May 2003

Below is a listing of bioterrorism-related events this month, part of an ongoing bioterrorism chronology that begins with Sep 11, 2001. To see events from other months, go to the Bioterrorism Watch index page.

May 31

Search for Iraqi weapons changes focus
The focus of the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq will shift when a new US team joins others already searching. Instead of focusing on areas identified as suspicious sites before the war, searchers will look in areas where documents, computer files, interviews with Iraqis, and other new information point to possible hidden biological or chemical weapons, says Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton. Dayton is leading the Iraq Survey Group, a team of about 1,400 military and civilian experts from the United States, Great Britain, and Australia and will take over the weapons search from a smaller US military team.

May 30

Alert level goes back to yellow
The national terrorism alert level is dropped from orange (high) to yellow (elevated) after 11 days on the higher rung (see May 20 item). Playing into the decision was the several intelligence sources' judgment that terrorist threats had diminished. During the time of the orange alert, security was tightened by government and businesses, particularly over the Memorial Day weekend.

Postal anthrax detection test delayed
The US Postal Service announces that its 14-city test of an anthrax detection system (see May 17 item) is postponed. The system, which uses DNA testing to detect agents, has been tried in Baltimore for several months. Wider testing was planned to begin Jun 2. The delay is attributed to the need for more time for the test cities and CDC to coordinate on response guidelines.

May 29

Britain purchases 80 mobile decontamination units
British authorities purchase mobile decontamination units to help victims in the event of a chemical, biological, or nuclear terror attack, according to a report in Agence France-Presse. The units contain large tents with walk-through showers and dressing areas and can decontaminate up to 200 people per hour. They resemble those stationed at airports and major US cities. Britain has purchased 80 of the vehicles at a cost of $92 million and will station them across England and Wales. The units will be delivered within days.

British dossier on Iraq may have been doctored
The British government dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program released last September was "transformed" to make it "sexier," according to a senior British intelligence official speaking to BBC News. Among the dossier's claims was that the Iraqi military could deploy biological and chemical weapons within 45 minutes of receiving an order. The intelligence official says because that claim was not considered reliable, it was not part of the original draft. "Most things in the dossier were double source, but that was single source, and we believe that the source was wrong," the official says. Adam Ingram, British Defense Minister, denies the government demanded changes to the dossier. British Prime Minister Tony Blair says he still has "absolutely no doubt at all about the existence of weapons of mass destruction."

May 28

Phase 1 testing to begin on new anthrax vaccine
VaxGen, a US biopharmaceutical company, receives FDA approval to begin testing a new anthrax vaccine. The company plans to conduct Phase 1 clinical testing of its vaccine on 100 volunteers beginning next month, according to a company release. Four medical centers, including Baylor College of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, and St. Louis University Health Sciences Center, will conduct the trials. Tests evaluate the efficacy of the new vaccine by comparing human immune response with immune responses shown to protect animals from inhalation anthrax, company officials say. "The ability to begin Phase 1 clinical trials advances our ultimate goal of supplying the next generation anthrax vaccine to the US and foreign governments, as well as private markets," says company CEO Lance Gordon in a statement.

Iraqi mobile weapons labs likely built very recently
A new intelligence report says Iraq continued to produce mobile biological weapons laboratories until immediately before the war with the United States. The report, by the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency, says that two recently discovered trailers thought to be mobile bioweapons laboratories (see May 19 item) were built as recently as the last few months and that the trailers were probably second- or third-generation designs of the plants described by an Iraqi source. "The newer version includes system improvements, such as cooling units, apparently engineered to solve production problems described by the source that were encountered with the older design," the report states. "The manufacturer's plates on the fermenters list production dates of 2002 and 2003suggesting Iraq continued to produce these units as late as this year."

May 27

Rumsfeld says Iraqi weapons may have been destroyed before war
In answer to a question after a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asserts that Iraq may have destroyed its weapons of mass destruction before the war. It was known that Iraq had large chemical warfare programs and had used chemical weapons on the Iranians and its own people, according to Rumsfeld. As to why Iraq did not use such weapons against US troops and why banned weapons have not yet been found by search teams in Iraq, he says, "It is also possible that they decided they would destroy them prior to a conflict." Rumsfeld points out that the search has not been under way for long and that evidence may still appear as the search broadens.

IOM says smallpox vaccination program should pause
The federal smallpox vaccination campaign should pause before moving into the next phase, which is to include inoculation of a large number of emergency responders, according to an Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee. In its continuous review of the vaccination program, IOM, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences that advises the government on healthcare policy, says the pause is necessary to consider changes to the strategy. (See CIDRAP News story.)

