# what happend to the anthrax attacks in 2001-2002 ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480 "2006-08-12T19:42:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/21 "2006-08-14T12:02:25Z")
Didn’t I? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/22 "2006-08-14T12:34:44Z")
Dangling thingies aside, has anyone noticed that there have been no anthrax attacks, real or imagined, since we invaded Iraq. Coincidence, or is it our government hard at work? We inform, you decide. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/23 "2006-08-14T13:18:02Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] Dangling thingies aside, has anyone noticed that there have been no anthrax attacks, real or imagined, since we invaded Iraq. Coincidence, or is it our government hard at work? We inform, you decide. [/QUOTE] Or, the guy that the FBI was “interested in” got scared & quit. We inform, you decide. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/24 "2006-08-14T13:34:36Z")
[QUOTE=boytyperanma] I have been told by a pretty unreliable source the US is the only country capable of making an anthrax powder. Iraq when it was manufacturing anthrax could only do so in liquid form and that had a shelf life of a few years. Any truth to any of that? [/QUOTE] Well, yes and no. It’s not that no one else is capable of making weapons grade anthrax, it’s that the strain used was the Ames strain witch is a US strain (mistakenly named for Ames, Iowa) and happened to be a “polished” type which the US was working on in it’s bio-weapons labs. Whoever did it, was most certainly an employee of the US government, and that particular specimen could have only been obtained through a Government lab. Moreover, the government believes this as well, as every member of the ASM (of which am one) received a letter asking for tips. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/25 "2006-08-14T13:44:57Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Uh, **Harmonious Discord** , you still didn’t get rid of the dangling participle in your re-write. Both of the ways you have it written, it implies that you followed this guy’s story since the time when **you** were accused of terroristic activities. I presume that you meant to say that you followed his story since when **he** was accused. What you should have written was “Had I not been following this guys activities since he was charged in Wisconsin for terrorist acts, I would have missed the hiccup this caused.” (emphasis mine) [/QUOTE] [daffy]I get it… _pronoun_ trouble…[/daffy] ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/26 "2006-08-14T17:20:46Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] CynicalGabe that link makes a password box pop up. [/QUOTE] Sorry, I forgot that a subscription is required. I do all this hard work, and cannot share it with anybody. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/27 "2006-08-16T03:56:01Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] Dangling thingies aside, has anyone noticed that there have been no anthrax attacks, real or imagined, since we invaded Iraq. Coincidence, or is it our government hard at work? We inform, you decide. [/QUOTE] The anthrax attacks targeted the Congress and the news networks. The result. People without internet access could not contact their Representatives or the media during this time after 9/11. Hmm. ---
**Author:** ![jimbeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/858c86/32.png) [@jimbeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbeam)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/28 "2006-08-16T04:13:13Z")
So is it true that “big brother” red flags internet communications that contain words like terrorism, explosives, anthrax, etc., etc. Someone might as well say bush while I’m here. That ought to really get their attention. 😮 ~see ya later, I hope 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jimbeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/858c86/32.png) [@jimbeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbeam)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/29 "2006-08-16T04:09:51Z")
So is it true that “big brother” red flags internet communications that contain words like terrorism, explosives, anthrax, etc., etc. Someone might well say bush while I’m here that ought to do the trick. That ought to really get their attention. 😮 ~see ya later, I hope 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/30 "2006-08-16T08:29:08Z")
