Posted on 05/06/2006 12:25:01 AM PDT by neverdem
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- A Michigan company will receive $120 million to produce 5 million more doses of anthrax vaccine to bolster the government's stockpile of antidotes against bioweapons.
Lansing-based BioPort Corp. completed its delivery of 5 million doses of anthrax vaccine to the federal stockpile in February under a $122.7 million contract.
But the Department of Health and Human Services said Friday it would modify the contract to buy the additional doses of Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed.
"We are committed to protecting the nation from the consequences of an anthrax attack," said Stewart Simonson, HHS' assistant secretary for public health emergency preparedness.
BioPort, a subsidiary of Gaithersburg, Md.-based Emergent Biosolutions Inc., is the nation's only licensed manufacturer of the anthrax vaccine. The contract would run through September 2007 and delivery of the doses will begin almost immediately, said BioPort spokeswoman Kim Brennen Root.
The funding was awarded under Project BioShield, which President Bush signed into law in July 2004 with the promise of spending $5.6 billion to develop remedies against possible bioweapons.
Fuad El-Hibri, Emergent Biosolutions' chairman and CEO, said the company was "proud to play a vital role in the strategic defense of the United States and the protection of its citizens in the event of another anthrax attack."
On the Net:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
As in, "Guess what. Anthrax virus was all supposed to be accounted for." Please, I studied medicine too long as a profession. Adios
How hard is it for terrorists to use anthrax?
A terrorist would need detailed knowledge and sophisticated facilities to mass-produce anthrax spores or even find the most potent strains of the bacteria. Only extremely fine, dry anthrax powders can make it to the lungs. And distributing it is difficult. Iraq failed to adapt crop dusters to spread the spores during the Gulf War. The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo released anthrax ineffectively on several occasions in the 1990s.
Experts say it remains very difficult to transform the deadly bacterium into a weapon that can be effectively dispersed and kill large numbers of people. To develop an anthrax strain in its most lethal form — pulmonary anthrax — spores have to be crafted to just the right size. If too small, a person will exhale the spores. If too large, the spores fall to the ground and become ineffective.
A bomb carrying anthrax would likely destroy the germ as it explodes. Dispersing the bacterium with aerosols is challenging because, unless it is in spore form, it is a wet substance and can clog sprayers.
So this is why I am supposed to be sooooooo scared. Give me a break.
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