle, according to Gregory Knudson, a former Army scientist.

Spending on National Pharmaceutical Stockpile increases sharply
The $644 million allocation for the National Pharmaceutical stockpile for 2002 marks a huge increase over previous spending for the stockpile, says a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Spending on the stockpile in each of the last 3 years was about $50 million. Some recent acquisitions that have increased outlays included $95 million worth of ciprofloxacin—enough to treat 12 million potential anthrax victims for 60 days—and the purchase of millions of doses of radiation-blocking potassium iodide pills.

Pilot biodefense data network for hospitals planned
Siemens Medical Solutions announces a program with the Real Time Outbreak and Disease Surveillance (RODS) Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh for a public health surveillance and biodefense data network. The project will link hospital emergency departments and serve as a pilot for a broader federal and state network to strengthen the countrys defenses against biological attacks, the company says. The RODS program will be compliant with the CDCs National Electronic Disease Surveillance System, designed to facilitate the collection, management, transmission, analysis, and dissemination of surveillance data.

Jan 28

County health departments not prepared for bioterrorist attacks
County public health departments in the United States are ill-prepared to respond to a biological or chemical terrorist attack, according to a survey released by the National Association of Counties. The biggest deficiencies were found in small communities and rural areas, according to association President Javier Gonzales. Many departments are so underfunded, understaffed and under-trained that they are not ready to effectively handle a major crisis, says Gonzales. The study, which involved 300 of the nations 3,066 counties, highlights the need for federal assistance in dealing with the aftermath of the Sep 11 attacks, the anthrax outbreak, and the potential for additional terrorist strikes, Gonzales tells the Washington Post.

Questions raised about research campaign to counter bioterrorism
While federal agencies are pursuing research to counter bioterrorism with the same urgency that propelled the wars on cancer and AIDS, some scientists are raising questions about the campaign, according to a CNN report. No one has really taken a systematic look and said, What do we really need in order to protect ourselves? says Kei Koizumi, an analyst at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Some worry that the research campaign is too focused on specific problems of the moment, shortchanging basic science and local preparedness needs. Others argue that the effort is draining funds from bigger health threats such as tuberculosis, malaria, pneumonia, and influenza. In December, Congress raised annual funding for bioterrorism research to roughly $1 billion, according to an Associated Press estimate based on figures from the Office of Management and Budget and AAAS.

States and CDC reviewing quarantine laws
Twenty states and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reviewing their quarantine laws to determine exactly who has the authority to call a quarantine and who would enforce one, the Associated Press reports. Public health officials have recently begun discussing quarantine, but they stress it would take a major emergency, like a wide release of smallpox in a sprawling airport, to trigger such a measure. We realize the Q-word is pretty loaded with emotion, says Dr Marty Cetron, deputy director of the CDCs quarantine division. The struggle to balance individual liberty with the public good is not something we take lightly.

Jan 26

Bush proposes five-fold increase in NIH bioterrorism research for 2003
The Bush administration says it will seek $1.5 billion for bioterrorism-related research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in fiscal 2003, a five-fold increase over the $300 million budgeted this year. The money would be used for to conduct basic research, such as sequencing the genome of potential bioterrorism agents; to support the development of new anthrax vaccines; and to improve diagnostic tools, says Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. The administration's proposed 2003 budget calls for a total of $27.3 billion for the NIH, a $3.7 billion, 16% increase over the fiscal 2002 level.

First animal model of smallpox called a research breakthrough
A report in the Baltimore Sun says that Army scientists have succeeded in infecting monkeys with fatal smallpox, a step that could lead to better vaccines and drugs for dealing with bioterrorist attacks. The research marks the first time that animals have contracted full-blown smallpox resembling the human disease, according to the report. Peter B. Jahrling, a scientist with the US Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, says that 11 of 12 crab-eating macaques died within days after exposeure to huge doses of smallpox by injection and aerosol. In a later experiment using a slightly different type of smallpox, 2 out of 4 monkeys died. Jahrling says the research yielded "tons" of data. The experiments were conducted at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Jan 25

HHS to release $200 million in bioterrorism preparedness funds to states
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will soon release more than $200 million in new bioteorrism preparedness funds to the states, says HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. The money is part of $2.9 billion for bioterrorism preparedness that was appropriated by Congress late in 2001 and signed by President Bush Jan 10. About $1 billion of that total is earmarked for helping states improve their public health systems, but states must submit bioterrorism preparedness plans as a condition for receiving the bulk of their shares, Thompson says. Those plans are due by May 15.

