Biological Weapon Attack-DC 9/24/05-MUST READ

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

This was sent to me by a reliable source, stay tuned -

FORWARD TO ALL PEOPLE/LISTSERVES

I was just notified by a contact with the Center for Disease Control that a biological agent was released in DC on 9/24/05 during the anti-war demonstrations. About a hour ago the CDC released an urgent alert to all hospitals accross the nation. Here are the details:

Symptoms: Coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain, swelling of lymph nodes (although this may not occur for a while), and swelling around the eyes (although this symptom may not be present).

The agent was picked up by DC's chemical/biological weapon filters deployed around the city but was not identified until a few hours ago.

Symptoms may not occur until October 5th: After that date if you have no symptoms you are in the clear.

If you have any of the symptoms that have developed since Saturday and occur before October 5th, you need to go the Emergency room and inform them you have possible exposure to an inhalant form of Tulerima. Because it is a bacteria based agent-it can be treated.

It is not transmittable from person to person, so this only applies to those who were actually in DC on Saturday September 24, 2005. If you have been around someone who went, you are NOT at risk.

Tulerima is a bacterial agent that up until not was only found in hunters who specifically hunted rabbits. The bacteria is carried by ticks that live in the rabbits fur. However, there had been some concern for a while that it could be transformed into a biological agent and apperently that has come true. It was released in an inhalant form.

Please contact me with any questions as this has not yet hit the media and they will know nothing about this. I think it is premature to speculate, but who the hell would release such an agent among anti-war advocates??? We know the anthrax targeting democratic leaders came from a US Military base in Maryland.

[tompayne1]

1. how sure are you about this?

It sounds very plausible but still.....

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

5. it came directly from someone who works side by side with

me on election reform in North Carolina.

He has contacts all over the place, and has always been reliable.

[journalist3072]

20. They talked about it on the news tonight

Here in DC, but I came in on the tale end of the story and I didn't hear it all....but they did cover it.

[swag]

2. And all I got was this lousy boner.

[evlbstrd]

3. Proof.

I have zit on my lip. Could that be a problem?

[Maddy McCall]

8. OMG! Get checked!

You might have botulism!!

;-)

[evlbstrd]

10. too ... late... call ...

aaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!

[Kagemusha]

4. Levels too low to be a threat.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1819094

And yes, bacteria can exist in too low a level to be a significant threat. Just depends on what the level is.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

11. WAPO downplays threat, but ends with warning

they officially downplay the threat, but they end the article with -


Authorities recommend that people who visited the Mall between 10 a.m. Sept. 24 and 10 a.m. Sept. 25 should see a physician if they experience symptoms.

[Corgigal]

6. another link

with the ABC news story

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4941786

[Maddy McCall]

7. OMG! I have puffy eyes, sniffles, a hacking cough! I think...

I have fall allergies.

This is a hoax. Someone is trying to get people riled up. The last paragraphy gives it away. "Please contact me with any questions as this has not yet hit the media and they will know nothing about this."

Uh huh.

[Corgigal]

9. check the abc article in my above link

No hoax.

[Maddy McCall]

14. Ok, I'm sorry for making a joke about it.

I'm posting a link to JAMA below. I seriously hope that no one becomes ill.

[Maddy McCall]

17. Here's a link to a JAMA article on the use of Tularemia as a bio weapon.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/285/21/2763

[SmileMaker]

