FEDS PREP STATES FOR SMALLPOX HORROR

New York Post ^ | 9/24/02 | AP

[kattracks]

An Israeli hospital worker is vaccinated last week.

September 24, 2002 -- WASHINGTON - Federal officials sent states detailed guidelines yesterday for rapidly vaccinating their entire populations against smallpox should the deadly disease return through an act of terrorism.

It's been decades since smallpox was seen in this country and the disease has been eradicated from Earth, so officials would assume that a single case of smallpox means the nation is under attack.

[Iwo Jima]

"many Americans would want to have access to the vaccine."

Here we go again! I and millions of others want access to the vaccine NOW, not just once an epidemic has broken out.

Yea, yea, yea, I know all about the risk/reward ratio. But whose decision is it, anyway? For me and my children, the decision is MINE.

[Robert_Paulson2]

If only half of us had the vaccine... it could save the nation.. and make spreading the infection VERY difficult indeed.

Those with risk factors can skip the vaccine, unless someone in their proximity comes down with it... then they could choose to have it, or perhaps face death.

With all the first responders and health care workers vaccinated, we could pretty well make the nation "bullet proof."

And we probably should.
Research I saw last week reported that those folks who have had the vaccine even four decades ago, showed little degradation of their immune system's response... the truth is, MOST of us over 35 or 40, already have an immunity.

But the rattling of the cages tells us, that the balloon is going up soon... and it may be more involved than just an attack in Iraq.

[The Great Satan]

Note that the concrete biological threat from Iraq is anthrax, not smallpox. We don't even know if Iraq has smallpox, and it's utility as a weapon is much lower than anthrax because of the blowback potential. However, the "A" word is practically off limits for now, because if it assumed too much public prominence, various dots would be connected that for now are best left unconnected. But you'll notice that the infrastructure being put in place to meet the smallpox contigency is the same as would be required to meet the anthrax contingency. In fact, while we could pre-vaccinate for smallpox, that is not a realistic option for anthrax -- at present, very rapid mass delivery of vaccine or antitoxins after-the-fact is the only feasible approach to protecting the civilian population.

Just a reminder that the stated purpose of an action isn't necessarily the real purpose or the primary purpose.

[OldFriend]

I, for one, intend to be a refusnik! NO THANK YOU........

Vaccines cause more deaths than people realize.

[OldFriend]

That goes for Smallpox and Anthrax. Not that long ago, the military was having huge problems dealing with soldiers who were refusing to take the anthrax vaccine and now we have civilians demanding the vaccine.

Hysteria seems to be running rampant.

[Aracelis]

I agree, there seems to be little to gain by waiting until an attack is underway. At the very least, give the vaccine to our children. Most adults were vaccinated as children and probably still retain some immunity.

[piasa]

But then, one of the people who is heavily responsible for spreading rumors about he anthrax vaccine and creating fear among the troops turned out to be a person known as Rosenberg.

Rosenberg happens to have one goal in life... to ban the US from bioweapons research and to open the US labs to international inspection.

Rosenberg was hot on the trail of Bioport... really kicking up all kinds of rumors with onlly little bits of fact here and there and judging from her latest research, a whole lot of myth, too.

Rosenberg, as luck would have it, was one of the very first person to point fingers at a US source for the anthrax attack.

She happened to finger one of our better scientists, one who would be very useful to the US if we ever did come under attack, since he happens to be the guy who has been the most worried about what could happen to an unprepared country.

Now Rosenberg is best buddies with some folks who happen to be more than willing to lend aid and comfort to Iraq.

One of those folks just happens to be Meryl Nass.

Meryl worked for Cuba once, so she has admitted in her publications in Red Flags Weekly and supposedly in testimony in court relating to the anthrax thing, if I recall correctly. She was, so she says, there in Cuba working for the Cuban Ministry of Health to do some investigation of a disease which was supposedly causing blindness in people in Cuba. The Cuban government blamed this disease on American bioterrorism, and supposedly they sought out this obscure doctor from Maine to come help them. Which is of course doubtful, because as near as I can tell she is not an expert on anything although she has 'played one on TV,' so to speak. So why would she go to Cuba and why would Cuba bother with her? I don't know but I doubt very much that it was because of medical skill.

