How do you react to spills of unidentified powder?

Anthrax

Anthrax is an acute infectious (i.e. transmissible through the air) disease causing coal-black skin lesions. It is caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. It can be very lethal. Anthrax can be found in nature around the world, occasionally infecting herbivores such as antelopes, camels, cattle, goats and sheep. Humans can catch it from exposure to sick animals or their tissues, or to large concentrations of anthrax spores. People are not known to catch it from each other (i.e. it is not contagious), and the body can deal with low concentrations. People can breathe it into the lungs (the most deadly way) or it can enter via the intestines or under the skin. The symptoms depend on how the anthrax gets into the body (flu-like, severe food-poisoning type, or painless skin lesions, respectively). It was estimated in 1993 that releasing 100kg of spores upwind of Washington DC could cause between 130,000 and 3m deaths.

Some strains (there are at least 89, some of which are antibiotic-resistant) are much more virulent than others. Some have been used for bioterrorism, including the Ames strain in the U.S. in 2001 and the Vollum 1B strain used in the US and UK bioweapon programs in the 1960s. The Sterne strain is a benign strain used for inoculations. Antibiotics used against anthrax include penicillin, ciprofloxacin (Cipro), doxycycline, erythromycin, and vancomycin. Antibiotics should be administered very quickly and in large doses (within a day for inhalation).

Britain contaminated Gruinard Island in Scotland in 1942 with the Vollum/14578 strain. The island remained unusable for 48 years. A room at a research lab at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland in the USA was permanently sealed after an accidental release. Obtaining anthrax from an animal in an undeveloped country and cultivating it is relatively easy. Turning it into an aerosol suitable for a weapon is very difficult. Nevertheless quite a few nations can probably produce it, and it has been used in isolated cases. Its possible use is taken very seriously, with many unexpected releases of powder causing anthrax scares, particularly in places like mail rooms and the offices of potential targets. There are also many hoaxes.

There is a vaccine (said to be 93% effective) which should be given at least four weeks in advance, with annual boosters. It is not recommended unless the risk of infection is considered high. A full-face mask protects from inhalation, and soap and water is sufficient for unbroken skin.

Anthrax forms spores when it runs out of food from a living or dead animal. Once released, anthrax spores can survive for decades in soil without a host. Contaminated sites need to be sprayed with oxidizing agents including catalysts.

Homeland Security Lists Few Toxic Threats

The Homeland Security Department is compiling a material threat determination list. There are around 60 candidates to go on the list. So far, only four have been classified as highest-level threats: anthrax, botulinum toxin, smallpox and the effects of radiological and nuclear devices. The next three nearest to making the list are plague, tularemia and chemical nerve agents. A review of viral hemorrhagic fevers will be begun next month. The department looks at how infectious the diseases are, how easy it is to get hold of them, what their effects are, whether there are enough vaccines or antidotes to cope with an outbreak, and whether new countermeasures should be developed.

Please see the following message for the remaining stories.

Other stories

Neb. Toddler Recovering From Rabbit Fever

A Nebraska toddler is on the mend after having caught tularemia, or rabbit fever, probably from a bite from a tick. There are around 100 cases per year in the United States, of which around 2 are fatal.

Chinese cities on alert to block diseased pork, 31 Die in China From Pig-Borne Disease

Diseased pork is believed to have caused the death of 32 people in China, and checkpoints have been set up to try and prevent its movement. More cases of illness have been discovered. The bacteria streptococcus suis is said to be the cause.

Dangerous Bird Flu Strain Found in Russia

The avian flu type A H5N1 which can infect humans has been found in birds in Siberia. No human infections have been reported.

Bird Flu Kills Two in Vietnam; Toll Now 60

The death toll from bird flu in Vietnam has risen to 41 in Vietnam, and 60 in the region.

FDA bans Bayer antibiotic for poultry use

Concerned that the use of the antibiotic Baytril on poultry is giving rise to drug-resistant germs that infect people, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned its use in poultry. Baytril is in the same family as Cipro, a human antibiotic used against food poisoning. This is the first time that the FDA has made such a ruling.

Quelea birds ravage crops in Nigeria's arid north

Quelea birds are the world's most abundant bird species, having taken advantage of man's farming practices, and can destroy crops just like a swarm of locusts. Driven south by the drought in Niger, they are now causing major damage in northern Nigeria.

Smithsonian Names New Director for Zoo

The new director for the National Zoo, John Berry, has both nonprofit and government experience. He is currently executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Overfishing Leads to Decline in Big Fish

Scientists have mapped the hotspots in the oceans which have (or had 50 years ago) the greatest concentrations of many big fish species. It was already known that the numbers of fish had declined overall by up to 50 percent due to overfishing. Now they have found a marked drop in the number of different types of big fish in many areas. They found only five remaining hotspots; in the Atlantic Ocean (east of Florida), in the Pacific Ocean (south of Hawaii), in the South Pacific (east of Australia's Great Barrier Reef and north of Easter Island) and in the Indian Ocean (east of Sri Lanka). They found that the hotspots occurred where the temperature is middling, at about 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Zooplankton (single-celled animals in the oceans) show a similar pattern of spread.

Hsing-Hsing at the National Zoo (1986) Photo courtesy of Smithsonian

San Diego Zoo's Giant Panda Pregnant

San Diego Zoo has confirmed that its Giant Panda Bai Yun is pregnant, possibly with twins.

Jellyfish Gone With the Wind in Calif.

Tens of thousands of purplish-black jellyfish that spent the past week feasting among the red tide algal bloom off Orange County beaches have drifted north with the current. They have not been seen in such profusion before; it is suspected that ideal temperatures plus high levels of runoff of fertilizers and sewage due to high rainfall may be the cause.

No Spike in Leukemia Found Near Mo. Town

The Missouri Health Department has compared leukemia cases in Weldon Spring with those in St. Charles County and the state as a whole, and found no cancer cluster. Residents of the town, where the federal government used to process materials for nuclear weapons, were worried because several children were diagnosed with leukemia.

Please see the following message for the remaining stories.

Volcano Erupts on Island in Nicaragua

Concepcion Volcano on the island of Ometepe on Lake Nicaragua has erupted. Ash fell up to 10 miles away. The capital, Managua, is 60 miles away.

Asia's promised tsunami alert system by December

The U.N. Development Program and Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) are to construct five equipment-packed monitoring towers off the coasts of Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in time for the anniversary of the December 26 2004 deadly tsunami.

Death Toll From India Monsoon Hits 749, Bombay Residents Help Others During Floods

The Indian monsoon death toll is approaching 750 as more bodies are dug out from mudslides. The majority died in Bombay of collapsing walls, drowning or electrocution. Some died in a stampede after a rumour started that a dam was bursting. A mandatory holiday was imposed on Thursday. Services are gradually returning. Many people helped each other, for instance tying ropes to help people as they waded, pulling each other out of the raging waters, opening their homes to strangers, and offering food and drink.

How do you react to spills of unidentified powder?

[Views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of CompuServe, Netscape, any government, agency, or news organization. External Websites are "At Your Own Risk," and no endorsement is expressed or implied.]