25. One of a number of agents studied at Japanese germ warfare research unit

Creepy :( This is from JAMA article

Francisella tularensis has long been considered a potential biological weapon. It was one of a number of agents studied at Japanese germ warfare research units operating in Manchuria between 1932 and 194523; it was also examined for military purposes in the West. A former Soviet Union biological weapons scientist, Ken Alibeck, has suggested that tularemia outbreaks affecting tens of thousands of Soviet and German soldiers on the eastern European front during World War II may have been the result of intentional use.24 Following the war, there were continuing military studies of tularemia. In the 1950s and 1960s, the US military developed weapons that would disseminate F tularensis aerosols10; concurrently, it conducted research to better understand the pathophysiology of tularemia and to develop vaccines and antibiotic prophylaxis and treatment regimens. In some studies, volunteers were infected with F tularensis by direct aerosol delivery systems and by exposures in an aerosol chamber.10 A live attenuated vaccine was developed that partially protected against respiratory and intracutaneous challenges with the virulent SCHU S-4 strain of F tularensis,6-7 and various regimens of streptomycin, tetracyclines, and chloramphenicol were found to be effective in prophylaxis and treatment.25-27 By the late 1960s, F tularensis was one of several biological weapons stockpiled by the US military.10 According to Alibeck, a large parallel effort by the Soviet Union continued into the early 1990s and resulted in weapons production of F tularensis strains engineered to be resistant to antibiotics and vaccines.24

[seabeyond]

12. anthrax targeting democratic leaders came from a US Military base

yup

[elehhhhna]

71. dem leaders, media personalities, and the National Enquirer.

coincidence? obviously.

lol

[newswolf56]

13. It has indeed "hit the media." Here is The Washington Post's report:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/30/AR2005093001775.html

[Seen the light]

16. I think some people owe the topic creator an apology :) nt

[Corgigal]

15. washington post article link

In nature, the bacteria are found in rodents and small animals, and "the working hypothesis" is that something in the environment got stirred up, D.C. Public Health Director Gregg A. Pane said.

But he said it was puzzling that the finding was from a day when the Mall was packed with people.

"Why that day? That's what is not explained," Pane said. "It was just this 24-hour period and none since."




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/30/AR2005093001775.html

[petronius]

24. Puzzling?

If the bacteria is found in small animals, and the mall was packed with people, doesn't it seem like the 'stirring up' mechanism is pretty obvious. I'd bet a look at the length of time since the last rain and the dryness/dustiness of the ground would provide a clue as to why the bacteria levels were high enough to be detectable...

[kestrel91316]

26. I am officially calling BS on the "something must have gotten

stirred up" line.

This bug has ABSOLUTELY NO BUSINESS suddenly turning up in urban air filters, and especially right at the time of an anti-Bush protest.

I am sticking my neck out on this to say, IMHO, this administration tried to kill protestors. I refuse to apologize to anyone for my stand. I refuse to back down. I know my germs.

[libnnc]

33. whoa now, what about goose poop?

on the ellipse grass there was TONS of dried (and not so dried) goose poop. 200,000+ people trampling on goose droppings could stir up something right?

edit to add: could this hazard travel in bird droppings?

[kestrel91316]

36. Tularemia is found in rodents/lagomorphs, not birds. WRONG type of animal.

I have to say there is probably ZERO chance of the geese being involved.

Yes, I am a veterinarian. With extra microbiology. And a special interest in zoonoses.

[leftchick]

49. rats? I saw a rat on the mall

at a concession area. He looked sick too. I thought perhaps it had eaten poison. Now I am not so sure. :(

[libnnc]

67. I know you're a vet you've said it like seven times already

and there's no need to get snarky with me Dr. I just asked a legit question since I'm one of the 500,000 folks who got off our butts to march down Penn. Ave.

Did YOU attend?

didn't think so.

[Dunvegan]

18. Air sensors have shown false-positives before for tularemia

Tularemia is the one pathogen that has shown false-positives in city-wide air sensors.

From:
http://www.watchfarscape.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-17250.html

Quoted from the Washington Post - 11-14-2003

"Homeland defense officials yesterday partially lifted the cloak of secrecy surrounding a network of outdoor air-sampling sensors in 31 cities that is designed to warn officials within hours of any attempt by terrorists to release deadly microbes into the atmosphere.

*snip*

"It has had no "false positives," or cases of labs mistakenly concluding that pathogens were present.

"But an unnecessary alarm was raised last month in Houston. Repeated lab tests detected the presence of tularemia, a deadly pathogen carried by rabbits. Soon, though, officials concluded there had been no attack.

Instead, the machinery had detected tiny amounts of tularemia naturally present in the atmosphere. Scientists had known tularemia is common in Texas but were not aware that it could be detected in the air. No one fell ill."