Important move made toward improved international public health
The World Health Assembly, governing body of WHO, approves a resolution to significantly expand its powers to deal with international epidemics that could be caused by biological terrorism (see May 19 item). It would allow WHO to launch an instant communications network with member countries and to use nonofficial sources of information, such as media reports, during an international public health threat. It also gives WHO the power to issue global alerts for international health threats and empowers the organization's director general to send an inspection team to determine if a country has taken adequate measures to combat an international public threat. While the resolution lacks "legal teeth," it does provide WHO with "leverage" in forcing countries to address international public health threats, WHO spokesman Iain Simpson is quoted as saying in a New York Times article. The resolution is expected to be approved May 28 by the full WHO. "This is an extremely significant step for international public health," says Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of WHO. "SARS has shown us the size of the challenges we face. These new measures will help us respond even more effectively to the next public health threat."

Fort Detrick cleanup unearths more than bargained for
A 2-year, $25 million excavation project at the US Army's Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., has uncovered some 2,000 tons of hazardous waste, including 100 glass vials, many containing live bacteria and nonvirulent anthrax that the military was not aware of, officials say. The discovery changed what the Army thought would be industrial waste removal into the biggest cleanup in its history, according to a story in the Washington Post. Initially the Army expected to find mostly lab chemicals, debris, and incinerator ash, but bulldozers struck corroded drums of herbicides and unidentified chemicals, syringes, lab instruments, and unusual substances mixed with the dirt just a foot deep. Fifty pressurized cylinders of gases and liquids still await analysis. "

May 23

Athrax-laden letter sent to Arafat
A letter received 3 weeks ago by the office of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat contains anthrax, reports the Arabic newspaper al-Hayat. Hani al-Hassan, a top Palestinian security official, calls the incident an assassination attempt. The letter's stamps indicate it came from an Asian country. Al-Hassan says mail sent to the Palestinian territories always passes through Israel first and that the Palestinian Authority has been unable to investigate the source of the letter.

Maryland ponds holding possible evidence of anthrax stand unguarded
The Frederick, Md., ponds that the FBI is considering draining in search of evidence from the 2001 anthrax attacks (see May 11 item), stand unguarded and have no access restrictions, reports the Global Security Newswire. Legal experts say this could threaten the value of any evidence found there in the future. Notifying the public of where a future search may be conducted is highly unusual, according to former federal prosecutor Judson Lobdell. In a trial, evidence found in such a search would face great scrutiny, he adds.

May 22

DoD's chemical/biological defense annual report released
The Department of Defense releases its two-volume 2002 annual report on chemical and biological defense capabilities. Volume 1 holds information on recent reorganization of the department's chemical and biological defense program management and oversight structure; an overview of research, development, and acquisition plans and programs; an overview and assessment of chemical and biological defense logistics; an overview of doctrine, training, and readiness; and a list of the department's activities supporting the Chemical Weapons Convention. Volume two encompasses the Chemical and Biological Defense Program performance plan, including information on system's descriptions, program funding, and logistics data. The report can be accessed at www.acq.osd.mil/cp.

Modified Bioshield legislation approved by House committee
The US House of Representatives Government Reform Committee approves a substitute version of the Bioshield bill, which provides the government with methods of promoting vaccine development and other measures to protect the country from a bioterrorist attack. The bill also gives the HHS secretary flexibility in sponsoring research and development projects aimed at counterterrorism and in authorizing funding for the purchase of products developed from such research. Also within the purview of the HHS secretary under Bioshield is the power in a bioterrorism emergency to allow for use of drugs and other products before they have FDA have approval. Key changes in the substitute versions allow simplified research and development procedures only when the HHS secretary determines there is a "pressing" need for them and a limited rights for interested parties to appeal contracting decisions made by the secretary.

May 21

CIA team reviews preIraq war intelligence
The Central Intelligence Agency appoints a team of retired officers to examine evidence in hopes of learning whether the American intelligence community's prewar estimation of Iraq's government and weapons programs was misguided, officials say. CIA director George J. Tenet is requesting that officers review the classified intelligence pre-war reports that were circulated inside the government concerning Bagdhad's connection to terrorism and unconventional weapons, officials say. The team will compare those reports with what has actually been discovered in Iraq since the war ended. The review will include reports from the CIA, the National Intelligence Council, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and other agencies. It is the first internal review of Iraq-related intelligence since the war ended, officials say.

May 20

Terror alert level raised to orange
The Department of Homeland Security raises the domestic terror alert level from yellow (moderate risk) to orange (high risk) in the wake of bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco and a surge in threatening communications picked up by intelligence sources. Information is nonspecific and points to no particular time, target, or method of attack, according to FBI Director Robert Mueller and other officials. US officials suspect that the Saudi Arabia and Morocco attacks were arranged by Al Qaida to demonstrate the group is still active. This is the fourth time the alert level has been at orange since the system was put in place.

