AOT - ANTHRAX, More Possibilities of Disaster

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On Drudge at the mo
Think Y2K ... CIA, FBI, DOD, FEMA all claim their great fear is increased chaos = gateway for terrorism. Warnings flying thick & furious of all the potential types of "accidental" disasters.

Bioterror is the BIGGEST fear of deliberate sabotage, in addition to prep drills for hazmat spills, chemoterror, noxious fumes, uncontrollable fires, civil unrest, pipes 'n ppl freezing, etc etc etc.

[ For Educational Purposes Only ]

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX TUESDAY, JUNE 01, 1999 22:09:58 UTC XXXXX

SCIENTISTS FEAR ESCAPE OF ANTHRAX FROM RUSSIAN ISLAND

American military scientists and intelligence experts have grown concerned that hundreds of tons of anthrax bacteria which was secretly buried on a remote island by the Russians -- may escape!

According to publishing sources, the NEW YORK TIMES is planning a Page One exclusive report on Wednesday that runs over 3,000 words about the sludge that is buried on Vozrozhdeniye Island in the Aral Sea.

The hundreds of tons of anthrax bacteria -- enough to destroy the world many times over -- was buried by the Russians in stainless-steel canisters in the late 80's after Washington learned the Soviet Union was producing germs for weapons that the world had banned.

Russian scientists thought they had destroyed the anthrax -- mixing the bacteria with bleach -- but recent tests show that some of the spores are still alive -- and potentially deadly, the TIMES reports.

Because the Aral Sea is shrinking, "anthrax island" has grown from 77 square miles to 770 and will soon be connected to the mainland.

Experts now fear "the spores could escape, stirred up by carriers like rodents, lizards and birds."

"Central Asian and American officials fear that, as access to the island eases, the buried anthrax could be used by terrorists to make more of the deadly agent."

Developing on Wednesday...

X X X X X

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Yes, preparation for the stew of Great Unknowns looks more prudent by the day.
Be sure to have several all-inclusive First Aid kits positioned in your shelter, vehicles, and bug-out grab-evacuation closet now.
Follow Ed's lead and FINISH preps NOW !!

xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), June 02, 1999

Answers

How do you prepare for anthrax?

-- country boy (Life ain't nothing but @funny funny riddle.com), June 02, 1999.

http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/060299anthrax-island.html

At Bleak Asian Site, Killer Germs Survive

mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm

-- Ashton (allaha@earthlink.net), June 02, 1999.


I'm also wondering how to prepare for anthrax. Maybe someone could give me a good tip on surviving nuclear explosions.

I seriously doubt if my first aid kit will get me through a radiation blast.

How about enlightening us.

-- Black Sheep (Wondering@about.com), June 02, 1999.


For Anthrax, it is not contagious. The military-style Anthrax must be air-borne, and you must breathe the spores.

For nuclear fall-out, the worst is from a ground-explosion, during just under the first 3 weeks. Air-explosions are much cleaner, regarding fall-out. The radiation left after 3 weeks is much less of a threat.

-- Anonymous99 (Anonymous99@Anonymous99.xxx), June 02, 1999.


More info on anthrax,sorry do know how to do hot links. http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Bact330/lectureanthrax

Also Creasson Kerney's Nuclear War Survival Skills is available on line. http://oism.org/nwss/ This is the one I read when I get the nuke/chem/bio jitters due to articles about the subject popping into my awareness. Learning lots of good info for the "Great Uknown." Barb in Tornado Alley!

-- Barb (awaltrip@telepath.com), June 02, 1999.



Hey Black Sheep...you may be a horse's ass, but you do have a good sense of humor...I'm gonna give you 10 points for that, on the "human" scale and hope your attitude changes!

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), June 02, 1999.

You mean anthrax is REALLY not contagious and you really don't have to suck a sheep's ass to get it?

-- Black Sheep (Wondering@about.com), June 02, 1999.

Tetracycline is used for anthrax and is the only antibiotic that has any effect, the problem is it has a short shelf live. You can get the kind used for cows at a feed supply place and my understanding is it can be used for humans, you'll need to check it out for your self. There are also homeopathics to help your body to rid itself from exposure. There is a company that has available first aid kits with herbs and homeopathics that I have found great comfort in having. They are not on the internet but can be reached at 417-754-8469. I am sure you will enjoy the information they have. J

-- J (dragonhollow@tri-lakes.net), June 02, 1999.

See the US Army's manual for NBC casualties. You can print it out. http://www.nbc- med.org/SiteContent/MedRef/OnlineRef/FieldManuals/medman/Handbook.htm

-- Phil Morris (pemorris@beaches.net), June 02, 1999.

Anthrax is contagious. If it weren't why do you suppose they are concerned about it spreading from that island? Why do you have to burn the bodies of those infected?

I purchased Israeli gas mask for my family and a LOT of extra filters. I also bought the agricultural tetracycline and tested it on myself recently when I had a respiratory infection. It worked fine, killed the infection in just two days. I continued the dosage for a further three days just to make sure it was knocked out completely and that there were no side effects. The shelf life is short, and you need to keep it refrigerated to extend this.

-- Nikoli Krushev (doomsday@y2000.com), June 02, 1999.



The NY Times article is sobering. Read it at lunch today, lost my appetite about three paragraphs in.

What's scary about the anthrax involved is that the cultures were dosed twice (very heavily I would think) with chlorine bleach to kill the stuff. From my military experience, chlorine bleach is the standard decontamination agent used on chem-warfare and bio-warfare agents. But this stuff is resistant to standard US and NATO decon procedures. Not very good news for the world if it does get loose, either by accident or through intentional effort.

I guess it's time to re-read the old training manuals. I know they're packed away somewhere round...

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), June 02, 1999.


Anthrax is treated with doxycycline or ciprofloxacin. Human disease may be contacted by handling contaminated hair, wool, hides, blood and excreta of infected animals and from manufactured products such as bone meal, as well as purposeful dissemination of spores. These spores are very stable and may remain viable for many years in soil and water.

-- lparks (lparks@eurekanet.com), June 02, 1999.

Not to mention smallpox:

http://w ww.theage.com.au/daily/990530/news/news24.html

There's a new book out by Ken Alibek, former director of Soviet biowarfare. He details some horrific stuff, believes that the Russians are continuing the work (on a smaller scale), and says many of the lead scientists involved are now in countries like Iran. They "weaponized" organisms by making them able to withstand dispersal from cruise missiles and ballistic warheads, and making them resistant to antibiotics and vaccines. Based on the research they were doing before he left, and the papers they've published since, he believes they've succeeded in inserting Ebola genes into smallpox, resulting in a virus as contagious as smallpox (someone sneezes at you, you have 60 to 90 percent chance of catching it) with the lethality of Ebola.

Over the years they've also had several accidental releases.

-- Shimrod (shimrod@lycosmail.com), June 03, 1999.


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