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Army Spores
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Subject: [Iraqsolidarity] Anthrax Matches US Army Spores
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1212-01.htm
Published on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 in the Baltimore Sun
Anthrax Matches Army Spores
Bioterror: Organisms made at a military laboratory in Utah are
genetically identical to those mailed to members of Congress.
by Scott Shane
For nearly a decade, U.S. Army scientists at Dugway Proving Ground in
Utah have made small quantities of weapons-grade anthrax that is
virtually identical to the powdery spores used in the mail attacks that
have killed five people, government sources say.
Until the anthrax attacks led to tighter security measures, anthrax
grown at Dugway was regularly sent by Federal Express to the Army's
biodefense center at Fort Detrick, in Frederick, where the bacteria were
killed using gamma radiation before being returned to Dugway for
experiments.
The anthrax was shipped in the form of a coarse paste, not in the far
more dangerous finely milled form, according to one government official.
Most anthrax testing at Dugway, in a barren Utah desert 87 miles
southwest of Salt Lake City, is done using the killed spores to reduce
the chance of accidental exposure of workers there.
But some experiments require live anthrax, milled to the tiny particle
size expected on a battlefield, to test both decontamination techniques
and biological agent detection systems, the sources say.
Anthrax is also grown at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of
Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, where it is used chiefly to test
the effectiveness of vaccines in animals.
But that medical program uses a wet aerosol fog of anthrax rather than
the dry powder used in the attacks and at Dugway, according to
interviews and medical journal articles based on the research.
The wet anthrax, while still capable of killing people, is safer for
laboratory workers to handle, scientists say.
Dugway's production of weapons-grade anthrax, which has never before
been publicly revealed, is apparently the first by the U.S. government
since President Richard M. Nixon ordered the U.S. offensive biowarfare
program closed in 1969.
Scientists familiar with the anthrax program at Dugway described it to
The Sun on the condition that they not be named.
The offensive program made hundreds of kilograms of anthrax for bombs
designed to kill enemy troops over hundreds of square miles.
Dugway's Life Sciences Division makes the deadly spores in far, far
smaller quantities, rarely accumulating more than 10 grams at a time,
according to one Army official.
Scientists estimate that the letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom
Daschle originally contained about 2 grams of anthrax, about
one-sixteenth of an ounce, or the weight of a dime.
But its extraordinary concentration - in the range of 1 trillion spores
per gram - meant that the letter could have contained 200 million times
the average dose necessary to kill a person.
Dugway's weapons-grade anthrax has been milled to achieve a similar
concentration, according to one person familiar with the program.
The concentration exceeds that of weapons anthrax produced by the old
U.S. offensive program or the Soviet biowarfare program, according to
Dr. Richard O. Spertzel, who worked at Detrick for 18 years and later
served as a United Nations bioweapons inspector in Iraq
Lab security measures
No evidence linking the Dugway anthrax to the attacks has been made
public, and there might well be none. Army officials say the anthrax
there and at Fort Detrick has long been protected by multiple security
measures.
The FBI has extensively questioned Dugway employees
who have had access
to anthrax, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Agents also have questioned people at Fort Detrick and other government
and university laboratories that have used the Ames strain of anthrax
found in the letters.
Still, the analysis of the genetic and physical properties of the
anthrax mailed to Daschle and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy has caused
investigators to take a hard look at Dugway's anthrax program.
to anthrax, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Agents also have questioned people at Fort Detrick and other government
and university laboratories that have used the Ames strain of anthrax
found in the letters.
Still, the analysis of the genetic and physical properties of the
anthrax mailed to Daschle and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy has caused
investigators to take a hard look at Dugway's anthrax program.
First, the genetic fingerprint of the mailed
anthrax is
indistinguishable from that of the Ames "reference strain," which is the
strain used most often at Fort Detrick and Dugway, according to a
scientist familiar with the genetic work.
indistinguishable from that of the Ames "reference strain," which is the
strain used most often at Fort Detrick and Dugway, according to a
scientist familiar with the genetic work.
Researchers led by Paul Keim at Northern Arizona
University have
compared the two samples and found them identical at 50 genetic markers
- the most sensitive genetic identification method available.
That does not mean the mailed anthrax necessarily originated from an
Army program, because Ames anthrax has been widely used at government
and university laboratories in the United States and overseas
Shipped without records
While some sources have estimated Ames might have been used in as few as
20 labs, one scientist who has worked with anthrax said the total cannot
be known exactly, but is probably closer to 50.
"Until the last few years, a graduate student would call up a friend at
another lab and say, 'Send me Ames,' and they'd do it," the scientist
said. "There wouldn't necessarily be any records kept."
Ames is similar to but distinct from the Vollum1B strain of anthrax used
in the old U.S. offensive biological weapons program.
The genetic testing proves the mailed anthrax was not left over from the
old program, most scientists agree.
Even more provocative than the genetics are the physical properties of
the mailed anthrax. While some scientists disagree, many bioterrorism
experts argue that the quality of the mailed anthrax is such that it
could have been produced only in a weapons program or using information
from such a program.
Link to Dugway base
If true, that would greatly limit the field, increasing the likelihood
of a link to the only site in the United States where weapons-grade
anthrax has been made in recent years.
Dugway, which is larger than Rhode Island, has been a military testing
ground since World War II, when military officials selected it for its
remote location in Utah's Great Salt Lake Desert.
The Dugway anthrax program was launched in the early 1990s, shortly
after the Persian Gulf war reawakened U.S. military commanders to the
threat from biological weapons.
Iraq is known to have built a major bioweapons program that included
anthrax in its potential arsenal.
