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

[newsperson999]

ok. Before you flame me...lets discuss this..
2 postal workers are dead(and at different locations) 2 more confirmed with inhalation anthrax...maybe 9 more cases..it takes 8,000 or more spores to get sick from anthrax..
Well they didn't open the mail there they just sorted it, yet still somehow all that anthrax must have goten into the air...
The scary thing is this. How many spores got onto mail that went ot the general public?!!!
This may be much bigger then we are lead to believe. Or it may not. Please put your 2 cents in.

[softengine]

No need to be rude, momma.

[goodnesswins]

"coupla hundred thousand people dead last year from heart disease... 40,000 dead on the roads... average year lightning deaths in United States: 93

And your point is? This IS MURDER....makes it a little different, doesn't it?

[OWK]

Question: How many spores can exist in a small quanity of powder in an envelope?

Trillions.

(yes, trillions)

[Moridin]

Um, no. What I'm saying is every letter should have been backtracked to where the post offices (equipment and employees) that were in contact with the letters should have been tested immediately for anthrax. Now some postal workers are dead.

[shezza]

One newsie said in an example, the 8,000-10,000 spores required to start an infection in someone's lungs, if all crammed together, would be about the size of a piece of dust.

[freeperfromnj]

This is exactly why this shouldn't be downplayed. If these spores can do such damage when opening an envelope why couldn't they escape from an ordinary paper bag as well. I believe there are many possibilities for airborne delivery. Maybe not on a grand scale but any deaths related to this is one to many as far as I'm concered

[Revolting cat!]

Mmmmmmmmmm... panic.

[ironwill]

Question: How many spores can exist in a small quanity of powder in an envelope?

Enough to infect a lot of people. Individual results may vary depending on nostril size. ;-)

Seriously, think of how devastating it would be if large amounts of money were contaminated with anthrax. Think of how many times a day that money would change hands. Sounds like it could be used as a plot to make the complete transition to a cashless society. Scary.

[better_dead_then_red]

I'm a little tired of the car accident comparison because its, well, silly. Unless someone is driving into someone else deliberately or trying to commit suicide with a car, there is little or no comparision.

This is a random act in that the victims were not chosen a head of time. But someone did put the bio agent in an envelope, and did purposefully mail it, expecting sickness and death to follow the package as it went its way. We are talking about murder here. That is not the same as most highway deaths caused without malice.

Panic no...and I am not seeing much panic at all, if you mean purposeless stampeding over a cliff. Prudent actions and caution based on the information available, yes.

Why are there those who don't want us to discuss the possibilities so that we can be prudent in a dangerous situation?

[packrat01]

Is that leagal? Geez, I wouldn't want to get into trouble or anything...

[eFudd]

I think it is a good idea to discuss it. See post #59.

Mail seems the favored delivery system. You can ask all your friends and relatives to either call you or use email. You can have your bills payed directly out of your checking account.

You can then dump all your mail into the garbage unopened or get a post office box and never go check your mail.

Personally, I feel the terrorists have won if I experience terror or worry. I refuse to submit. The old saw of it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees comes to mind. I am not trying blow smoke up my own Hillory, I just refuse to let it get to me.

The only exception being is that I am my family wash with soap, particularly our hands, more often than we used to and we have cleaned the house very thoroughly; Washing down everything with Lysol and bleach.

[LibertyGirl77]

I am going to guess that the people on this forum who cite random statistics and say anthrax is not something to be afraid of do NOT live in the D.C. postal district and therefore DO have very little risk.

Some of us who are from D.C. have a very different perspective....

[eFudd]

I work a few miles from the first publisher to get hit.

There has been a bank cleared out in West Palm Beach a few blocks from my house.

What you thought was incorrect.

[ctdonath2]

Not sure. Plan to go to the PO and ask.

[ctdonath2]

Fine - give us some factual statistics for DC instead of hype.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

I'm sure more than 20,000 die every year from flu complications, and it's contagious! Any trepidation’s when around the "influenza people"?

What we have today is not only terrorists controlling by fear (no more planes flying), but conservatives once again following the decisions of the left.

How many auto related deaths have there been during the past 4 weeks? You may want to reconsider driving home.

[DonnerT]

I'm not a doctor or biologist but I can ansewer that question for you. The spores are the dormant form. They last until forever and never lose potency.

[Texaggie79]

However, does not the concentration dissipate?

[Clinton's a rapist]

I'm sure more than 20,000 die every year from flu complications, and it's contagious! Any trepidation’s when around the "influenza people"?

How To Lie With Statistics 101. In normal parlance, those 20,000 die of "old age."

[Clinton's a rapist]

Of course the numbers are small - this biological attack is still in the early stages.

What is it with people that they still don't get it? This is not the attack. You don't execute an anthrax attack by sending out letters of powdered anthrax with warnings to "take Penicillin." This is just to let us know they have it. The attack is being saved for later, for the confrontation with Iraq. Count on it.