But she does have one thing in her background which would interest Cuba; she helped a group of nutjob greeny peace activists to harass a researcher at a university in Amherst, Mass., who was studying biowarfare countermeasures on a grant from the DOD. The guy finally left the University. Mind you, the greenies don't love Clinton any more than they love us- Clinton wsas too capitalist for them, so spreading rumors about him to promote their ends was a good tool since we conservatives would believe anything bad about Bubba. It was easy to accept all of the fearmongering about anthrax vaccines because they were a Clinton administration thing, and everything Clinton did or touched was suspect. Clinton of course is a crook who would find a way to profit off the sale. He's also a person who has no love for the military, but what we wouldn't realize is that the far leftists behind so many rumors hate the military even more, and it was always possible for them to use hatred of Clinton to get rightwingers to accept their line.

And at one time, Nass went to Rhodesia, or Zimbabwe if you prefer. What she did there, I haven't found out; who paid her way, I don't know, and who she worked for I don't know either. Some sources (left of course) say she studied an outbreak of anthrax that did occur there. She wrote a paper on a cutaneous anthrax outbreak in that country which she attributed to biowarfare by the governmnet of that country on black farmers, something which the left would readily accept as Gospel. The paper wasn't published in any serious medical journals, but it fit in perfectly well with the Cuban thing (Cuba by the way was involved quite heavily in Africa) and it made for good filler in all the leftist conspiracy sites and some on the far right too.

In addition to that ol' Meryl belongs to some organizations which are very supportive of Hussein's regime. So to her, pinning an action on a US scientist would be a wet dream. It would be a wet dream to Castro and to Hussein as well, and to someone like Rosenberg whose sole goal in life would be for a country like Cuba to be able to inspect our labs through a Biowarfare Treaty mandate. And to make it extra spicy, if you ran a state which intended to use biological weapons against a particular enemy, wouldn't it be great to have some people create a big scare over the one weapon you have so much of, anthrax, in order to prevent your enemy's army from getting those vaccinations, which require a person to get a series of shots over a long period of time and so cannot be quickly administered in an emergency situation to thwart an attack? The target country would then be forced to treat people who have come down with the stuff and rush to immunize those who have not, and meanwhile their armed forces are vulnerable.

Anyway, Rosenberg picked it up and used this 'damning' report to do some character assassination of American scientists. One in particular, who had once studied in Rhodesia. Why he was suspicious for having been in Rhodesia, while her friend Nass was not suspicious after working for Castro AND going to Rhodesia AND for being associated with Physicians for Peace, the folks who made a much publicised trip to Iraq to bring 'medicine and toys,' I don't know. But I find it very curious that the same people's names keep coming up in the same company.

[piasa]

Is Howard L. Rosenberg married to Barbara Hatch Rosenberg?

[The Great Satan]

Dunno. Who is Howard Rosenberg?

[SLB]

Growing up in the 1950's and then being a part of the military for the past 30+ years, I have had my share of smallpox innoculations. I do not remember when the latest was, but probably 20+ years ago. The site from that vaccination has still not healed. When I left active duty, I questioned the doctor performing my separation physical about it. I was told that continual bleeding and scabbing at the site should be the least of my worries as she had seen amputations due to infections at the vaccination area.

[piasa]

I think he's a journalist who's written loads of bioweapons pieces. That's why the name caught my eye.

[piasa]

He wrote some pieces on ABCNews.com regarding smallpox and the like. But the name is common so I was just wondering if Barbara was married to a prolific media type.

[Revelation 911]

any idea how long the period of time is from vaccine to immune ? - I would imagine its at least a week while antibodies build

[RnMomof7]

Working from a "senior moment memory" I believe because of the way it is administered your immune sysyem would react right away..but it is probably a week or more before it is fully effective..ask the doc

[Robert_Paulson2]

the funny thing is... at the end of that last post, I had written a closing tag line "Please, pass me the cipro!"

My thoughts EXACTLY...

then I erased it prior to posting.
I thought "wouldn't want folks to think I was being over reactive in my reasoning..."

[Iwo Jima]

I, for one, intend to be a refusnik!

And that is entirely your right. I wouldn't dream of interfering with your choice or even trying to influence it. You will, of course, benefit from every person who chooses to be vaccinated.