Large number of Americans have some immunity to smallpox, says study
Some 150 million Americans could still be partially protected from smallpox by vaccinations they received decades ago, according to a preliminary study presented at the American Society for Microbiology meeting in Washington, DC. More than 90% of the population aged 36 to 96 have been vaccinated at least once. The findings showed the presence of antibodies in 90% of 306 people tested. Researcher Mark Slifka of the Oregon Health and Science University says antibody levels were fairly consistent in the subjects, though the level of T-cells declined over time. Eight to 15 years after immunization the level of T-cells dropped by half, Slifka says, but "if you begin with very high T-cell levels, that could still be a large number." Persons vaccinated twice show increased immunity, but additional inoculations appear to provide no further protection, he adds.

Law suit launched over military anthrax vaccinations
The US Defense Department must discontinue vaccinating soldiers for anthrax because the vaccine is "investigational" and being used without approval, say attorneys for six US military officers and Pentagon personnel. The six are requesting a preliminary injunction to prevent the vaccination of soldiers for anthrax unless the recipients get an explanation of the vaccine's potential side-effects and then give their consent or the president issues a waiver. The plaintiff's attorneys say such regulations are required for drugs still under investigation. "In some cases they're not even told it's going to be an anthrax vaccination," says John Michels, Jr., an attorney for the plaintiffs. Attorneys for the two defendants in the casethe Pentagon and the US Food and Drug Administrationsay the anthrax vaccine has been an accepted preventive measure for years.

May 19

Threat of engineered microorganisms as weapons discussed by researcher
Viruses and bacteria could be genetically engineered to elude the human immune system and produce more potent biological weapons, according to a researcher from the University of Darmstadt, Germany. Professor Kathryn Nixdorff reports at a conference on the future of weaponry that dangerous microorganisms have already been unintentionally produced as researchers try to modify vaccines and viruses. For example, Russian researchers have developed a strain of anthrax bacilli that evades immune mechanisms in hamsters, and Australians trying to develop a vaccine to prevent pregnancy in mice found a new and more virulent form of mousepox virus. Bugs could be given a resistance to antibiotics, they could be made more resistant to the environment and last longer, and they could be made more lethal, according to Nixdorff. But she rejects the suggestion that information gained from the sequencing of the human genome could help create a biological weapon specific to a particular racial or ethnic group.

Dry-swab testing of post offices for anthrax not sufficient, say scientists
Scientists tell a House subcommittee that post offices tested for anthrax using dry cotton swabs for specimen collection should be retested because dry swabs are an inefficient means of testing. In 2001, postal officials tested the Wallingford, Conn., postal facility for anthrax using dry cotton swabs and found nothing. But the CDC tested the facility using wet wipes and a special air vacuum and discovered more than 3 million anthrax spores. The facilities that should be retested are those "deemed free of anthrax based on a single dry swab," says Keith Rhodes, the chief technologist for the General Accounting Office's Center for Technology and Engineering. "We really don't know whether those facilities are clean," says Dr. Richard Hamilton, a Johns Hopkins University professor and head of its dermatology, allergy and clinical immunology reference laboratory.

White House receives official conclusions on Iraqi mobile bioweapons trailers
Intelligence analysts present the White House with a white paper saying that two trailers found in Iraq (see May 7 and May 9 items) were mobile units to produce germs for weapons. No biological agents or evidence that the equipment was used to make bioweapons have been found, according to senior administration officials, but alternative theories of how the trailers could have been used have been rejected. "The experts who have crawled over this again and again can come up with no other plausible legitimate use," says a senior official who examined the evidence in detail. One recently rejected theory had come from Iraqi scientists who said one of the units was used to produce hydrogen. Officials in Washington and Iraq emphasize in interviews that the unit studied in the greatest detail had been thoroughly decontaminated with an unidentified caustic agent, making it impossible to say if it had ever produced agents for bioweapons. "It may have, we don't know," a senior administration official says. "What we know is that it is equipped to do that."

Government committee told that national environmental testing guidelines needed
Biohazard experts say the Department of Homeland Security should develop national environmental testing guidelines to use in the event of another anthrax attack. The nation is beset by inconsistent protocols used to test Postal Services facilities for anthrax contamination, according to Robert Hamilton, a professor at Johns Hopkins University. This has led to confusing and unreliable data being shared among different federal and state agencies. "We need a single leading federal agency to implement a unified, optimized and verifiable approach to environmental testing for the detection indoors of dispersed agents of bioterrorism," Hamilton tells the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations. Officials from the General Accounting Office and the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases are endorsing the idea.

WHO's power to address epidemics likely to expand
World Health Organization officials begin a 10-day meeting in Geneva to discuss new powers to combat international epidemics that could be caused by bioterrorism. Current WHO guidelines on outbreaks that must be reported are expected to be revised to include a much larger number of diseases. The revisions would also give WHO the authority to respond even when members refuse to admit they are dealing with a health crisis. "These are major changes in the way WHO works," says David Heymann, executive director of WHO's communicable diseases program, "The way we work now is passive. This would now be active." The proposed revisions would create a new, more general requirement that countries report any "public health emergency of international concern," according to a Washington Post report.