(Full article quoted at link above.)

[kestrel91316]

27. The important thing to note here is that tularemia is COMMON in

the west/southwest.

TULAREMIA IS RARE IN URBAN AREAS AND ON THE EASTERN SEABOARD.

This was not somebody stirring up dust from some dead rat in the city. I am warning my friend who was in DC the 24th.

[newswolf56]

19. Most Important Quote from Washington Post Story:

The germ that causes tularemia is considered a biohazard because it is highly infectious and was tested in the 1960s by the United States as a biological weapon. The disease is treatable by antibiotics but, if left untreated, can be fatal.

[converted_democrat]

48. This administration is bad, but would they sink this low??

I have no doubt this stuff showed up in the air filters, but I guess I really don't want to believe that they would sink this low. I hoping that someone comes up with a reasonable explanation of how and why this stuff was found.

on edit- That snip you put up is down right scary.

[rman]

52. Previous administrations have sunk that low

Wrt to this administration, we ain't seen nothing yet.

[Ladyhawk]

82. Would they risk getting caught?

Assuming there were real tests and that six filters came back positive (which lessens the likelihood of false positives), would the government risk getting caught? They must know about the testing of air filters. Could this be the work of some lone right-wing nutjob? Perhaps they know that the bioagent can't be traced. :shrug:

[journalist3072]

21. NBC 4 news article

Sensors Detect Possible Disease Agent During Protests
Bacterium Not Contagious

POSTED: 8:55 pm EDT September 30, 2005
UPDATED: 9:10 pm EDT September 30, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Officials said that air sensors on the National Mall detected a possible disease agent last weekend during the Iraq war demonstrations.

Health officials said the sensors showed signs of a low level presence of Tularemia bacterium. Tularemia can be treated with antibiotics and is not contagious.

Slideshow: Images From Protest | Video

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alerted state health officials in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. But officials said no one has reported symptoms of the disease, and subsequent air tests have come back negative.

D.C. Department of Health Director Dr. Gregg Pane told WTOP Radio the city was notified Friday that a Department of Homeland Security air sensor detected the biohazard. Officials said Tularemia is found naturally in the environment.

Health officials are encouraging doctors to be on alert for any signs of the disease. Symptoms include sudden fever, chills, headaches, joint pain and pneumonia.

Stay with News4 and nbc4.com for more information.


http://www.nbc4.com/news/5044125/detail.html

[NoBushSpokenHere]

22. Recommended n/t

[Dunvegan]

23. Recommended...just to keep a wary eye on this...

Earlier outbreak of Tularemia in the DC area:

JAMA. 1979 Nov 23;242(21):2315-7

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=573806&dopt=Abstract

Tularemia pneumonia in Washington, DC. A report of three cases with possible common-source exposures.

"In June 1978, three cases of tularemia pneumonia occurred in persons residing in the Washington, DC, area. The patients, all men, became ill three to four days after a brief session training their hunting dogs in an undeveloped wooded area adjacent to a housing complex. One of the dogs, which later died, had captured a wild rabbit during the training session. All three men had handled the rabbit while familiarizing their dogs with the rabbit's scent. The men had no other common exposure that was a likely source of infection."

(Edited to say: Tularemia isn't a joking matter...it's worth keeping up on how this progresses.

Especially since this one short time span...during the protest...is the only sensor reading we know about reporting a positive for tularemia in DC.)

[kestrel91316]

29. THIS is where tularemia is found - in the tissues of wild rabbits -

NOT in air filtration systems in major metropolitan areas.

[spacelady]

28. That is quite alarming and quite a coincidence. n/t

[progressivebydesign]

30. I'm stunned by this. Are there rabbits living on the Mall?

Seriously. Though they say this is naturally occuring in areas that have rabbits and such, is that a plausible excuse for it to be on the D.C. Mall? I mean, isn't Anthrax also found in nature? Just because it's found in nature doesn't mean it could not be used against people.

I hope everyone who went to the protest is okay, and if you are not feeling well, please seek medical advice, just in case. This is frightening.

