An OT message for those concerned about the DC antrax scare.

Whistle
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Hi, all. My brother, who works on capitol hill, sent me this today. I know some of you have family in DC, so you might be interested. -TW

To Tom etc.–
Just wanted to send a quick note to anyone that might be wondering about me, and I would encourage you to spread this to anyone you know who is worried about this situation with anthrax. The media has misreported several things. If you are watching, listening to, or reading the news, you may have seen the following:

The anthrax spores found in Senator Daschle’s office are of weapons grade and extremely lethal.

The anthrax has infected 29 people in the Hart Senate Office Building.
The anthrax is in the ventilation system of the House and Senate Office Buildings and in the tunnels connecting all of them.

NONE OF THESE RUMORS ARE TRUE!!! I don’t care what the media is telling you. FoxNews, MSNBC, and several newspapers are reporting all these rumors, and they are WRONG. We just had a meeting with Senator Enzi, who had just come from a meeting on the anthrax problem, and he told us that all the above reports are nothing more than rumors. This is garden variety anthrax, not weapons grade. It is poorly prepared, and is highly treatable.

The 29 people in Senator Daschle’s office have tested positive. That means that 1 or more spores have been found on their skin, clothes, or in their nose. It takes at least 10,000 spores to be infected with the bacteria. To further explain, you probably get some anthrax spores on you when you work in your garden from the soil. No kidding. And you don’t have anthrax. g This is the same stuff. None of Senator Daschle’s people are infected at the moment, and even some do develop the infection in the next few days, it is highly treatable, and those who have offices in the Hart Senate Building are on precautionary doses of Citro, the antibiotic that kills anthrax.

The rumor that most worried me, that the bacteria was in the tunnels of the between the office buildings and the Capitol (where I spend quite a bit of time), is also untrue. We do not all have the same ventilation system, and the offices in the Hart Building (where Daschle’s offices are) that share a system with his have been closed. The rest of us are in no danger from that outbreak. The Senate Buildings may shut down to staff (this has not been decided yet) in order to do a PRECAUTIONARY environmental sweep, but there is no evidence that they will find any anthrax in our building.

If you have further questions, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee is the only doctor in the Senate, and he has put some really good information on his website (http://www.senate.gov/~frist/). There is a section for Senate staff, but anyone can look at it, and if you are interested in how they are protecting me and my fellow staff members, I would encourage you to look at it. It has some good general information on the disease as well.

Anyway, I am fine. Don’t believe everything you hear and read. As often happens, the media has blown this out of proportion. This information comes from Senator Enzi, who got it from the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services, and it is correct.

Take care, and I will try to keep you all posted.

Scott

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Anthrax is actually very similar meningitis, and is vey much treatable by antibiotics if caught early enough.

Just thank God they aren’t dumping small pox on our heads.

At any rate, for you paraniod folks, I heard that you can iron your mail to kill the anthrax. Yes, iron it. Like a shirt. The combination of moisture and heat kills the bacteria. I think it’d be more fun to toss it in the microwave myself (it’s always fun playing with microwaves–try sticking a marshmallow peep in there ^__^), but the experts say ironing is what to do…

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I’m a public health nurse, and so have been very aware of the whole anthrax situation. While it is definitely something serious in that somebody deliberately tried to infect people with anthrax (and succeeded only in a few cases), it really isn’t something that deserves all the panic and media attention it has been getting.

I haven’t heard the one about ironing the mail, but I do know that anthrax is very easily killed by ultraviolet light (i.e. sunlight). So if you don’t want to iron your mail just put it in the sun for a while…

There are a lot scarier things out there that the media just doesn’t talk about -probably that’s a good thing - and I’m not talking about bioterrorism, just mother nature at work.

But our God is an awesome God and all things work for the good of Him…so be of good cheer! (And whistle a happy tune) :slight_smile:

Beth

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I feel the need to contribute here, because there is a bit of misinformation involved. I do believe that the media is prone to exaggeration, but the government does its own fair share of misinformation, especially when something as serious as anthrax is concerned.

So, first, let’s talk about ‘exposure’ and the people involved. Yes, you can have a scattering of spores from ‘working in the garden’, but the people who were identified had a FAR higher count. What is the likelihood that a casual garden contact will swab out and test positive? Very VERY low. These people were exposed to enough of the particles to indicate a direct exposure.

Secondly, many reliable reports have come from scientists who state that the particulates found in Sen. Daschle’s office were ‘milled’ or ‘machined’ to make them very fine, much easier to become airborne. This is not natural, it is manufactured. It is dangerous.