May 17

Mail-testing system to be tried in 14 cities
The US Postal Service will begin a 30-day test in 14 cities of its biohazard detection system. The system, which performs a continuous series of DNA tests to detect anthrax in mail, has already undergone tests in Baltimore. The new tests require placing a hood over postal canceling machines to collect samples to be tested for anthrax. The test is based on the polymerase chain reaction process, which can take tiny bits of DNA from an air sample and essentially photocopy them to create enough copies to test. It takes up to an hour to complete, and an anthrax finding would prompt a building evacuation. "The idea of this whole program is to protect employees and customers from any exposure to biohazards," says William O Neill, a systems analysts and engineer for the postal service.?

Bombs the most likely terrorist weapon?
Terrorists are more likely to use conventional weapons and not those incorporated into US antiterror drills that focus on biological or chemical attacks, according to many law enforcement and terrorism analysts. More than a dozen analysts interviewed by USA Today say the next terrorist attacks are far more likely to resemble this week's synchronized car bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. "Yes, al Qaeda has shown an interest in chemical and biological as well as radiological devices," says terrorism analyst Amy Smithson at Henry L. Stimson Center, a Washington think tank specializing in security matters. "But those are taller technical orders. In the case of terrorist activity, the statistics are stark: bombs, bombs, bombs, bombs," she adds. She and other analysts note that from 1998 until last year, 87% of the 776 terrorist attacks against US interests here and abroad involved bombs.

May 16

Iran denies having banned weapons
Iran insists it is not producing prohibited weapons or hiding members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaida network. Refuting allegations made by the exiled opposition group known as the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a senior government official who asked to remain unidentified tells Reuters, "I strongly deny that we have biological weapons because we do not need any banned weapons." Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also rejects accusations made by President Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, who called Iran one of the world's leading "sponsors of terror." "The Islamic Republic of Iran, based on its own principles, is very serious and resolved to combat terrorism and its nuclear programs are very transparent and peaceful," Asefi tells the official IRNA news agency. The group making the allegations has not provided evidence to back up its new claims on biological weapons but says its information comes from Iranian government sources.

USC findings could lead to better anthrax vaccine
University of South Carolina scientists discover anthrax elements that could lead to better detection and an improved vaccine that stops anthrax at an early stage, reports an Associated Press story. By focusing on a glycoprotein that surrounds anthrax spores, an improved vaccine might disable the spores before they reach a victim's lungs. Targeting the same protein could lead to almost instant detection of anthrax spores, according to the lead author of the USC research, bacteriologist Alvin Fox. "We want it to be not only quick, but it's got to be simple," he says. At the site of a bioterror attack, "It's going to be a first responder, not somebody who has a degree in microbiology, who's going to be there." The current vaccine does not target anthrax until later in the disease process, after spores bind to the lungs and germinate. Detection methods targeting the glycoprotein could be faster and less cumbersome than current methods, Fox says.

May 14

Unconventional weapons detroyed years ago, say more Iraqis
The US-led search for unconventional weapons in Iraq continues to produce little evidence, as Iraqi scientists contend no such programs exist. Iraqi scientists and engineers in custody as well as others who are free insist to American officials that Iraq's unconventional weapons and programs were destroyed years ago. The Associated Press reports that two scientists say they met with coalition intelligence officials on three separate occasions last week to discuss the possible existence of prohibited weapons. "The Americans asked about biological and nuclear programs, but they concentrated mainly on chemical weapons, such as VX," says Dr. Dagher Mahmoud, a deputy minister who oversaw Iraq's ministry of industry under Saddam Hussein. US officials in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, say a group of high-level Iraqi government officials and scientists in custody insist that Iraq has no chemical, biological or nuclear weapons programs.

Validity of TOPOFF an indirect benefactor of SARS awareness
The existence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) appears to have contributed indirectly to the success of this week's TOPOFF 2 terrorism exercise (see May 12 item) as a test of public health preparedness, according to CDC director Julie Gerberding. The exercise's Chicago component calls for persons to arrive at the city's emergency rooms with the initial, relatively mild flu-like symptoms of SARS after being exposed at O'Hare Airport, Union Station, or a hockey game at the city's United Center. Typically Americans would not come to a hospital emergency room to report mild flu-like symptom, so critics expressed concern that the script was not testing a realistic potentiality. But SARS has changed that by generating more awareness of respiratory illness. "It's important to appreciate that we are exercising in the context of SARS and people are experiencing a very low threshold" for seeking medical care for flu-like illness, Gerberding says. "I think this helped enhance the validity of the exercise," she adds.