The United States is, and has been the worst possible target for an Anthrax attack, or a Smallpox attack, or, in fact any sort of known agent biological attack. We have the infrastructure, we have the diagnostic systems, including the CDC and Ft. Meade, and we have just oodles of response capability. Discovery/Learning channel hype notwithstanding, epidemics of large scale are not easily achieved, or likely to spread beyond the original locale, with known disease agents. Coming up with a hypothetical super bug is a major project, with major risks for the folks trying to do it. The possibility for a very large scale attack is still extant, but that would take a nation state to accomplish, not a basement terrorist cell. In fact, there is a small set of professionals in the health industry that believe that the attacks may have already taken place, and failed to even set off alerts. The presence of identifiable anthrax spores is much more common than previously known, although in low enough concentrations that there is almost no risk to humans. Are these spores natural or the result of fizzled attacks by amateur bioterrorists? It is not that easy to be sure. I would like to see our nation set into place a dynamic strategic reserve of antivirals, and antibiotics, though. It could be done fairly cheaply, if it was not done monothilicly, but rather by enlisting the existing private/commercial pharmacy industry, and providing tax incentives to them to offset the inventory cost of doubling existing stocks _in retail, and institutional pharmacies_ of the five or six most effective drugs. This reserve could then be rotated on a FIFO basis, just like current supplies. The main advantage is that the strategic supply is then already distributed, and available for the first few days of any outbreak, anywhere in the country. It would work for non terrorists outbreaks, as well. Just a thought. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/31 "2006-08-16T15:41:02Z")
Most of the people in my county will die, with the plan our health agency came up with. I won’t get into beyond stating that everybody in the county (55,000) is expected to drive to a bottle necked location and get their shots from government employees without volunteers to reduce liability in a three day window from the first warning. They said that they may be able to borrow a couple buses if they were needed, so I guess in the heat of the moment they will start scrounging up transport. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/32 "2006-08-16T16:46:34Z")
Except those people will only die if they are exposed to an infectious individual and contract the disease from them. Vaccines and antibiotics are all very well, but what really knocked the epidemics of the 1800s out was sanitary plumbing, uncrowded housing, copious hot water and soap, central heating, clean food, and clean water. The famous example is the cholera epidemic that was solved by removing the pump handle from a public water outlet. Dumping anthrax spores into the air might infect some people, but it won’t lead to an epidemic because people infected with anthrax can’t pass that infection to other people. A worst case scenario would be a group of terrorists getting hold of some smallpox or superflu, infecting themselves, and wander around New York coughing on people. But how many people could they infect before they wound up too weak to walk? Yeah, one terrorist infects 10 people, those 10 people infect 100 people, those 100 infect 1000, and so on. But once people start showing up in emergency rooms with smallpox, the epidemic can be dealt with…not by vaccinating everyone in the country, but by quarantine and allowing the epidemic to burn itself out. Everyone in the country will NOT be exposed to the disease, so most people will not get sick. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/33 "2006-08-16T17:27:44Z")
This is the plan for any infectous disease that needs a shot, not just anthrax. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/34 "2006-08-16T18:50:39Z")
The syllogism: 1. The 55,000 people in my county must get a shot within 3 days or they will all die. 2. It is impossible for most of the people in my country to get that shot within 3 days, given the current plan. Therefore, 1. Most of the people in my county will die. This is a perfectly valid and logical syllogism. However, I don’t think the major premise is true. Epidemics aren’t combatted by giving everyone a shot, they are combatted by isolating the epidemic and preventing transmission of the disease. So rather than telling everyone to gather to get a shot, they could just tell everyone to stay home and leave the house or allow any visitors into the house for however long the epidemic lasts. And those people not already exposed to the disease will be fine, those already exposed wouldn’t be saved by a shot anyway. There are no diseases with 100% mortality for those that don’t get a shot, because there’s no way to infect everyone, even with a superflu like in 1918, and even the most virulent diseases don’t have 100% mortality for those infected. If we have a superflu epidemic we very likely won’t have a vaccine until quite late into the epidemic. So the fact that most people wouldn’t be able to get the vaccine within 3 days warning is irrelevant, because the vaccine won’t be available within 3 days of the discovery of the epidemic. If there is a superflu epidemic staying home and isolating your family will work 100% of the time. If you have to go out in public wearing a mask and gloves and staying away from most people will work 99% of the time. You can get the superflu if someone coughs or sneezes on you, or you touch an object that has been coughed or sneezed on then touch a mucous membrane with your hand. Gloves, washing hands, avoiding crowds, and surgical masks will protect you in almost all cases. ---
