Time: Tue Dec 16 16:56:10 1997
To:
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: Military fights anthrax threat (fwd)
Cc:
Bcc: sls, friends
References:
<snip>
>
>>Subject: Military fights anthrax threat
>>
>>I sure in hell wouldn't let these people put this sh!t in me.
>>
>>
>>http://www.freep.com/news/health/qinoc16.htm
>>
>> [The freep][news][Health]
>>
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>> [Search]
>> Military fights anthrax threat
>>
>> U.S. troops to get shots starting
>> next summer
>>
>> December 16, 1997
>>
>> BY RICHARD PARKER
>> Free Press Washington Staff
>>
>> WASHINGTON -- The government is going
>> to spend $130 million to inoculate
>> the U.S. military against anthrax
>> with a Michigan-made vaccine in an
>> effort to protect 2.4 million troops
>> against biological warfare.
>>
>> The decision announced Monday
>> reflects mounting concern that rogue
>> nations or terrorist groups using
>> cheap weapons of mass destruction
>> could wreak havoc on U.S. troops.
>>
>> "We owe it to our people to move
>> ahead with this immunization plan,"
>> Defense Secretary William Cohen said
>> in a statement.
>>
>> Cohen's decision comes as Iraqi
>> President Saddam Hussein and the
>> United Nations confront each other
>> over UN inspections in Iraq.
>>
>> But the plan has been in the works
>> for over a year and is unrelated to
>> current tensions with Iraq, Pentagon
>> officials said.
>>
>> Starting next summer, active duty
>> servicemen and servicewomen as well
>> as some reservists will get six
>> injections over 18 months, followed
>> by a yearly booster shot.
>>
>> The FDA-approved vaccine saw its
>> widest use during the Persian Gulf
>> War, when 150,000 troops received
>> shots. It is currently given each
>> year to about 3,000 people in special
>> forces and biological units.
>>
>> Civilian veterinarians and livestock
>> workers also widely use the vaccine,
>> which is made under contract by
>> Michigan Department of Community
>> Health.
>>
>> Community Health spokeswoman Geralyn
>> Lasher said the department is the
>> sole manufacturer of the anthrax
>> vaccine to be licensed by the Food
>> and Drug Administration.
>>
>> "The anthrax vaccine is safe," Lasher
>> said. "With a very few people, there
>> will be body aches and fever, but
>> those will last for a short time --
>> no permanent effects from it."
>>
>> Undertaking such a massive
>> vaccination effort will not be easy,
>> military officials cautioned. The
>> Pentagon will have to track and
>> vaccinate the 200,000 people who join
>> the armed forces each year. In six
>> months, the vaccine will be injected
>> first into 100,000 troops in the
>> Middle East and South Korea.
>>
>> One senior military official,
>> speaking on condition of anonymity,
>> estimated that the vaccine would be
>> 95 percent effective.
>>
>> Staff writer Matt Helms contributed
>> to this report.
>>
>> MORE HEALTH STORIES
>>
>> FREEP FRONT | NEWS FRONT
>> -------------
>> ANTHRAX
>> -------------
>>
>> IT'S A
>> BACTERIA
>> that usually
>> infects
>> animals --
>> primarily
>> sheep,
>> cattle and
>> horses. It
>> is
>> contagious.
>>
>> ANTHRAX
>> ATTACKS with
>> spores that
>> are inhaled.
>> Within six
>> days, organs
>> and muscles
>> shut down
>> and the
>> victim
>> suffocates.
>>
>> AS A WEAPON
>> the spores
>> are produced
>> dry and
>> packed into
>> shells or
>> bombs; the
>> poison can
>> be sprayed,
>> too. Tiny
>> amounts are
>> deadly. An
>> area
>> attacked
>> with anthrax
>> can be
>> contaminated
>> for decades.
>>
>> The Defense
>> Department
>> considers it
>> the easiest
>> biological
>> weapon to
>> make and the
>> most lethal.
>>
>> IRAQ, RUSSIA
>> AND 10 other
>> countries
>> have the
>> ability to
>> make
>> anthrax.
>>
>> THE VACCINE
>> costs $3.60
>> a dose, but
>> is not
>> available to
>> the general
>> public. It's
>> used mostly
>> by the
>> military and
>> people who
>> handle
>> livestock.
>>
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>> All content © copyright 1997 Detroit Free Press and may not be republished
>> without permission.
>
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