Tighter controls on US labs won't cut off supply of deadly microbes, experts say
Congress is working on legislation that would tighten regulations on laboratories that deal with deadly microbes, but most of those pathogens are freely available outside the United States, according to a report in the New York Times. Hence, say scientists and international organizations, restrictions on US labs may do little to keep deadly agents out of terrorists' hands. The USA Patriot Act, passed last November, requires background checks for scientists who work with highly dangerous toxins and bars certain groups from working with such toxins. In addition, the House and Senate in December passed slightly different bills dealing with registration of labs and researchers; those bills will go to a conference committee for ironing out of differences.

Jan 24

Structure of third protein in anthrax toxin described
A report in Nature describes the crystal structure of anthrax edema factor (EF), the last of three proteins that make up the anthrax toxin to be precisely mapped. The report, by Chester L. Drum of the University of Chicago and colleagues, shows how EF "hijacks" calmodulin, a key host-cell protein involved in calcium-triggered signaling pathways, according to an accompanying commentary by Robert C. Liddington. By binding with calmodulin, EF disables it and uses it to stimulate EF's own catalytic activity, which then inhibits the host's immune response.

States to receive $1 billion for bioterrorism preparedness—on condition
Federal health officials say they will provide the states with more than $1 billion to help strengthen defenses against biological attacks, but most of the money will be withheld until states complete detailed preparedness plans. The money is part of $2.9 billion that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will spend this year on bioterrorism preparedness, about 10 times what the agency spent last year, according to a New York Times report. Congress appropriated the money after the terrorist attacks of last fall. HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson says HHS will release $200 million now, and the rest will be released after state plans are approved. He says the agency is developing a formula to determine how much each state will get.

Henderson says new regional labs are a priority in bioterrorism preparedness
D. A. Henderson, MD, director of the federal Office of Public Health Preparedness, says the creation of a half-dozen sophisticated regional laboratories is one of his high priorities in preparing for bioterrorist attacks. In an interview with the Associated Press, Henderson says two national labs now handle the most dangerous pathogens, but they are too busy to deal with every possible threat. Other priorities listed by Henderson:

• Help cities make plans for vaccinating and distributing antibiotics to large numbers of people. The federal government will provide vaccines and drugs, but cities will need to administer them.
• Establish round-the-clock reporting systems linking hospital emergency rooms and state health departments, so that experts are available to consult with local physicians any time they see unusual symptoms.
• Help hospitals prepare better to cope with a bioterrorism incident, which could require the isolation of large numbers of patients.
• Develop better information for the public on diseases related to bioterrorism.

Jan 23

Reward in anthrax investigation raised to $2.5 million
Federal authorities announce they are raising the reward for information on the perpetrator of last fall's anthrax attacks from $1 million to $2.5 million. The increase is announced by FBI and US Postal Inspection Service officials at a state police office in West Trenton, N.J. Officials also say they will appeal for help in the case by mailing half a million fliers to postal customers in the Trenton area and nearby Bucks County, Pa. The fliers include pictures of the four envelopes that contained anthrax, along with some surmises about the type of person who may have sent them. The letters, all bearing a Trenton postmark, were sent to the New York Post, NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, and the Washington offices of Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

EPA ombudsman suspects Hart building cleanup created health risk
Robert Martin, the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) independent ombudsman, launches an investigation into whether the EPA erred in reopening the Hart Senate Office Building yesterday. Martin says the chlorine dioxide gas that was used to kill anthrax spores in the building may have created a "potential serious health risk," according to the Associated Press.

