Not to cuase an anthrax panic but........

[freeperfromnj]

You are absolutely right. This IS much bigger than we are being led to believe. Of course the numbers are small - this biological attack is still in the early stages. I knew from the first Florida case that this wasn't isolated. How can government representatives accidently blurt out on national TV something as big as telling us the anthrax was weaponized, decide to close the House and then say it was just all a mistake - it's just your everyday brand of anthrax. I don't buy any of it. This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. The scary thing is that if you don't get medical attention pronto - you're a gonner. They're not just playing around with the cutaneous stuff - this is the deadly deal here.

[rednek]

I just wish that someone in the government would tell me the truth. I 've waited 44 years for that moment, and I'm not gonna hold my breath waiting for it to happen.

regards - red

[lilsparky]

The bad guys try to procure crop-dusting planes and fail (we think). They don't get to spray a big area all at once. Now they know that just a little bit goes a long way (albeit so far a relatively small number of cases) and can get you quick. What's next?

[RobFromGa]

REPORT FROM NE ATLANTA: No Anthrax here. I'm taking a plane to Germany tomorrow. I'll let you know if I see any Anthrax on the plane. Gee, I am very afraid.

[pchuck]

But bathtubs just don't just out of anywhere. I go into the tub, I know what precautions to take, and I know the risks. This is a complete unknown.

True, but car accidents sometimes come out of nowhere. Car accidents are completely unknown and hard to guard against, that is why they are called accidents. In a car accident, you may know the risks and take precautions, but the fool in the other car may not.

My point is that there are many many more random things that are going to strike you dead before anthrax will and you can't really guard against them. Sometimes, death is kinda funny that way.

[eFudd]

And to compare them as such is asinine and ignorant.

I will ignore your asinine and ignorant response.

The ONLY way we are going to whip this threat is with cool heads and methodical and devestating response to the perpetrators.

Panicking will no help.

Keeping yourself up nights worrying about it will not help.

And would you please explain to me why having something "hit close to home" justifies panic? It seems to me that if there is a real threat that panic would be the last thing you would want going on.

[freeperfromnj]

An accidental death is a whole lot different than a deliberate offensive attack.

[rebdov]

In a place with thousands of employees, how do we know that it wasn't a worker? The perp could be there and immune because of vaccine or antibiotics. I think they would always suspect employees first since there are too many chances of not being successful simply by putting it in the mail. The same applies to wherever it appeared. American Media, NY Post, NBC, etc. Human resources may be very busy.

BTW- do you have to be a citizen to work at USPS? Is a green card sufficient? Do they do background checks?

[Kaslin]

I couldn't have said it any better

[Norb2569]

For what it's worth...

Take a chill pill!! Our gub'mint is gonna take care of all of us, and us veterans will get a headstone too!!

[jb54tx]

breath in... breath out... breath in......

[John Jamieson]

This counting spores thing has gotten totally ridiculous. 3 micron spores fit 70,000,000 per square inch, one layer thick. It's no comfort that it takes exactly 11,734 spores to infect you. That's about the number that would fit on the head of a pin.

[Kaslin]

Sorry I meant this post for eFUDD

[Redcloak]

I ate one of these the other day...

...should I be concerned?

[skip2myloo]

Well, I'm not panicking -- but, it's important to remember very recent U.S. military events.

Of all the diseases and bio-terror threats the U.S. Military could have chosen to immunize themselves against -- they selected Anthrax.

The military themselves conceded the vaccine itself did, in fact, pose some risks. Several soldiers accepted Courts Martial rather than the innoculation. Scores more chose to end their military careers rather subject themselves to the potential health risks posed by the vaccine.

If, the disease is so benign, and so easily treated once contracted -- the, WHY did the military choose Anthrax above all others to protect its troops from. And, WHY would they fight so hard to force folks to submit to the innoculations?

Something is not quite right here.

[CathyRyan]

Those are acts of g*d or just plain poor choices...this is murder.

[softengine]

Sadly, I don't believe there are any 'doctors' posting here. Hell, I don't even think there are any 'doctors' who know of this site's existence. Most in the medical profession have have bought into the notions of leftist nincompoopery....typical of the overeducated (yet remarkably stupid) set. So, they likely would have little interest here, and, IMHO, will prove to be of little help in the big scheme of these things.

[Norb2569]

how do we know that it wasn't a worker? The perp could be there and immune because of vaccine

Good point... I worked as a letter carrier for 2 whole days, before I realized that the place was FULL of those who would DO ANYTHING to get paid days off, including purposely falling over anything within the post office!

[eFudd]

While I'm not to the point of worrying, I've yet to hear anyone speak of "containment," that is, how can we contain the anthrax that is out there--can it be detected (other than by accidentally infecting oneself? If so, can it be destroyed and effectively vanquished?

What the Doctors here in Florida saying is washing regulary with soap and water will kick Anthrax in the Clinton. The exception would be if you have inhaled it in which case a course of antibiotics is the answer.

Clorine bleach in a solution of water is what they are using to sanitize the post office down here.

[soxfan]

The greater concern is that with the loss of the credibility of our retaliatory strategic deterrent on 9/11, our enemy appears to have neither any inhibitions nor constraints whatsoever from testing out his WMD capability, conducting numerous low-level, limited tests in order to evaluate the results and maximize the effeciency of future strains, methodologies, delivery mechanisms, etc. I agree, there should not be an anthrax panic right now; however, if we continue to dub around and allow our enemies to conduct "Dr. Doom" experiments on us until they get it right, these folks who chuckle about only a couple of deaths are kidding themselves. Truly weaponized anthrax is some nasty Shiite as a preferred WMD, and can result in INCREDIBLE panic and MASSIVE casualties in urban settings if our leaders are not proactive. After the infection is NOT the time to take appropriate public health measures.