Iran reportedly pursues biological/nuclear weapons development
Iran launches production of weaponized anthrax and pursues development of other deadly pathogens in an effort to produce an arsenal of biological weapons, according to an opposition group. The group, Mujaheddin-e Khalq, says the anthrax weapons success is just the first step in a secret program begun in 2001. Iran plans to triple the size of its biowarefare program, according to the group. The country also intends to build massive nuclear facilities capable of producing components for nuclear bombs, say officials of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the political division of the Mujaheddin, which seeks to overthrow the government. If the group's claims are true, Iran's work in biological weapons development is more aggressive than previously believed.

May 13

Threat of terrorism high in Saudi Arabia, say Brits
Britain's Foreign Office warns of a "high threat" of attacks against western interests in Saudi Arabia and advises all Britons against nonessential travel to the region, reports Scotland's The Herald. In a statement suggesting the attacks could involve chemical or biological weapons, the Foreign Office says, "There remains a high threat of further large or small-scale attacks against western interests in Saudi Arabia. Terrorist attacks could involve the use of chemical and biological materials." Six million foreigners, including 30,000 Britons and 35,000 Americans, comprise 65% of the workforce in this area. Experts disagree about the future in the area. Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert and author of Inside al Qaeda-Global Network of Terror, believes the status quo will remain. But David Capitanchik, a terrorism expert at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, thinks the future looks bleak for westerners. The Foreign Office is not advising citizens to leave but is authorizing voluntary departure of nonessential diplomatic staff.

May 12

TOPOFF 2 emergency exercise begins
The federal government launches the largest federal emergency preparedness exercise in US history, mobilizing 8,500 government and emergency workers in a $16 million event. The exercise involves everything from an imaginary radioactive "dirty bomb" exploding in Seattle to Chicago hospitals handling a flood of calls from patients who have contracted pneumonic plague. The exercise, dubbed "TOPOFF 2," is the second in the congressionally mandated TOPOFF series. But some experts express concern that the dramatic exercise will be more like reality TV than reality. "It's too big and too scripted," says Frank Hoffman, a homeland-security consultant who was an aide to the Hart-Rudman Commission on terrorism. "There's no tolerance for failure. There's no risks being taken. It can't just be all choreographed in advance. You don't test anything." (See CIDRAP News story.)

Some continue pushing smallpox vaccinations
Local health officials dealing with a stalled smallpox vaccination program worry they might have to turn to a riskier plan to immunize doctors and nurses if an outbreak occurs. The end of the war in Iraq, a public perception that the threat of bioterrorism has waned, and several reported cases of heart inflammation caused by the vaccine are prompting people to be even more resistant to the idea of vaccination. Some experts continue to push reluctant healthcare workers to take the vaccination. "We need more people to be vaccinated so we can set up that emergency vaccination program," says Daniel Lucey, director of the Center for Biologic Counterterrorism and Emerging Diseases at Washington Hospital Center. Other public health officials say they have no choice but to revise their plans, reports the Washington Post.

May 11

Biological weapons stores in Russia still of great concern
Russia, home of the world's biggest biological warfare program, continues to resist US inspection of its military biological research labs even though the Russian program has officially stopped. But 60 Minutes correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports that finding dangerous biological materials in facilities throughout Russia and Kazakhstan is not difficult. Some of the world's deadliest pathogens are stored in primitive labs in Kazakhstan. Dr. Bakhtiyar Suleimenov has preserved hundreds of samples of the most hazardous bacteria or pathogens known to humankind. These labs are protected only by wax seals and simple padlocks and could easily be accessed by terrorists. "We know it's not enough but that's all we can afford," says Suleimenov. "Without American help, we wouldn't have even that." A more dangerous germ storehouse remains in a former bioweapons lab in Obolensk, Russia. This is where deadly germs were genetically altered to make them even more lethal.

Maryland pond becomes focus of anthrax investigation
Following their search of the Frederick, Md., area, the FBI considers a new theory on the 2001 anthrax mailings. The Washington Post cited anonymous sources saying divers in an area pond retrieved a "clear box" with holes that could accommodate protective biological safety gloves and vials wrapped in plastic. Theory says that the killer may have waded into shallow water and manipulated anthrax bacteria into envelopes in the box. Although the FBI is saying nothing about the divers' findings, sources close to the case say the discoveries were so compelling that the agency now plans to drain the pond in another search. Not everyone subscribes to the theory, some believing that the killer could have completed the task on land and dumped evidence into the pond afterward to avoid detection. The water theory apparently comes from the FBI's focus on one subject, Steven J. Hatfill, a medical doctor and bioterrorism expert who formerly worked as a researcher at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Frederick.

Dismal conditions for those searching Iraq for banned weapons
US military experts searching for banned weapons in Iraq are working without translators, have had nearly no contact with Iraqi scientists, and can't discern what's missing from looted sites where suspected weapons of mass destruction were supposedly hidden. Problems are both logistical and the result of limited manpower and expertise. Military planners tell the Associated Press that the addition of former UN weapons inspectors and the shifting of operations and command to the Pentagon should help improve the situation. "I can't imagine how they could get much accomplished without interpreters and translators; this is basic stuff," says Jonathan Tucker, a former UN inspector and a bioweapons expert with the US Institute for Peace. The team also has not been tagging or cataloguing sites, which have nearly all been looted.