Jan 22

Hart building reopens after 3-month cleanup
The Hart Senate Office Building is reopened after a costly 3-month project to cleanse it of anthrax spores spread by a letter opened in Sen. Tom Daschle's office last Oct 15. "I feel completely safe," says Daschle on entering the building. The building was fumigated with chlorine dioxide gas and treated with liquid and foam decontaminants at a cost estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency at $14 million. But the final cost could be considerably higher when sums spent by the Department of Defense, the Capitol Police, and Congress itself are counted, authorities say.

Genetic sequencing of anthrax yields clues that could help investigation
Scientists at the Institute for Genomics Research (TIGR) in Rockville, Md., say they have found genetic fingerprints that may make it possible to determine which laboratory is the source of the anthrax used in the attacks last fall, according to a New York Times report. All the anthrax specimens recovered from the recent attacks were of the Ames strain, and a number of laboratories have stocks of the same strain. In a project launched 2 years ago, TIGR has been mapping the complete anthrax genome, using an Ames strain sample from a British laboratory. After the attacks last October, TIGR also began mapping the genome of the Florida anthrax attack. Comparison of the two genomes has revealed several slight differences, scientists said. The list of differences has been given to Dr. Paul Keim of Northern Arizona University, curator of a collection of nearly 100 anthrax strains, who will use the list to look for differences between the various Ames strain samples in the collection. This study could lead to matching of the attack anthrax with one of the Ames samples collected from about a dozen US and foreign laboratories, the report says.

Microbes missing from Army lab called noninfectious
Anthrax specimens that disappeared from the Army's Fort Detrick, Md., laboratory in 1991 had been sterilized and could not have figured in last fall's anthrax attacks, according to a former Fort Detrick officer quoted in a Washington Post report. C. J. Peters, former deputy commander of the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), says the anthrax samples had been sterilized to allow study under a microscope and that live samples were kept in a separate, more tightly controlled facility. However, he says the apparent loss of 27 microbe specimens from USAMRIID in 1991 reflected a deeply dysfunctional environment there at the time.

Jan 20

Missing anthrax specimens were reported in 1992 Fort Detrick inventory
A report in the Hartford Courant says a 1992 inventory at the US Army's biological warfare research facility at Fort Detrick, Md., showed that specimens of anthrax spores, Ebola virus, and other pathogens were missing from the laboratory. The inquiry at the Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) also found evidence that someone was secretly entering a laboratory late at night to do research, apparently involving anthrax. It is unclear whether the Ames strain of anthrax, the strain used in the recent bioterrorist attacks, was among the 27 sets of specimens that were reported missing. One of the 27 sets has since been found in the lab, but the fate of the rest remains unclear. An Army spokeswoman says the missing specimens do not pose a threat because they would have been chemically killed in preparation for microscopic study. But Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, a molecular biologist at the State Uniersity of New York, says anthrax spores might be able to survive the chemical treatment.

Jan 18

Reopening of Hart building rescheduled for Jan 22
US Capitol Police officials say the Hart Senate Office Building will reopen Tuesday, Jan 22, in the wake of tests showing no anthrax spores in the area where workers found a bag containing protective gear that was used in the building cleanup. The reopening was expected to take place this week but was delayed when the bag was found in a ceiling space over a hallway near Sen. Tom Daschle's office. In a related move, basement offices in the Dirksen Senate Office Building that share a ventilation system with the area where the bag was found are reopened. Those offices were closed Thursday, Jan 17. The Hart building has been closed since Oct 17, 2001, 2 days after an anthrax-laden letter was opened in Daschle's office.

CDC unveils redesigned Web site offering bioterrorism information
The CDC announces the debut of its redesigned Web site providing information on health threats related to biological, chemical, and radiological agents. The site, at www.bt.cdc.gov, is the "official federal site for medical, laboratory, and public health professionals to reference when providing information to the public and for updates on protocols related to health threats such as anthrax," CDC officials say. The agency redesigned the site in response to overwhelming demand from the public and health professionals for information during the anthrax crisis. In October 2001, usage of CDC's main Web site jumped more than 100%, making it the most visited federal Web site that month, officials say.

Vials found in Fort Detrick dump halt cleanup
Officials at the US Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, Md., say cleanup efforts at the institute's landfills have been stopped until two vials of granular material found in a dump last week can be identified. The material is not anthrax spores or any other recognized biological weapon, officials say. The vials were found Jan 7 by workers who were excavating a dump that has been blamed for groundwater pollution. A USAMRIID spokeswoman says the laboratory should be able to identify the material next week.