[justiceischeap]

31. Did it show up the day of the freep rally or just the anti-war rally? n/t

[Corgigal]

32. good flipping question

Sunday the 25..I believe was the pro-war protest. Then, yes I believe the Washington Post article mentions the 24 and 25.

From the post article:

Authorities recommend that people who visited the Mall between 10 a.m. Sept. 24 and 10 a.m. Sept. 25 should see a physician if they experience symptoms.

edit: to add info

[bee]

61. But 10am on the 25th would have been prior to the freep rally

no? Anyone there after 10am on Sunday is not at risk, as I read it.

[Hubert Flottz]

85. Freepers are rodents IMHO...

Rats!

[graywarrior]

34. So, who released it into the environment and how do they know?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

35. It is not responsible to leap to terra conclusions.

Planes hit the World Trade Center. Bush pulls Richard Clark into a side room and yells at him, "Get Iraq!" (slightly paraphrased). Leave the leaping to terra conclusions to Bush-Cheney.

200-300,000 people converge on the area from all parts of the country. Can you imagine all the places they may have been? Can you imagine what might be clinging to their clothes or backpacks or dogs?

[kestrel91316]

37. Tularemia is not spread into air filtration systems by fomites.

The idea that somebody just casually encountered F. tularensis while going about their daily business and then carried it into DC where it magically leapt off their clothes and into air filters is, frankly, laughable.

But I will refrain from laughing because you probably don't have any formal education in disease transmission, and you are a fellow DUer, and this is not funny.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

41. Read what I wrote and don't put words in my mouth, thank you.

Read what I wrote and don't put words in my mouth, thank you. I did not write that somebody encountered F. tularensis "while going about their daily business". I did write that you can't imagine where all 200-300,000 had been. Who knows how many of them where hiking recently? Or even hunting.

Slice it with Occam's razor.

If the pathogen was released by a terrorists, as is the conclusion the original poster leapt to, they weren't very effective when it wouldn't have been hard to be much more effective, if one has access to significant amounts of the pathogen. Nor were the amounts found consistent with such a release. The Washington Post article refers to a false alarm in Texas, similarly with trace amounts. Notice, it is not necessary to state the political motivations of such possible terrorists which could orignate at any level of society.

If the pathogens were planted by "the authorities", to frighten or terrify protestors, the effective thing would have been to plant significant quantities on or near the filtration systems, not the borderline amounts found. Also, the timing does not support this theory. If they wanted to divert the protests, they would have planted and publicized before the protests. If they wanted to terrify the protestors after the fact, they would not have waited until after the main time the disease would have incubated and killed people.

Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to incompetence, or I might add, natural causes.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Extraordinary claims have been made by the original poster and others in this thread, but extraordinary evidence has not be supplied.

[kestrel91316]

57. A person sick with tularemia is NOT going to shed this bug

by breathing and thereby cause it to show up in air filters. It is NOT spread from person-to-person via the respiratory tract for this exact reason.

Tularemia is not spread by clothing, doorknobs, purses, handshakes, or other fomites. It requires inoculation or inhalation.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

73. Right. All of which is consistent with what I wrote.

[Hubert Flottz]

86. Can you catch it off the porta pottie seats?

If so, I suspect a freep attack. Freepers = Porta-Potties-R-Us...

[jbnow]

53. Not spread by fomites?

While this issue is not funny the memory that triggers is.

My favorite bumper sticker in the 80's was "I brake for fomites"

[Dunvegan]

38. We don't really know anything about this situation..

...just that a unknown number of air sensors found positive for an unknown (possibly microscopic) quantity of tularemia bacteria.

The Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy reports on the Texas air sensors finding tularemia back in 2003, with no reported human cases of infection:

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/bt/tularemia/news/oct1003biowatch.html

And, there is historical JAMA information (and I'm sure other sources) that report that tularemia has been found in rabbit populations near Washington D.C. (Near a housing complex.)

The CDC says:

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/tularemia/facts.asp

"The bacteria that cause tularemia occur widely in nature and could be isolated and grown in quantity in a laboratory, although manufacturing an effective aerosol weapn would require considerable sophistication."