May 10

Trailer found in Iraq determined to be mobile laboratory
Experts searching a trailer found near Mosul, Iraq (see May 9 item) conclude that it is a mobile biological weapons laboratory. The team, consisting of three members of the Chemical Biological Intelligence Support Team Charlie, describe their 4-day examination of the lab for the first time and on the condition of anonymity. The team leader says the lab held equipment that could be used to make vaccines, drugs, and other peaceful pathogens as well as deadly germs for weapons and that Iraq was required to disclose possession of the equipment to UN inspectors before the war. "The failure to disclose such equipment is a clear violation of United Nations sanctions and an indication of ill intent," says the leader, a 20-year veteran of Special Operations forces and explosive ordnance work and a nuclear weapons expert.

May 9

Second possible mobile bioweapons lab found in Iraq
An American military officer thinks his unit has discovered a mobile biological weapons laboratory located in an abandoned trailer outside a missile-testing site in northern Iraq. Maj. Paul Handelman of the 101st Airborne Division's chemical weapons team based in Mosul says infantry soldiers in the division found a trailer missing its wheels and stripped by looters parked about 50 feet from the entrance to Al Kindi, Iraq's largest missile research and testing complex. American soldiers have been guarding the gate for weeks but never noticed the trailer, the major says. The trailer, virtually identical to another suspected mobile biological weapons laboratory seized on April 19 (see May 7 item), contains an air compressor, refrigerator, fermenter, and dryer, which are all components of a biological weapons laboratory, according to Handelman. Preliminary tests were negative, but the trailer is undergoing further testing.

May 8

Greatly expanded team now looking for banned weapons in Iraq
A team of some 2,000 more experts head for Iraq to assist in the search for banned weapons and related information. The group is more than triple the size of the team already searching for weapons. Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton, a two-star general in defense intelligence, is heading the initiative, the Pentagon says. The new team consists of about 1,300 military and civilian experts in computers, intelligence, weapons, demolition, and other specialties. It also includes former UN weapons inspectors and 800 support personnel. They will join 600 military and civilian experts from the armed forces, FBI, CIA, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and other organizations who are already hunting for evidence of a banned weapons program. Half of the new group will search for prohibited weapons and the others will look for and analyze information on regime leaders, terrorists, war crimes, former Iraqi intelligence, atrocities, and prisoners of war, according to Defense Undersecretary Stephen Cambone.

Iraqi intelligence agent questioned about chem/bio assassination methods
US and British intelligence officials question a mid-level Iraqi intelligence agent who appears to have comprehensive knowledge of assassination methods using chemical and biological weapons, a senior British defense source says. According to the Iraqi agent, Saddam Hussein's government and not a specific terrorist organization organized the assassination program. The program required only tiny amounts of deadly poisons, such as sarin and ricin. The information is prompting US and British intelligence to focus more on the estimated 5,000 mid-level scientists and technicians in Iraq's weapons of mass destruction projects than on capturing high-level scientists, such as "Mrs. Anthrax," Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash. "These mid-level people may be a more promising route [to finding out the extent of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction] than us suddenly finding WMD equipment," the British official says. "We would be amazingly lucky to find steaming vats of chemicals or rows and rows of WMD-tipped missiles."

State-of-the-art research facility opens at U of Maryland
The University of Maryland, Baltimore, opens a 101,000square foot, $78 million facility for scientists to study deadly infectious diseases, devise new drug treatments, and discover the structure of proteins. The new Health Sciences Facility II, will house 250 researchers from the schools of medicine and pharmacy. The building includes a Biosafety Level 3 containment facility with seven sealed labs where researchers can simultaneously handle multiple lethal agents such as anthrax and West Nile virus. It also houses an insectary for the study of insect-borne diseases such as malaria. "We're lucky that we basically double our research space by moving into this building," says Russell J. DiGate, associate dean for research and graduate education at the pharmacy school. "This is state-of-the-art."

May 7

Vehicle found in northern Iraq could be mobile weapons lab
A British-American team of weapons experts says that a tractor-trailer truck discovered in northern Iraq April 19 could have housed a mobile biological weapons laboratory, according to Bush administration officials. The vehicle, which had been scrubbed with a "very caustic agent" and painted before its discovery, has several elements in common with an Iraqi mobile lab described by an Iraqi defector. The mobile labs were used to produce anthrax, botulism, and staphylococcus, according to the defector. The trailer is undergoing further testing

May 6

Interest in 1950s Operation Whitecoat revives
Operation Whitecoat, launched in 1954 by the US military as one of the largest human testing programs of biological agents in US history, gains renewed attention in light of today's bioterrorism threat. Program participants comprised 2,300 military drafteesmostly Seventh-Day Adventistswhose beliefs discouraged combat duty. They agreed to subject themselves to tests involving potentially deadly pathogens. The purpose was to protect the United States from the growing Soviet arsenal of biological weapons. Most volunteers were stationed at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md. Hundreds became violently ill, though nobody died, according to Army officials. "From [the Whitecoat program], the whole country and the whole world learned a lot of valuable information about these diseases," says Frank Damazo, a 70 year-old surgeon who is organizing a reunion to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the program's conclusion. "This is important, because at some point, there's going to be another biological event somewhere in this country."