Jan 17

WHO executive board endorses keeping smallpox virus stocks for now
The World Health Organization's executive board decides that the two known stocks of smallpox virus should be kept for now in order to permit continued research on improved vaccines and antiviral drugs. The board endorses a prior recommendation from a committee of experts; the decision will be presented to the World Health Assembly (WHA) for approval in May. In 1999, the WHA authorized preserving the virus stocks, in the United States and Russia, until no later than the end of this year. The bioterrorism events of 2001, prompted with research progress, have prompted the decision to retain the virus stocks, WHO officials say.

Reopening of Hart building postponed again
Plans to reopen the Hart Senate Office Building are delayed again after officials report finding equipment used in the building cleanup in a hallway ceiling outside Sen. Tom Daschle's office. Officials say the equipment is personal protective gear and that preliminary tests have shown no contamination, but confirmatory tests remain to be done. About 25 people who were in the area of the discovered gear are taking preventive antibiotics, officials say. The building, closed after an anthrax-laden letter was opened in Daschle's office Oct 15, was scheduled to be reopened Friday, Jan 18.

Bush to seek doubling of antiterrorism spending, report says
A Los Angeles Times report says President Bush will seek to increase antiterrorism spending to at least $24 billion in 2003, roughly double this year's level of $12 billion. The "homeland security" spending category includes airport security, public health, protection against bioterrorism, and aid to police and firefighters, says Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., director of the Office of Management and Budget. The Times report says the total homeland security funding Bush is seeking is roughly in line with what senior Democrats in Congress proposed last fall. Bush's proposed 2003 budget is to be released Feb 4.

Jan 16

Military worried about possible link between anthrax vaccine and birth defects
US military officials, concerned about a preliminary study linking anthrax vaccinations in pregnant women with an increased risk of birth defects, take steps to make sure that women do not receive immunizations during pregnancy. William Wenkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, orders the service branches to improve screening efforts, potentially by including pregnancy tests. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed, officials say. The Defense Department has a long-standing policy against immunizing women during pregnancy; it is not made clear why some pregnant women received the anthrax vaccine.

Koplan warns against narrow focus on bioterrorism
Jeffrey Koplan, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), warns that US public health authorities should not neglect other major health concerns in their focus on bioterrorism. "We can't lose sight of the many major killers in this country," such as heart disease, stroke, and tobacco-related diseases, Koplan says at a health policy conference in Washington, DC. He comments that recent increases in public health funding in response to concern about bioterrorism can help the system deal with other problems as well.

Jan 15

Anthrax-vaccine plant gets FDA approval, but other hurdles remain
BioPort Corp. of Lansing, Mich., has received Food and Drug Administration approval to manufacture anthrax vaccine, but other obstacles remain before the plant can begin shipping the vaccine, an FDA official says. The FDA signaled its approval for the plant's operation in late December, the official says. However, a Hollister-Stier laboratory in Spokane, Wash., where the vaccine is put into vials, still needs FDA approval before BioPort can ship vaccine to the US military. In addition, each vaccine lot must be tested for purity and potency before it can be released. BioPort, the only US manufacturer of the vaccine, has been working to gain FDA approval of its plant since 1998. The company renovated the plant after taking it over from the state of Michigan.

Lockheed says it has system that detects pathogens in mail
Lockheed Martin Corp., a supplier of mail-sorting equipment to the US Postal Service, says it has developed a system to detect and contain pathogens in mail. The BioMailSolutions system samples the air around letters and can filter out anthrax spores and various other potential pathogens, the company says. Bill Harris, product manager for the system, says tests have shown that it can filter out 99.97% of contaminants larger than 0.3 micron in diameter, far smaller than anthrax spores. The device uses a HEPA- (high-efficiency particulate air) filtered system and other sampling devices and filters. If a pathogen is detected, the system shuts down and the pathogens are trapped, Harris says.

