I’ll pull the threads if anyone really wants me to, but a quick search of the word “anthrax” on this messageboard (and in particular of GQ) will provide people with more information than they ever really wanted to know about anthrax.
If the real question is “can anthrax be powderised?”, the answer is “yes”. If the question is “why is anthrax often mixed with powdered agents?”, the answer is (essentially) “to make it more dispersible”. Anthrax has a tendency to “clump” into clusters which are more than 5 microns. Human beings have a wonderful immune system which will often trap particles 5 microns or larger in size in the upper respiratory tract; anthrax is MOST lethal to human beings if it can get past the URT and into the lungs. Ergo, being able to disperse anthrax in a form which reduced its particulates to under 5 microns is a “good” thing from a bio-weaponry point of view.
I’m going to say something here in GQ which is purely opinion, and I hope that the mods will either allow me the latitude to do so or very quickly email me and tell me my comments are out of line.
I get the feeling that one of the reasons why this and many other messageboards are getting so many questions about anthrax ATM is because people are “expert shopping”. By that I mean that although there is a great deal of very accessible information concerning this disease available from extremely credible sources (such as the CDC, defenselink, promedline, etc), some people don’t so much want accurate information as information which will allow them to feel comfortable and support their world view.
Over the past few weeks I have watched a host of “experts” giving radically different “expert” opinions on the viability of a widespread anthrax assault. These opinions have ranged from “you could wipe out the population of Sydney with a single cropduster spray of 100 kg of anthrax over the metropolitan area”, to “anthrax is extremely hard to weaponise and the risk is virtually nil”.
When I seek more detailed information on anthrax, I seek it from the credible sources (and CDC and defenselink are only two of those) which existed prior to these attacks and the legion of hoaxes which have followed them.
This disease is not a new one. This disease has been a problem for primary producers for a very long time. Almost every major Western media organisation now has links on their website to peer-reviewed, scientifically-based information about anthrax. Please, let none of us let our fear get in the way of our commonsense when we are confronted with “tabloid experts”.
The more sensationalist websites have been bumped to the top of search engines like Google ATM, just because they are getting so many hits from people who are scared. So can we all pull together during this and help each other access accurate information?
I’m just as scared as the rest of you about where this world is heading, but the one thing I know for sure is that these terrorists aren’t magicians who have suddenly developed the capability to make what has we’ve always known about anthrax or any other potential biological or chemical weapon irrelevant. Yes Biopreparat, from all we can gather, did manage to genetically engineer an antibiotic resistant strain of anthrax. Logic tells us, that as the people who have been affected by these attacks are responding to antibiotic treatment, whoever is behind this campaign of bio-terrorism doesn’t possess that strain.
We have a lot of highly qualified scientists, biologists, military personnel etc, on this message board. Let’s start trusting them to know a little more about what’s being discussed than the local tabloid paper or the local cable network.
I am SOOO going to get into trouble for this post. But I’m also so willing to wear the twouble I will get into than to see this absolute fear continue.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled GQ thread, with best wishes to all of you for your safety and peace of mind.
I didn’t think it was possible.