Third, the drug is commonly called Cipro, not Citro. I get wary when people misspell such things, especially second/third hand reports.

No, I don’t believe that I am going to open a piece of mail with Anthrax in it. Yes, I do believe that it is a hideously dangerous substance that HAS threatened a number of people, including mailhandlers, government workers and potentially could be used as a weapon of mass destruction.

Cutaneous and intestinal anthrax is relatively – RELATIVELY – treatable. Anthrax that is inhaled, even if treated with the full course of antibiotics, is often fatal. Please note the editor in Florida. He got antibiotics. He died.

I read the news (never TV) and take it with a grain of salt, but it is a rare, rare day that I listen to the government reports (especially third hand) and don’t exercise extreme skepticism. Someone’s boss saying ‘there there, you’re safe’ doesn’t hold much water with me.

I refuse to panic, but I’ll be damned if I’ll be complacent either.

For anyone who would like to do a little light reading:

http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v281n18/ffull/jst80027.html

Tyghress
…And I go on, pursuing through the hours,
Another tiger, the one not found in verse.
Jorge Luis Borges

[ This Message was edited by: tyghress on 2001-10-18 09:47 ]

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I’d like to echo Tyghress’ comments and offer a few of my own. No offense is intended towards anyone; I’m generalizing, and know that there are exceptions to every rule.

Three things always to remember:

  1. The “media” are not in business to inform anyone of anything. Their business is to deliver viewers to advertisers, because that’s where the money flows. From this, we immediately derive “if it bleeds, it leads.” Caveat lector; caveat auditor.

  2. Politicians, and others in positions of power, will use circumstances like those of the present to advance their agendas. It ain’t pretty, but there it is. This commonly involves use of the “media” in the attempt to develop a popular demand for their particular brand of salvation, and is just as commonly based on invocation of fear as a means of manipulation. ( See item “1” above. )

  3. A decade of bouncing around the internet, and more spent working for different types of government agencies, have ingrained in me a scepticism regarding other than first-hand reports, and often even of them. I recognize that WyoBadger offered his post with the best of intentions, and am not criticizing him, but even and especially people in the middle of events may not have a clear and comprehensive view of what is happening around them. Rumors fly. That accurate view may never emerge.

Therefore, remain sceptical. Gather your information from as many different sources as you can, remembering that three newspapers printing the same AP article are not different sources. Don’t believe everything that gets forwarded to you. Exercise your critical faculties to sift through what you are being told, and try to extract bits that appear to be true, that are consistent with other things you know. Remember that you are not being told everything – witholding of information is a means of manipulation too.

Use what seems to be true to develop your own conclusions and courses of action, insofar as is humanly possible with the use of reason and not emotion. Emotion is what governs the herd, and if the herd is stampeding off a cliff one may not care to go with it – even if all that company seems so very comforting.

Just my $0.02.

Best regards,

Neil Dickey

[ This Message was edited by: ndjr on 2001-10-18 11:19 ]

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Tom,
Thanks for the information. I’ve been on assignment from my DC office to Houston for the last 2 months. I am returning this weekend. I work across from the FBI building, half way between the Capital and the White House. I found you information interesting and helpfull.

I also worked for 3 years providing computer support to all the Senate offices and worked with some of the support staff there. I know they will try to be cautious and carefull of their staff. Most of the offices have large numbers of volunteers so the impetious is to err on the side of safty.

They are also in the business of governing and will take reasonable steps to see that those processes are not disrupted unneccessarily. A lot of their work is providing casework to the constituents, helping them get through to complexities of government institutions. We don’t live in a simple country or in simple times, Senate workers often spend hours helping citizens get the government resources and aid that was meant for them.

In times like these, even before Sept. 11th, there are always risks. It is nice to see that those providing services in the legislature are balancing those risks with with the need to continue to provide services.

I appreciate the news from the Hill, by Tom’s brother, and the comments of the other poster’s. The media and the govenment seldom get ALL the facts straight; but, truthfully, who does? In this day and time there is pressure to inform folks of events and developments imediately. There is also pressure to be accurate. Sometimes these pressures are in opposition.


Thanks for the info from all concerned,
Returning to DC this weekend and looking forward to enjoying my music there, hoping that you …

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A good idea, especially concerning
matters with international implications,
is to read foreign media–which are
now available on the internet, happily.
American papers are no more biased
than others, except perhaps on social
issues, but there are times (during
wars, for instance) when
they will not publish what is widely
known abroad. It’s also sometimes helpful to
read papers that are biased in the
opposite direction from US papers,
for instance papers in countries like Egypt
and Lebanon.