WP: Report Warns of Milk Supply Threat: US Officials Opposed Study Release

[DeepModem Mom]

Report Warns of Threat to Milk Supply
Release of Study Citing Vulnerability to Bioterrorism Attack Was Opposed by U.S. Officials

By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 29, 2005; Page A08


About a third of an ounce of botulism toxin poured by bioterrorists into a milk truck en route from a dairy farm to a processing plant could cause hundreds of thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in economic losses, according to a scientific analysis that was published yesterday despite efforts by federal officials to keep the details secret.

The analysis by researchers at Stanford University, posted yesterday on the Web site of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, seeks to quantify security weaknesses in the nation's milk-supply chain and makes recommendations for closing those gaps.

Although some suggested changes are underway, federal officials felt the material had enough potential for misuse to warrant a last-minute effort to halt publication. That effort, which delayed the report's release by a month but ultimately did not keep it from becoming public, proved to be as contentious as the publication itself. It has assured the report's place in the scientific canon as one of the first test cases of how to balance scientific freedom and national security in the post-Sept. 11 era.

Study leader Lawrence M. Wein, whose previous research had forecast the likely effects of terrorist attacks involving anthrax and smallpox, said he was surprised by the government's push to block publication, which involved a flurry of phone calls and meetings with officers of the National Academies. The organization advises the federal government on matters of science and publishes the journal.

Last fall, Wein said, he briefed high-ranking officials of the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, along with dairy industry representatives, on his work....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/28/AR2005062801330.html

[shraby]

1. Booga Booga n/t

[rawtribe]

2. Corporate America

already poisons the milk supply.

http://www.notmilk.com

:puke:

[LibertyorDeath]

7. Yes Monsanto beat the terrorists to the punch

FDA and Monsanto conspire to hide truth about BGH says Hardin

When it comes to protecting industry profits at the expense of public health, look no further than the tag team combo of the FDA and food giant Monsanto. The actions of these two organizations are legendary. In this opinion piece, an industry insider (editor of a milk pricing report newsletter) reveals his disgust with the continued use of Bovine Growth Hormones (BGH) in the United States. These same hormones have been banned in most civilized countries, but they continue to be allowed in the United States because they cause cows to produce more milk from dairy cows

http://www.newstarget.com/000901.html

[Triana]

9. this is why i drink soymilk...

...not that the corprats/terrorists can't contaminate it, too.

[Roland99]

3. I can think of 101 ways terrorists could wreak havoc here

We're going to end up essentially paying a terror tax on all goods as companies account for the bazillion ways to secure their manufacturing/distribution processes.

[kath]

4. That's BOTOX, folks! BO for botulinum, TOX for toxin.

[In Truth We Trust]

5. terra terra terra - fuck off with the bs scare tactics

[shanti]

6. oh good grief

time to ramp up the terra!

[daleo]

8. Suppose terrorists fed infected cattle brains to other cows?

No, it is too fantastic. Even terrorists couldn't come up with an idea so abhorrent to nature itself.

[Hekate]

13. Ya think? n/t

[Up2Late]

10. Group publishes milk toxin study over US objection (Reuters)

(One of the small step recommended to save 1/2 Million people? Padlock the Milk Truck hatches.)

Group publishes milk toxin study over US objection

Tue Jun 28, 2005 04:10 PM ET

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Academy of Sciences published a report on Tuesday saying the U.S. milk supply is vulnerable to being poisoned with botulinum toxin, rejecting arguments from the Health and Human Services Department that it might instruct would-be attackers. The report, written by Lawrence Wein and Yifan Liu of California's Stanford University, outlines one way a small amount of the paralyzing poison could sicken up to 500,000 people. It recommends measures, such as better pasteurization and careful sampling, to reduce the threat.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences originally scheduled publication of the paper in late May, but withdrew its embargoed release to reporters after the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services objected. It was an unusual move and the academy recommended that this be a test case for a debate over whether studies that could pertain to biological or chemical warfare be classified in the way studies related to nuclear weapons often are.

The academy, an independent body that advises the federal government on scientific and medical matters, met with officials to discuss concerns. "Following this meeting, the Council of the National Academy of Sciences decided to publish the article as originally accepted, accompanied by this editorial to make clear our reasons for doing so," Academy President Bruce Alberts wrote in a commentary.

All of the information in the analysis was easily available on the Internet, Alberts argued. He said open publication and debate can make the nation safer. "Because science advances through the combination of knowledge in unexpected ways, the discoveries of each individual scientist must be made available to a wide variety of other scientists, who can then either build upon or criticize them," he added. This "scientific free-for all," he said, almost always improves understanding.

<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=8919160&src=rss/domesticNews>
(more at link above)

[rodeodance]

11. great time--the day of the bush terror speech!

[NashVegas]

12. If Dubya's Speech Doesn't Drum Up Support

scare 'em

[sybylla]

14. The only way to poison the milk supply enroute

is if the truck driver is in on it.

The tankers are locked only to be opened by plant personnel. Of course, someone with the right resources could probably break in, but then the driver has to be in on it, either willingly or at gun point. It would be no simple task either way.

Booga, booga is right.



on edit: okay, it could happen at the farm, too, before it gets loaded into the tanker, but it would have to be the same kind of situation.

[hnsez]

15. The only way to scare Americans is to attack the Beer supply