**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/35 "2006-08-17T02:12:33Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] I would like to see our nation set into place a dynamic strategic reserve of antivirals, and antibiotics, though. It could be done fairly cheaply, if it was not done monothilicly, but rather by enlisting the existing private/commercial pharmacy industry, and providing tax incentives to them to offset the inventory cost of doubling existing stocks _in retail, and institutional pharmacies_ of the five or six most effective drugs. This reserve could then be rotated on a FIFO basis, just like current supplies. The main advantage is that the strategic supply is then already distributed, and available for the first few days of any outbreak, anywhere in the country. It would work for non terrorists outbreaks, as well. Just a thought. Tris [/QUOTE] Do you mean something like a strategic national stockpile (SNS) with large quantities of medicine and medical supplies to protect the American public if there is a public health emergency (terrorist attack, flu outbreak, earthquake) severe enough to cause local supplies to run out? Maybe something set up so that once Federal and local authorities agree that the SNS is needed, medicines could be delivered to any state in the U.S. within 12 hours with each state having plans to receive and distribute SNS medicine and medical supplies to local communities as quickly as possible. [http://www.bt.cdc.gov/stockpile/](http://www.bt.cdc.gov/stockpile/) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/36 "2006-08-18T13:15:40Z")
Update–naturally occuring Anthrax kills one man in UK. Terrorism not suspected, but this stuff is rather more common than people suppose. > **[Latest news & breaking headlines](https://www.thetimes.com/)** > > The latest breaking UK, US, world, business and sport news from The Times and The Sunday Times. Go beyond today's headlines with in-depth analysis and comment. > [@](#): > > AN ARTIST died of anthrax caught from spores in animal skins that he used to make drums, health officials believe. > > When Christopher “Pasqual” Norris, 50, died in hospital on July 8, the cause of his death was not known. But tests have shown that anthrax was the most likely cause. > > Mr Norris, a Buddhist who lived alone at Stobs, near Hawick in the Scottish Borders, made sculptures, bongos and decorative items, importing untreated animal hides. Still, this is Scotland’s first Anthrax death in 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/37 "2006-08-21T04:14:58Z")
[QUOTE=Yeah] Do you mean something like a strategic national stockpile (SNS) with large quantities of medicine and medical supplies to protect the American public if there is a public health emergency (terrorist attack, flu outbreak, earthquake) severe enough to cause local supplies to run out? Maybe something set up so that once Federal and local authorities agree that the SNS is needed, medicines could be delivered to any state in the U.S. within 12 hours with each state having plans to receive and distribute SNS medicine and medical supplies to local communities as quickly as possible. [http://www.bt.cdc.gov/stockpile/](http://www.bt.cdc.gov/stockpile/) [/QUOTE] No. In fact, exactly not. I believe the simple act of subsidizing a planned increase in the existing on hand inventory of every single licensed pharmacy in the country would provide the benefit of a predistributed emergency that would not have to be maintained by the federal government, nor wait on the response of any agency. There would simply be more in the market place all the time, by an amount that can be rotated FIFO at a very small increase in cost. That cost can be made tax deductible for the businesses, and no additional cost or infrastructure need be created. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/38 "2006-08-21T19:52:56Z")
\>there have been no anthrax attacks, real or imagined, since we invaded Iraq There have also been no attacks since Michael Jackson moved to the Middle East. I’m just sayin… ---
**Author:** ![jimbeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/858c86/32.png) [@jimbeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbeam)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/39 "2006-08-21T20:18:08Z")
IIRC, during the Exodus, thousands of Egyptians supposedly died from anthrax and/or anthrax related diseases. The terrorists have been around a long time, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480/40 "2006-09-25T13:37:02Z")
Hmmm…contrary to original reports, the anthrax was **not** from US labs. > **[BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US attacks used 'common anthrax'](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5377744.stm)** > > Investigators revise the view that anthrax used in attacks in the US was of military grade, a US paper reports. Another screw up, a la Brownie? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happend-to-the-anthrax-attacks-in-2001-2002/368480.md?page=3)