...in other words, it's hard to effectively disseminate by an amateur as a weapon.

In any developing story regarding a pathogen detection, it's usually good sense (if you've been in the area) to keep an eye on the story.

I'm not suggesting that this is a case for alarm, there have been no cases of human infection known to the CDC presently. It's just simple caution to follow the developments, if any.

Even if it's only to understand when and how or if these air sensors throw out false positives regarding pathogens in urban areas.

====================

(Edited to say: Well, there is a preliminary count of the number of sensors that picked up the tularemia being reported in the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/30/AR2005093001775_2.html

"More than a half-dozen sensors operating from 10 a.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday -- at sites including the Lincoln Memorial, Fort McNair and Judiciary Square -- detected the bacteria, Pane said he was told.")

[kestrel91316]

39. Amateurs??

"...in other words, it's hard to effectively disseminate by an amateur as a weapon"

Why would you think amateurs had anything to do with this? They would have sent pros with state-of-the-art technology to do the job, IMHO.

[Dunvegan]

40. I wouldn't go with "terr'rist" amateurs...

...as a story...if this does actually develop into any illnesses.

If...if...just if...any group of the protest population actually do become ill, I'd venture to say it wasn't a amateur terr'rist action.

Just sayin'.

Meanwhile, I'd like to know if there have been any protests of anywhere near this size in DC, in these same venues where we have positives, since the air sensors were installed.

If so, how did the sensors react then? If so, what time of year was it? What were the weather conditions?

That would give us at least one non-scientific reference to file.

Meanwhile, we should watch the story...especially if you were in DC for the march.

Whether or not anything develops...That's the thing: we've been alerted.

So, we keep watch and are prepared.

It's a response philosophy that's sort of anti-BushFEMA.

[Ladyhawk]

83. The fact that the bacteria was detected at multiple sites lessens the

chances for false positives.

[FormerOstrich]

42. Recent Outbreak in Russia

I did a google news search and was surprised to see that there has been a recent outbreak of tularemia in Russia.

Not only that, a 6.4M grant was awarded to University of Texas at San Antonio to study tularemia. Announced August 31, 2005.

Don't know what it means but it's interesting none the less.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=tularemia&btnG=Google+Search&sa=N&tab=wn

[KittyWampus]

62. Excellent Find! Thank You Very Much.

[FormerOstrich]

68. thanks cryingshame...

I posted the same information on the thread in lbn. I was about convinced that the post hadn't been noticed in either place. I guess not everyone is like me and reads all the posts on a thread. At any rate, thanks for letting me know someone read it.

[populistdriven]

43. Freeper: "Dirty Hippies"

[ElectroPrincess]

44. Yes, bugga bugga boo! More PSYOPS from 'dear leaders' /eom

[Twist_U_Up]

45. a little media leak here a little media leak there......

that will keep some protesters from coming to the next rally. he he he

sounds very rovian to me

[Perky]

46. this is an absolute hoax.

Oh please... If it were accurate why would it not have been leaked to the press? why would the CDC not anounce this? Think about it The WH is desprate to claim we have to be viligent against these threats and here is proof. To not announce this occurred.... would be a Katrina-level bombshell when it was finally known.


No response at allto a second attack on the bhomeland? m Why were we n ot informed. what are you doing for those who are in harms way? Don't you care?


Bush would have to resign. Besides. I doubt the White House walls are impervious to either an agent permeating the building or a leak escaping....Haha

[converted_democrat]

47. When you say "leaked" to the press, what do you mean??

This is in the Washington Post, and from a couple other sources. Do you mean leaked to the press before it happened? Because there are several sources covering it now. I'm not sure that this was to target protesters, but these days you never know.


on edit- This stuff was found in 6 air sensors in D.C.

on second edit- The (Washington Post) is saying that people that were in the area at that time to go the doctor and be checked out if they feel ill.

[Stephanie]

50. Just read the WaPo article - this is unbelievable

This is beyond outrageous. We need an investigation of this NOW.

Recommended.