Czech army building facility to study bioterrorism-related diseases
The Czech army is building a hospital to study diseases and pathogens related to bioterrorism, such as Ebola virus infection, plague, and anthrax, according to a report in the online verison of the British newspaper The Financial Times. The report, quoting a story in a Czech newspaper, says the Centre for Protection Against Biological Weapons is to be completed this year. The hospital is being built at a secret location in East Bohemia. The decision to build the facility followed the Sep 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, according to the report.

Jan 14

Fauci says smallpox vaccine dilution test going well
Anthony S. Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says tests to determine if the nation's existing stock of smallpox vaccine can be diluted to cover five times as many people have gone well and probably will be reported by the beginning of February. In a speech at the National Press Club, Fauci says the investigators still need to do their final analysis of the data, but the results "look good." Fauci says he continues to think that a national smallpox vaccination program is not necessary. The government has 15.4 million doses of the vaccine; dilution would increase the number to about 77 million.

New acquisitions for National Pharmaceutical Stockpile to be considered
A New York Times report says government experts will meet behind closed doors in February to determine what drugs and treatments should be added next to the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile. The stockpile now includes drugs for anthrax and radiation exposure and vaccine for smallpox, among other things. At the meeting, experts on chemical and biological warfare will consider experimental treatments for hemorrhagic fevers and smallpox, the size of the supply of botulism antitoxin, and a new cyanide antidote, according to the report. Steven Bice, who manages the stockpile, says the entire formulary will be reviewed.

Harvard virus researcher's death was an accident, coroner says
A medical examiner says that a Harvard University biologist and virus researcher whose body was found in December died in an accidental fall from a bridge in Memphis. Dr. Don C. Wiley's disappearance Nov 16 caused speculation that he might have been the target of terrorists because of his research on potentially deadly viruses. But Shelby County (Tenn.) Medical Examiner O. C. Smith says the evidence suggests that Wiley lost his balance and fell 135 feet into the Mississippi River early on Nov 16. Wiley had a seizure disorder that sometimes caused dizziness, and his driving might have been impaired because he had had some alcohol the night of his death, Smith says. Wiley's rental car was found abandoned on the bridge; his body was found Dec 20 in Vidalia, La.

Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal from bioterrorism tipster
The US Supreme Court refuses to hear the appeal of Daniel Rupp, a Kansas man who was fired from his job with a public defender's office after he alerted the FBI about a possible bioterrorism threat and then tried to help the FBI with its investigation. Rupp told the FBI in 1998 about Timothy Tobiason, who wrote manuals about germ-weapons production and sold them at gun shows. Rupp was told to let the FBI handle the investigation because his participation could have caused a conflict of interest with his job in the federal public defender's office in Wichita, Kan. Rupp eventually was fired for disobeying that order. He argued that the firing violated his free-speech rights, but federal courts ruled that the interest of the public defender's office outweighed his speech rights.

Jan 13

How-to reports on bio weapons still available from government
Months after the mailborne anthrax attacks and expanded efforts to prevent bioterrorism, hundreds of formerly secret government documents that tell how to turn dangerous germs into weapons are still available to the public, according to a New York Times report. Reports on such topics as how to freeze-dry biological warfare agents and shrink particle sizes were written during the US biological weapons program, from 1943 to 1969. Since then, hundreds of the documents have been declassified as part of an effort to make government operations more visible. The reports are available from the Defense Technical Information Center in Fort Belvoir, Va. Scientists and military experts are now urging that such reports be locked up again, and the Bush administration is considering doing so, said John H. Marburger III, the White House science adviser.

Jan 12

States sue Web site over sales of ciprofloxacin prescriptions
The Florida and Washington state attorneys general have filed suit against an online pharmacy and a Florida physician who prescribed ciprofloxacin without examining or talking with patients. The suits were filed after an investigator from the Washington attorney general's office, using a fictitious name, ordered the antibiotic from the Web site Aprescribe.com, according to a New York Times report. The suit alleges that physician Serge Lefevere Alexander wrote prescriptions solely on the basis of medical information submitted electronically by Web site customers. Ciprofloxacin is used to treat anthrax infections.