According to Dugway's Web site, the proving ground's Life Sciences
Division has an aerosol technology branch and a biotechnology branch,
both of which use a Biosafety Level 3 laboratory designed to contain
pathogens.
Anthrax and other dangerous germs at Dugway are guarded by video
cameras, intrusion alarms, double locks and a buddy system that does not
permit workers to handle the agents alone, according to one scientist.
But Dugway does not have a gamma radiation machine, which is why its
anthrax has been shipped to Detrick for irradiation.
Dr. David L. Huxsoll, who headed Detrick's biodefense program in the
1980s, said vaccines and detection systems must be tested against
aerosolized anthrax if troops are to be prepared for biological attacks.
"When you're building a program to defend against biological weapons on
the battlefield, you have to be prepared for an aerosol exposure," he
said.
Not a treaty violation
Milton Leitenberg, an expert on bioweapons at the University of
Maryland, said he was not aware of the Dugway anthrax production.
But he said making a few grams of weapons-grade anthrax for testing
defensive equipment would not violate the international convention on
biological weapons.
The treaty bans the production of bioagents "of types and in quantities
that have no justification for prophylactic, protective and other
peaceful purposes."
There's no specific limit in grams or micrograms," Leitenberg said.
"But if you got up in the hundreds of grams, people would be very, very
skeptical."
The FBI's investigation, called Amerithrax, has focused on the
possibility that the anthrax terrorist might be a loner in this country
with some scientific training.
The Sun reported Sunday that in two months, none of the hundreds of FBI
agents on the case had contacted the Army retirees who produced anthrax
in the 1950s and 1960s.
Yesterday, one of those anthrax veterans, Orley R. Bourland Jr. of
Walkersville, got a call from the White House Office of Homeland
Security seeking information.
The FBI had not made contact with several veterans interviewed
yesterday.
Copyright © 2001, The Baltimore Sun
###
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expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for
research and educational purposes. For more information go to:
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compared the two samples and found them identical at 50 genetic markers
- the most sensitive genetic identification method available.
That does not mean the mailed anthrax necessarily originated from an
Army program, because Ames anthrax has been widely used at government
and university laboratories in the United States and overseas
Shipped without records
While some sources have estimated Ames might have been used in as few as
20 labs, one scientist who has worked with anthrax said the total cannot
be known exactly, but is probably closer to 50.
"Until the last few years, a graduate student would call up a friend at
another lab and say, 'Send me Ames,' and they'd do it," the scientist
said. "There wouldn't necessarily be any records kept."
Ames is similar to but distinct from the Vollum1B strain of anthrax used
in the old U.S. offensive biological weapons program.
The genetic testing proves the mailed anthrax was not left over from the
old program, most scientists agree.
Even more provocative than the genetics are the physical properties of
the mailed anthrax. While some scientists disagree, many bioterrorism
experts argue that the quality of the mailed anthrax is such that it
could have been produced only in a weapons program or using information
from such a program.
Link to Dugway base
If true, that would greatly limit the field, increasing the likelihood
of a link to the only site in the United States where weapons-grade
anthrax has been made in recent years.
Dugway, which is larger than Rhode Island, has been a military testing
ground since World War II, when military officials selected it for its
remote location in Utah's Great Salt Lake Desert.
The Dugway anthrax program was launched in the early 1990s, shortly
after the Persian Gulf war reawakened U.S. military commanders to the
threat from biological weapons.
Iraq is known to have built a major bioweapons program that included
anthrax in its potential arsenal.
According to Dugway's Web site, the proving ground's Life Sciences
Division has an aerosol technology branch and a biotechnology branch,
both of which use a Biosafety Level 3 laboratory designed to contain
pathogens.
Anthrax and other dangerous germs at Dugway are guarded by video
cameras, intrusion alarms, double locks and a buddy system that does not
permit workers to handle the agents alone, according to one scientist.
But Dugway does not have a gamma radiation machine, which is why its
anthrax has been shipped to Detrick for irradiation.
Dr. David L. Huxsoll, who headed Detrick's biodefense program in the
1980s, said vaccines and detection systems must be tested against
aerosolized anthrax if troops are to be prepared for biological attacks.
"When you're building a program to defend against biological weapons on
the battlefield, you have to be prepared for an aerosol exposure," he
said.
Not a treaty violation
Milton Leitenberg, an expert on bioweapons at the University of
Maryland, said he was not aware of the Dugway anthrax production.
But he said making a few grams of weapons-grade anthrax for testing
defensive equipment would not violate the international convention on
biological weapons.
The treaty bans the production of bioagents "of types and in quantities
that have no justification for prophylactic, protective and other
peaceful purposes."
There's no specific limit in grams or micrograms," Leitenberg said.
"But if you got up in the hundreds of grams, people would be very, very
skeptical."
The FBI's investigation, called Amerithrax, has focused on the
possibility that the anthrax terrorist might be a loner in this country
with some scientific training.
The Sun reported Sunday that in two months, none of the hundreds of FBI
agents on the case had contacted the Army retirees who produced anthrax
in the 1950s and 1960s.
Yesterday, one of those anthrax veterans, Orley R. Bourland Jr. of
Walkersville, got a call from the White House Office of Homeland
Security seeking information.
The FBI had not made contact with several veterans interviewed
yesterday.
Copyright © 2001, The Baltimore Sun
###
Share This Article With Your Friends FAIR USE NOTICE This site
contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such
material available in our efforts to advance understanding of
environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific,
and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use'
of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the
US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for
research and educational purposes. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use
copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
To subscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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