Opinion on Bio Hazard and Water Contamination
 

What is your opinion the threat of Biochemical warfare or the contamination of our water supply. It was pretty shocking just thinking about the possibility. They said we wouldnt have the resources or the current capability to effectively handle it.

Kevin

Thats a scary thought. I mean really we aren't prepared for something of that stature. I mean what could we do or would we do. There's really nothing you cando to prepare for something like that either. Only thing u can do is hope and pray it doesn't happen. But it's a scary thought that it could and might.:eek:
DGPhoney~

Hey, I never thought of that.....thanks Kevin. yet another thing to be freakin scared of!!!!!!!!!:eek:

It is a very scary thought that biowarfare could happen to us one day. I recently watched a video in class about biowarfare. It was a mock attack on the US by unknown terrorists. The documentary showed real life politicians and policy makers figuring out what to do if something like this happened. It was unreal what an outbreak of anthrax or any other organism like that could do. I hope and pray that we never have to go through anything like I saw on that video but in this day and age you can't act like it isn't a possibility.

Allison

I just pray that the Emory Center for Disease Control is guarded by a million soldiers with M16s. The last remaining strain of small pox is contained in there! :eek:

Well the worst part about all of this is that we're not the only ones out there with anthrax, smallpox, and the like. There are those sickos out there with no regard to human life who are just dying to do something crazy like drop a canister of anthrax in a crowded area.

They say it's not if....but when.

Scary scary scary stuff.

Allison

Is the media STUPID??? Why are they giving details like that on public tv? I watched NBC nightly news last night and they were giving details on how many vaccinations there are and how vulernable we are to biological attacks. That was just the tip off the iceberg, they said much more, I just can't remember what else they said. That info just give the enemy more ammunition. :mad:

Sometimes I think the government knows more than we think. I went with my friend to go visit her grandfather. He use to work at the Pentagon. All though he can't tell us any of his secrets, he did say to us, "Everything is more in control then you'd ever believe." Makes you wonder... :confused:

The thing that really bothers me is, these threats were presented to the Govt. YEARS ago and NOBODY listened. As far as the media is concerned, they are far to quick to release news that is either false of case sensitive. On one hand, I think another attack is a given. The repetition of the information helps us prepare mentally for the unthinkable. Just as much a factor- sensationalism sells. It was reported that CNN sent a note to their advertisers a day or so after the bombings that went something like- look at our ratings-stick with us.

They (chemists and biologists) say bio/chem weapons are difficult to handle and dispense, but Fox http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,34409,00.html has an article on how they trained people to mix chemicals with oils and put it on DOOR KNOBS or feed it into air intake vents. We really need to clean out the US as best we can before we launch an attack. Hopefully, we can mute anything similar to WTC.

I can think of a million things that are more plausable and just as deadly.

With all the scare, I'm not sure why immunization isn't neccesitated in schools for anthrax and the various bio/chem war tools that we're expecting. That should be the first action, we can decide whether or not we want them for ourselves, but there are antibodies for all of these that can be taken in advance, and typically must be taken in advance. There are things we can do, and we're doing some of it, dissallowing crop-dusters near big cities, but we could do so much more for imunization, actions that we as a nation are simply not concerned with enough to care. That's why I agree with ZT Angel, the media most be holding this as a much higher threat than it truly is, or many more steps of precaution would (I hope to God) be taken

Well from what I've heard...the military has vaccinations for some forms of anthrax. BUT...that's mainly for the strain that infects the skin and not the lungs. From what I've been told...the strain that infects the lungs is the one most likely to be used in the case of an attack. The only problem with vaccinations is that there isn't enough and it would take too long for it to be developed. Now about the FAA grounding crop dusters...I really think that's going a bit far. I come from an agriculture background so I can see that this ruling is really hurting small time farmers. For instance...the ruling is really hurting cotton and sugar cane farmers here in Louisiana. Now is the time when most of them would be spraying to prevent disease and such. If the ban on flying isn't lifted many of them will loose a lot of money and the size of their crops will diminish. I'm just as scared and concerned about the prospect of a bioterrorism attack but I think that sometimes the government and media think before they leap so to speak.

Allison

Just a Mom,

I agree with you 100 percent. Its a amazing how our media and government have handled this over the years. I find it even more suprising how at first they(Government and Media) were very suspect at getting the federal government more involved in our nations airports because of security. The main reason I got was because of the $$$$ and that it was unneccessary. At least from the higher ups in the airline community and from Capitol Hill. But C'mon how can you put a price on human life and especially after these tragedies. I'm so glad that they are FINALLY putting out national guardsman at the airports and government seems to be making a good effort at improving our airport security. Anyways, back to the bio chem stuff. AOIIAngel, I agree, definitely is scary to think. Allison, I dont agree with you on the crop dusters though. I think right now we need to get to the bottom of everything first. How many lives will it take before the government will put in some safe guards at will actually work in a time of crisis. How would you know when to put on a gas mask anyway. Not that I think about it every day. but how would you know. ZTAngel, you have a good point. I've heard the same thing. I agree there are a lot of people in control of the workings of our national security but the question is are they making the right decisions. I just assume like when you go to the Doctor that they are. I think if the media is going to put all that stuff out there they should make some kind of effort at empowering the public/keeping the government(an effective plan of action) accountable with this deadly thought.