DoD smallpox vaccination program claims success
The US Department of Defense reports it has vaccinated more than 400,000 service members against smallpox since the program's Dec. 13, 2002, inception. According to Dr. William Winkenwerde, Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, only 18 serious complications from the vaccine have occurred and no deaths have resulted from the inoculation. "We believe the program has been a real success and our experience would support that conclusion," Winkenwerder says. The military's experience with the vaccine, he says, is documented in a report submitted to a leading US medical journal slated for eventual publication. That report, Winkenwerder says, "will describe adverse event rates that are lower than [those that] have been seen historically. Referring to the 55-year-old National Guardsman who died of a heart attack 5 days after receiving the smallpox vaccine, Winkenwerder says a review of his medical history and a postmortem examination determined that he already had "significant heart disease."

New nonexploding weapon introduced during Iraq war
The US Air Force introduced a new conventional weapon during the Iraq war, according to a service official. The new CBU-107 Passive Attack Weapon can destroy suspected biological and chemical facilities without scattering dangerous debris. It is filled with 3,700 nonexplosive penetrator rods, according to Col. James Knox, area attack program director at the Air Armament Center at Elgin Air Force Base in Florida. The weapon is designed for use against targets such as biological weapons stockpiles or laboratories where explosives are undesirable. The weapon holds 350 14-in. rods, 1,000 7-in. rods, and 2,400 2-in. rods. The Air Force used the new weapon following a 98-day, $40 million development program, Knox says.

House subcommittee looks at bioterrorism preparedness
Lawmakers worry that the nation's public health system could not handle a bioterrorist attack. Members of the House Government Reform subcommittee question panelistsincluding Dr. David Fleming, the CDC's deputy director for public health scienceabout whether legislation might be necessary to establish a clear chain of command in the event of a bioterrorist attack. They further ask if legislation is needed to ensure that the CDC moves forward in implementing a nationwide system for public health officials to report suspicious diagnoses and symptoms. Fleming admits that a bioterrorist attack could prove more than the current system could handle. The current "largely paper-based system is burdensome both to [healthcare] providers and health departments, often resulting in reports which are not complete or timely," he says. Also, he adds, the "volume of paper reports and the need to enter the information collected into various systems leads to errors and duplication of efforts."

May 5

Iraq's 'Mrs. Anthrax' surrenders
US military officials in Iraq arrest Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, an American-educated microbiologist who, according to Department of Defense officials, helped Saddam Hussein develop his germ warfare program. Rating among Iraq's top weapons scientists, she was once named "Mrs. Anthrax" by Western journalists because of suspicions that she was developing anthrax as a weapon of war. Ammash, 49, is the only woman ever elected to the ruling Ba'ath Party's regional command, the highest policy-making body in that organization. She also held posts as president of Iraq's microbiology society and as dean at the University of Baghdad. She surrendered to US military authorities in Baghdad.

HHS releases more money for public health preparedness
The Department of Health and Human Services announces it will release $100 million to states to further support their efforts to prepare for a possible smallpox attack and strengthen the public health infrastructure. Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announces that the money will become available immediately and is in addition to the $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2002 and the $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2003. "This additional money is part of our overall commitment to our state and local partners to build a stronger public health system to care for Americans in the event of any emergency, including a smallpox attack," Thompson says. Overall, HHS is spending $3.5 billion this year for bioterrorism preparedness, including research into potential bioterror disease agents and potential treatments and vaccines. (See CIDRAP News story.)

May 4

Loss from agroterrorism would be high for Canada
A bioterrorist attack on Canada's crops or livestock could devastate the country's agriculture and drain billions of dollars from the economy, according to internal government documents. Agroterrorism, or the deliberate introduction of toxic substances or diseases into plants and/or animals has Canadian officials reviewing the country's ability to cope with an incident of agricultural sabotage. Canada's agriculture and food-processing industries account for about 8.5% of gross domestic product and generate annual exports valued at about $24 billion. The list of infectious agents is greater for animals than for humans, and these substances are "relatively easy" to obtain and transport without raising suspicion, according to internal notes to Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief. Such an attack can resemble a natural disease, making it difficult to determine what's occurring. Deliberate infection of animals can "create high levels of public fear" without taking human lives, says one note.