Jan 11

Postal worker said to have 'aborted anthrax infection'
News reports describe the case of 37-year-old postal inspector who has been sick for nearly 3 months with what looks like inhalational anthrax, despite a lack of evidence of the bacteria in his blood. The inspector first became ill after cleaning a machine contaminated with anthrax spores at the Brentwood postal center in Washington, DC, according to a case report in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. Five days after his exposure, he was hospitalized with a headache, cough, severe chest pain, and other symptoms. His symptoms resolved with 2 days of antibiotic treatment, and he was sent home, but the symptoms returned and he was readmitted to the hospital a month after his first admission. He had a small pleural effusion but did not have an enlarged mediastinum or a blood culture positive for anthrax. A New York Times story says he spent 45 days in the hospital and is recuperating at home but is still too ill to work. His physicians say they suspect the patient has "aborted anthrax infection."

Capitol Police officer accused of perpetrating anthrax hoax
A US Capitol Police officer is indicted for allegedly leaving a powdery substance at a police security station with a note saying, "Please inhale." The suspect, James Joseph Pickett, 35, is charged with making false statements and obstructing and interfering with other members of the Capitol police. After his arraignment in US District Court, Pickett is released on his own recognizance.

Jan 10

UN experts urge delaying destruction of smallpox virus stocks
United Nations health experts have recommended delaying the destruction of the world's remaining stocks of smallpox virus to allow time for the development of better smallpox vaccines, say World Health Organization (WHO) officials in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2000, WHO had set this year as the deadline for destroying the last stocks of virus in the hope that the disease would never reappear. But concern about the possible use of smallpox as a biological weapon by terrorists or rogue states has grown in recent months, especially since the anthrax attacks of last October. The postponement recommendation will be considered by the WHO executive committee next week. The United States and Russia are the only countries known to have smallpox virus stocks.

Vacant positions raise concern about federal health decisions
Unfilled leadership positions at the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and several other health agencies are raising concern that key decisions related to bioterrorism and other health issues may be postponed or made without input from the nations best scientific minds, a Washington Post report says. Lawmakers, industry executives, academics, and patient advocates are urging the White House to recommend nominees, while Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson seeks outside consultants to help determine how to spend an extra $2.5 billion to fight bioterrorism. Without good leaders, the agencies will continue to tread water without making any progress, says Mohammed Akhter, executive director of the American Public Health Association. Since taking office, Thompson has been without an assistant secretary of health and a director for the Health Resources and Services Administration. In a matter of weeks, the surgeon generals office will be empty.

Jan 9

CDC video describes protective measures for mail handlers
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides an educational video for people who process, sort, or deliver mail. The 15-minute video describes strategies for protecting workers from anthrax exposures and methods for detecting and handling suspicious mail. The tape is intended for workers in both small mailrooms and large processing and distribution centers.

FDA provides guidelines to prevent food tampering
Prompted by the recent terrorist attacks, the Food and Drug Administration publishes voluntary security guidelines to help food producers, importers, processors, and distributors protect food from tampering. The recommendations address issues such as criminal background checks on employees, safeguarding water supplies, and monitoring salad bars. Companies are advised to watch for unusual employee behavior and to restrict access to computer control systems, laboratories, and sensitive areas of processing plants, the FDA says. Whats most important is that companies look at their whole operations from the point of view of could there be an intrusion in there and what do we have to do to lower the likelihood, says Joseph Levitt, FDAs food safety chief.

Jan 7

Fewer than 2% of eligible workers accept anthrax vaccine
CDC officials report that fewer than 2% of 10,000 people who may have been exposed to anthrax during recent attacks have taken the anthrax vaccine. The figure demonstrates postal employees unwillingness to enroll in a medical experiment, officials say. In December the CDC began offering the vaccine or 40 additional days of antibiotics, or both, to postal workers, Capitol Hill staff members, and news media employees working in contaminated buildings. There are some who look at this as the government experimenting on their members, says Dr. Ben Schwartz, a CDC official involved in anthrax research. The vaccine is approved only for preexposure prevention, not for postexposure use. The enrollment figures are presented to a committee of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine.