Kevin

Allison-

I believe, and I could be wrong but I know I read it in the newspaper, that the grounding was only for 24 hours. Now, there may be a local grounding near you that I am not aware of, but the national one was only 24 hours and happened a few days ago. Hope that helps!

-cash78mere

Anthrax
 

I'm sure by now many of you have seen on the news that a Florida man has died on inhalation anthrax. However, the case has been deemed to be "isolated". Here's a part of the article:

Stevens was the first person in the United States in a quarter-century to contract an inhaled form of anthrax. The most recent previous U.S. case of anthrax was earlier this year in Texas. But that was the more common skin form, not inhalation anthrax, an especially lethal form in which the disease settles in the lungs...

During the 20th century, only 18 cases of inhaled anthrax were reported in the United States.

This is the third "isolated incident" that I've heard of this week, the first being the Greyhound bus, the second was the plane that was shot down overseas, and now this.

I am hoping that this was an isolated case for real... but will the madness ever end? :(

Okay Kevin, you asked.

Let's start with a specific attact on the water supply. Generally speaking we are pretty safe. Since 9/11 water supply facilities have seen an increase in security. What we would be concerned with would be something introduced to the water supply as part of the distribution system. This would work whether the water was from a surface impound source or from a ground water formation. In fact, water from a ground water formation is generally put directly into the distribution system so this would be the only way to contaminate it. This is where the added security is effective. If it was introduced to a surface impound supply few things would successfully pass through the decontamination and filtration process that all surface water is subjected to prior being put in the distribution system. There are some things that can be used, BUT they are effectively unavailable or incredibly hard to get ahold of for even a terrorist organization. In fact few govts have the resources to do this, so it is somewhat unlikely.

Biological or chemical attack. The big problem here is a way to broadcast the agents. We have all heard of the clamp down on cropdusters in the last couple of weeks. This was an obviously predictable possibility since it was how Goldfinger disabled the U.S. Army at Ft. Knox, Ky in the James Bond movie from 1963. It solves the major problem when using agents, they do no good sitting in a jar. They must aerosol to work and that is not a simple problem to solve. There are about 3500 cropduster aricraft in the U.S. and all the pilots belong to the same organization. They have been notified to be on the lookout for 'suspicious activity' and the FBI has received a couple of tips as a result. Sufficient concentration is another problem. Chemical warfare was used in Europe in WWI. In the open battlefields it took thousands of troops to deliver sufficient concentration in a given area to be effective. Generally terrorists do not have enough people to make this effective. To increase concentration an attack can be made in a smaller area and a restricted space to prevent dispersment of the agent. This would require fewer people. An example of this is the Seren gas attack in the Japanese subway system a few years ago.

By calculation I did figure a way for 25 people in a large metropolitan area to cause about 50,000 deaths over a two day period. I do not know if it would be effective and I am certainly not going to explain the procedure on the net. Unlikely, but not unforeseeable. Just like the attacks on the WTC and Pentagon. We have all heard about the Japanese kamikazi attacks in WWII and remember the pilot who crashed his private plane into the White House while Clinton was in office. What was so difficult about extrapolating this to a commercial aircraft on the U.S. Capitol? Admittedly four airplanes hijacked simultaneously was a surprise even to me.

There are a number of biological agents, anthrax and small pox are only two. I have had a small pox vaccine. It is doubtful that it is still 100% effective, but better than none. Officially there are strains remaining at CDC in Atlanta and in Moscow. Whether other strains can be synthesized from cow pox, measles, or chicken pox, I do not know. Cow pox is an effective vaccine against small pox though. As far as anthrax, there are many types and various treatments. Here is some info which I hope you find useful from people far more knowledgeable on the topic than I am:

'An anthrax vaccine, composed of a culture filtrate, is available for those at high risk (veterinarians, laboratory technicians, employees of textile mills processing imported goat hair). Repeated vaccination may be required to ensure protection. Local reactions can occur. A live toxigenic, unencapsulated avirulent animal vaccine is available for veterinary use.

Treatment of the cutaneous form with procaine penicillin G 600,000 U IM bid for 7 days prevents systemic spread and induces gradual resolution of the pustule. Progression of the lesion through the eschar phase occurs despite antibiotic therapy. Tetracycline 2 g/day in 4 divided doses po (for children, 25 mg/kg/day in 4 divided doses) is also effective. Alternatively, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, or chloramphenicol may be used. Penicillin or erythromycin is preferred in young children. Most strains are resistant to cefuroxime.

Pulmonary anthrax is almost always fatal, but early and continuous IV therapy with penicillin G 20 million U/day may be lifesaving. (Usual dose of penicillin G is 100,000 to 250,000 U/kg/day in 4 to 6 divided doses.) It is used in combination with streptomycin 500 mg/day q 8 h IM in adults and 25 mg/kg/day in children. Corticosteroids may be useful but have not been adequately evaluated. If treatment is delayed (usually because the diagnosis is missed), death is likely.

There is no specific therapy for GI anthrax. Contaminated meat should be avoided. If ingestion occurs, prophylaxis may be given with penicillin G 4 million U q 4 h IV for 10 days.'

Do not think that a gas mask or bio/chemical protective suit will do you any good. They are intended to only protect soldiers to be able to fight for a couple of more hours. Gas mask filters are pathogen specific and are effective for less than one hour and need to be replaced when used up. The suit requires decontamination before removal. Remember that they are also not effective if you have figured out that there is a problem. At that point it is too late. You must put on your mask and suit BEFORE you are exposed to the agent.