May 3

Bush comments on failure to find Iraqi weapons stores
Increasing pressure from the international community to provide proof of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program prompts President Bush to tell reporters, "We'll find them," though he admits it could take time because Saddam Hussein spent so many years concealing the weapons. The president's aides now assert that Saddam developed what they call a "just in time" production strategy for his weapons, meaning he has hidden chemical precursors that could be quickly retrieved and used. As for the Iraqi scientists and military officials in custody, the president says he thinks they will soon lead American forces to weapons stores. "It may not be the aces, kings and queens, and jacks that do the talking," he says, referring to the Iraqi officials whose faces have appeared on playing cards to help allied troops identify them. "It may be those carrying the water for the aces, kings, queens, and jacks.

May 2

Support waning for Project Bioshield
Enthusiasm weakens for President Bush's 3-month old Project Bioshield, a program designed to encourage drug companies to work on biodefense projects, reports the Washington Post. By promising to buy finished products rather than just fund early research as it has in the past, Project Bioshield would guarantee a market for bioterror-fighting medicines. But pharmaceutical companies say the plan is not radical enough. Executives want higher guaranteed profits and fewer restrictions because of the financial and legal hazards of developing drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic tests for deadly pathogens. Industry lobbyists are seeking liability protection for companies if products developed under government contract harm people. Others want more favorable rules about ownership of the rights to new discoveries. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says that by ensuring a permanent appropriation for biodefense products, Bioshield would remove the biggest obstacle: fears of budget cuts that could make the government an unreliable buyer.

May 1

CDC urged to reconsider smallpox vaccination program
Federal health officials urge states to rework their smallpox vaccination plans considering budget pressures and people's reluctance to be vaccinated. The revised plans should combine immunizations with broader preparation for a possible bioterrorism attack. States must calculate what is essential to handle an outbreak of smallpox and how many front-line workers should be vaccinated now, according to a federal health official. "The bottom line is we're not at 450,000" people, says Joe Henderson, who heads the CDC's bioterrorism preparedness effort. "That just can't be seen as a realistic target at this point," he tells an Institute of Medicine committee reviewing the vaccination program. The states' recalculated programs for controlling a smallpox outbreak must include surveillance systems, reporting systems, staff training, communications materials, and plans to practice the entire plan. (See CIDRAP News story.)

Sizable number of smallpox vaccinees were pregnant
The national smallpox vaccination initiative to prepare for a bioterror attack inadvertently included 103 pregnant women, according to a report in MMWR. Despite efforts to screen pregnant women from the program, some did not realize they were pregnant when they were vaccinated and others conceived in the 4 weeks following their inoculation. Six of the women are health workers, 85 are in the military, and 12 are participants in vaccine studies. The cases concern health officials because smallpox vaccine can harm the fetus by causing fetal vaccinia. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, says, "Despite a program that was elaborately focused on safety, these inadvertent events happen. That is a large number of women. All these women were informed elaborately about the need not to be pregnant. Fortunately, the risk of fetal vaccinia is very low." (See CIDRAP News story.)

GAO issues uncomplimentary report on smallpox vaccination program
A General Accounting Office report says the national smallpox vaccination program lacks direction and leadership. In the report, GAO says the campaign is "unprecedented and complex," and needs the CDC to furnish more guidance to state and local health officials. It cites a lack of leadership from top US health officials, which it says has caused a disjointed national immunization effort. Public health experts agree with the CDC that the US can prepare for a smallpox terrorist attack with fewer than the original request for 10 million immunized personnel, but they say this requires a comprehensive response plan. The GAO agrees that a plan is necessary and missing. (See CIDRAP News story.)

Anthrax genome decoded
Scientists decode the genome of the anthrax bacterium and discover that it resembles that of a common soil bacterium. The discovery, published in today's issue of Nature, should help scientists identify the genetic workings that make anthrax so deadly. By analyzing the anthrax bacterium's genetic makeup, researchers should be able to identify potential new targets for drugs and vaccines against the disease. A team led by Dr. Timothy D. Read at the Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, Md., achieved the decoding of the strain known as the Ames. The anthrax bacterium lives in the soil but has moved up the food chain from scavenger to killer.

Could SARS be a bioweapon?
China's SARS epidemic triggers speculation that it could have leaked from military bioweapons programs. Though most evidence indicates a natural origin for the SARS coronavirus, a bioweapon link should not be ruled out, according to Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. "While there is no reported evidence that SARS is indeed a weapon, there are plenty of ways that a real weapon with the properties of SARS could prove decisive in a military conflict," he says in an article in The Age. Many analysts consider such a link between SARS and bioweapons far-fetched. But rough parallels of deadly viruses that reproduce and spread through a human population by multiple means do exist, according to analysts. Fisher argues that the innocuous nature of SARS could make it useful for causing panic and political instability. "A seemingly 'natural' epidemic would lessen suspicion of the main 'enemy state' by the target country and its main allies," he says.

For other months' installments, go to the Bioterrorism Watch index page