Immune globulin treatment may be used if more anthrax cases appear
CDC officials report that the government may offer an experimental treatment for inhalational anthrax if more cases appear. The treatment is immune globulin, a protective protein extracted from the blood of soldiers who received the anthrax vaccine. Immune globulin treatment for anthrax is experimental and will require the consent of the FDA, says CDC anthrax expert Bradley Perkins, MD. The therapy has worked with other diseases, and discussions with FDA are far enough along that we could rush this through if new cases of anthrax appear, Perkins says at a scientific meeting to evaluate a CDC study of preexposure anthrax vaccination.

Congress funds creation of genetic database on biological threats
The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, to be located on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, is receiving $4.5 million from Congress to create a database on biological threats. Bioinformatics, the science of managing and interpreting large amounts of genetic data, is an important tool for identifying and fighting bioterrorism. Several states will engage in a cooperative effort to develop the institute. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., says the one-stop shop will mark a new effort to coordinate government and private organizations researching biological threats.

Bioterrorism spurs efforts to improve communication among public health agencies
A CNN report says bioterrorism fears are forcing experts to look at todays inefficient methods of tracking disease outbreaks. Recent anthrax mailings made clear that hospital workers have been attempting to send data over a jumbled system consisting of telephones, faxes, and computers that cant interact with each other. Experts are now working to establish a single nationwide early-warning network. In some cases were talking about installing computers in places for the first time, says Elin Gursky of the Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies at Johns Hopkins University. For now, the focus is on improving networking technology in the 3,000 federal, state, and local public health offices and labs. Additionally, the CDC will expand its Health Alert Network nationwide.

Jan 6

Missteps in anthrax outbreak reviewed
Health officials begin to review the anthrax outbreak that killed five people, infected at least 13 more, and frightened countless others over the course of 2 months. A New York Times article reports that officials acknowledge the handling of the outbreak suffered from mistakes and miscalculations about bioterrorism in general and anthrax in particular. The missteps include: Medical scientists thought they knew anthrax but overestimated the death rate for those infected and didn't know how many spores a person must inhale to develop the disease; communications procedures failed to reassure a frightened public; federal, state, and local governments had no experience collaborating in investigations that combined medical and criminal issues; laboratories were overwhelmed with the flood of samples that required testing for anthrax spores; and misunderstandings persisted concerning the difference between the goals of terrorism and the goals of warfare.

Postal Service deluged with new-technology offers
The urgency to develop new technology to fight bioterrorism is met by entrepreneurial companies touting everything from ultraviolet light and lasers to electromagnetic pulses as ways to kill anthrax. The US Postal Service has already awarded two contracts worth $40 million for equipment to sanitize mail through irradiation. Several companies are developing similar technology for use in corporate mailrooms. But some health experts caution against relying too heavily on new technology that has been tested only in laboratories. "Many of these things have not been well researched, they have not been well documented, and they have not proved to be really practical in a routine-use environment," says David Bruckner, chief of the laboratory medicine division at the UCLA School of Medicine. Meanwhile, the Postal Service continues to receive solicitations from businesses, according to spokesman Gerry Kreienkamp. He says the Postal Service hopes to combine the new technology with a particle-detection system that tells whether dangerous spores are in the mail before they are zapped.

Jan 5

New Hampshire youth claims he's sending anthrax letters
Eighteen-year-old Elijah Wallace of Fremont, N.H,. tells police he sent an anthrax-laced letter to Sen. Tom Daschle, D-N.C., and planned to send more. Police find Wallace hiding in a vacant home armed with a gun and two knives. The youth says he planned to send anthrax-laced letters and had already sent four, says Fremont Police Chief Neal Janvrin. Investigators find five letters addressed to local businesses and a bag of white powder in the house with Wallace, though preliminary tests on one letter show no signs of anthrax contamination, Janvrin tells USA Today.

Jan 4

Justice Department consortium and training centers to receive funding for preparedness training
Congress voted to triple the budgets of five training centers that form the Justice Department's National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, says David Hess, a Justice Department Spokesman, according to an Associated Press item. An old Alabama fort, a former Nevada nuclear weapons testing site, and similar settings in Louisiana, New Mexico, and Texas currently serve as the nation's principal training grounds for responding to chemical, biological, and other terrorist attacks on US soil. But only a small number of emergency workers access the training. The Consortium will receive up to $145 million to improve this, and the Bush administration plans to ask for more money next year, according to Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge. "The goal is that every community across the country has the ability to respond to terrorist attacks and knows what to do," Nathan Naylor, spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is quoted as saying. "A lot of firefighters, police and medics are right now only bravely prepared to step into harm's way without having the tools or skills to survive."

