Posted on 10/08/2001 5:30:32 AM PDT by Maceman
Still under investigation, but being reported as a false alarm. . . .
source: http://www.wsvn.com/news/local/box1/
Mystery powder causes 8 to be treated in Hialeah
Posted: October 8, 2001 07:30 AM
(Hialeah-AP) -- Eight people from two homes are being treated after receiving manila envelopes containing a mysterious white powder.
The F-B-I says preliminary tests on the powder show it does NOT contain any chemical or biological toxins. But more tests are being done to make sure.
The first envelope was discovered Saturday. Jacinto Perez was going through his mail when he opened a business-size envelope containing the powder. He and others in the house later developed low-grade fevers after arriving at Palm Springs General Hospital. All have been released.
On Sunday, about six blocks away, Pedro Rodriguez was throwing out an unopened envelope when he heard a popping sound and saw a white powder trickle out. He later felt a burning sensation on his arm. He and his family are under observation.
Thanks for this info. Gram negative or gram positive is a means of identifying bacteria. Anthrax is gram positive meaning when dyed it shows a positive image. Microbiology is not my strong suit I realy on Mrs Harpseal's knowledge there. A gram negative anthrax would be a designer bug in her opinion.
Stay well - stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
Our medical teams from the CDC did not have this revalation yesterday......The first places checked would be home and office....24 hours for a culture and firm confirmation.....
This means that Tommy Thompson's press conference last week was a sham....The intent was to suppress a panic in the hope that the inicident was isolated....
How these offices became infected is still speculative but the fact that this is NOT naturally occuring leaves pause.
The terrorists may be unable to successfully deliver large quanities of weapon grade anthrax to the general populace but apparently they seem content in delivering small amounts of regular run-of-the-mill anthrax in non-military manner.
The yield would be low but the effect of terror would be enormus......
NeverGore
But if you don't smoke, you'll be fine. </sarcasm
It's been a few years since I worked in a lab, but I've gram stained a lot of hospital cultures. While I haven't worked with anthrax, I have stained its Bacillis cousins many times. There is no mistaking the staining characteristics - it's a strong positive. If it's coming up Gram negative, they're dealing with a different critter. There are MANY Gram-negative rods, including most intestinal flora.
Cattle feed lot on the floor above - happens evey time.
On MSNBC, there is a picture showing a man holding a plastic bag full of stuff captioned "An unidentified official carries a bag of tubes from Bob Stevens' home in Lantana, Fla., on Friday." This still may be a "science experiment" gone wrong.
Does anyone know where he was in North Carolina, and what he was doing there?
If the anthrax 'found in the building' was limited to the dead victim's computer keyboard (see earlier in the thread) I can't see this any a terrorist act.
I'm not worried about this. Not yet. Too soon to tell.
That's interesting especially since he was near 2 universities. maybe he was trying to make his own vaccines.
I wonder what might turn up on FBI background checks on any of these people.
Any new employees with unsavory ties to certain organizations
Just wondering....
A gram negative anthrax would be an impossibility. The gram stain procedure is designed to differentiate the exposed peptidoglycans in the cell membrane. A gram positive organism has exposed peptidoglycans, whereas a gram negative organism does not.
This defining cell wall characteristic is inherent to the organism, and defines it's metabolic characteristics as well. If the organism is gram negative, then it is not bacillus anthracis.
Anthrax is also a comparatively large organism (among the largest) and is distinctive in this way as well.
It's quite possible the official brought the tubes with him to put samples in.
Does anyone know where he was in North Carolina, and what he was doing there?
As I recall from news stories, he was taking his son to start fall semester at a college there.
Keep moving, people. Mystery solved. Your trusty government has it all under control. No need to worry, no terrorism here.
The yield would be low but the effect of terror would be enormus....
Growing up a large quantity of Anthrax while maintaining virulence, and then succesfully aeosolizing it so that a large number of people become infected is, I think, quite difficult.
Puffing around some spores and infecting one or two people would be easy, I fear.
What is the goal here? If you want to spread terror, a few scattered cases of Anthrax will do very nicely. You don't have to kill many people before our economy grinds to a halt. People will be afraid to leave the house.
I suspect the media and the government are putting on a full-court press to try and suppress panic here.
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