Credit courses on bioterrorism preparedness for clinicians offered on Web
Hospital-based physicians and nurses can access a new Web site to learn how to diagnose and treat rare infections and exposures to bioterrorist agents such as anthrax and smallpox. Funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and designed by researchers in the Center for Disaster Preparedness at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), the Web site offers free continuing education credits in bioterrorism preparedness. "This Web site is an important new tool to help doctors and nurses identify rare infections that also could be potential bioterrorist threats," says AHRQ Director John M. Eisenberg, MD. The site provides five online courses through the UAB Office of Continuing Medical Education for emergency department clinicians, including physicians, nurses, radiologists, pathologists, and infection control practitioners.

Jan 3

Powder-laden letter to Daschle called harmless
A threatening letter containing a powdery substance is opened in the Capitol office of Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., prompting police to seal off the area around the office. An FBI official says initial tests indicate the powder is harmless and the agency believes the letter is a hoax. Law enforcement officials also say the letter has a London postmark and an illegible date and does not resemble the four previous anthrax-laden letters that were mailed to Daschle, Sen. Patrick Leahy, and two New York City news organizations last fall. The letter is sent to the Army laboratory at Fort Detrick, Md., for analysis. A police spokesman says it is not immediately possible to tell if the letter was harmless to start with or was rendered harmless by irradiation. All mail to Capitol Hill has been irradiated since shortly after the contaminated letters to the two senators were found. The previous anthrax-tainted letter to Daschle was sent to his office in the Hart Senate Office Building, across the street from the Capitol, in October.

Maryland to e-mail state physicians with bioterrorism updates
A private Maryland medical group compiles a registry of physician e-mail addresses so governments can update private physicians on clinical advice during bioterrorism incidents. Some 5,500 of the state's 10,200 practicing physicians have registered their e-mail addresses with MedChi, the state's medical society. Maryland's Secretary of Health, Georges C. Benjamin, endorses the private effort, saying it will help him make additional improvements to the public health communications network. However, barriers to a reliable e-mail network remain large, owing to the fact that many doctors do not use e-mail or use it only occasionally. MedChi Executive Director T. Michael Preston says the registry is open to all Maryland physicians.

CDC says $1.5 billion is only half enough for bioterrorism preparedness
Administration health officials tell Congress that preparing for bioterrorism will require $3 billion, or twice as much as President Bush is requesting. USA Today reports that, while some lawmakers suggest the president is asking for too little, it remains unclear how much money Congress eventually will approve. Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, director of the CDC, lists bioterrorism needs totaling $3 billion, while Bush has asked Congress for only $1.5 billion.

Jan 2

FTC warns Web sellers about unproven bioterrorism remedies
Dozens of Web site operators receive government warnings to stop making unproven claims about bioterrorism protection devices such as ineffective gas masks and ultraviolet lights. In November, the FTC sent e-mail warnings to operators of 50 sites selling questionable treatments for anthrax, smallpox, and other potential biological weapons. The remedies included dietary supplements such as oregano oil and zinc mineral water. Half of those sites abandoned their claims and the rest may face prosecution if they fail to do so, the agency says. Operators could face fines, be banned from operating, or be required to repay customers.

Jan 1

EPA says fumigation of Hart building seems to have worked
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials say preliminary indications are that the latest fumigation of the Hart Senate Office Building effectively killed off remaining anthrax spores. Readings for humidity, temperature, and the concentration of chlorine dioxide gas point to a successful fumigation, but the agency must wait for laboratory tests to confirm this, says the EPA's Richard Rupert. The fumigation was started Friday morning, Dec 28, and was completed early Monday morning, Dec 31. Technicians used steam to raise the humidity to 75% in order to make the gas stick to any remaining anthrax spores.

For other months' installments, go to the Bioterrorism Watch index page