[livvy]

51. Thank you for posting this.

I was in DC and I will certainly keep an eye on my health. I currently feel like I'm coming down with a respiratory infection, but I am not jumping to any conclusions. I'm exposed to a bunch of little kids every day, and I frequently get my first "cold" of the year about this time. However, I have saved the article, and in the event, I should start feeling really ill with respiratory symptoms, I would definitely alert my physician to this as a possible cause. Also, I think I'll alert my family, just in case. They will think I'm nuts, but better safe than sorry.
I don't think anyone should panic, or jump to any conclusions, although the circumstances do seem pretty fishy. I suppose just another one of those odd coincidences that seem to occur so frequently from our coincidental administration.
I do think people who were in DC should keep an eye out for symptoms, and consult a physician if symptoms appear with a copy of the article in hand.
If anyone does come down a substantiated case, they should let someone else from DU know, or post on their own. Hopefully, no one will get sick, but if people do start getting sick, the message needs to get out.

[shadowknows69]

59. In other threads

I've found about 7-10 people who are sick a week since the march.

[Jose Diablo]

54. What an amazing coincidence

Bu$h is in Northern Command headquarters in Colorado Springs for a simulated bio attack and now we hear a bio weapon was detected in DC on the very day of massive protests to the war in Iraq.

Gosh, there was a simulation underway of a terrorist attack on the London train system the very day of that real attack, 7/7/05. Another amazing coincidence.

And on 9/11 the was a simulation underway of terrorists hijacking airliners and using them as missiles also.

The coincidences just keep piling-up. Whoda thunk it? What do you suppose the odds of all these coincidence happening just by chance?

Well, all this is just unproven 'conspiracy theory'. That the PNACers are behind the terrorist attacks. The idea of PNAC doing this kinda stuff to further their agenda of world domination is beyond the pale. I don't believe it and nobody can make me believe it until we have the proof, you know a news clipping or something we can point our browser to.

Edit: Oh, and those antrax attacks? Those were done by someone with an ax to grind on public spending for research, couldn't possibly have been done to target potential democrats against the pending patriot act about to be voted on in the senate. To believe that Dashe was targeted for political reasons is just plain nuts. If Edgar was still alive I bet he would have found somebody to pin this on. Maybe Oswalds brother in-law.

[rbajai]

60. Excellent thought-provoking post.

Thanks.

[chat_noir]

55. Biodefense Program in Galveston, TX

Biodefense Program in Galveston, TX Sacrifices Research for Public Safety

Thursday, September 22, 2005 -- FTW contacted Lee H. Thompson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Thompson also serves as Director for Biosafety and Containment Facilities at the University’s Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, a Level 4 research lab. He assured this reporter that “all the animals have been euthanized, and all the pathogenic microorganisms have been neutralized.” As its website indicates, UCBE maintains access to “a high intensity gamma irradiator allowing inactivation of samples for further analysis outside the BSL4 laboratory.”

The Galveston facility is one of only six Level 4 labs, which conduct research on the most dangerous microorganisms known to science. Designated “Category A” pathogens, these include bacterial diseases like plague, anthrax, smallpox, and tularemia, and the major viral hemorrhagic fevers: dengue, Marburg, Ebola, and others.

William H. Gimson, Chief Operating Officer at the Centers for Disease Control, could not be reached for comment.


http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/092305_biodefense_program.shtml

(emphasis mine)

edit to add more...

Rabbit fever a potential bioterror threat

By Cindy Tumiel
New York Times News Service

A Cold War bug has become a hot topic for scientists who are trying to understand how an obscure germ that causes a harmless infection in rabbits can kill people when sprayed into the air.

That quest has turned San Antonio, Texas, into a major location for the study of tularemia, a disease carried by several small mammals that national defense authorities say is now a potential bioterrorism threat.

Karl Klose, a professor of biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio, leads a team of investigators who want to understand how the bug makes people sick and how they can prevent infection with a vaccine.

Klose and fellow investigators from UTSA and the University of Texas Health Science Center have secured a $6.4 million grant under a new federal bioterrorism initiative that began in the aftermath of 9/11. Now the National Institutes of Health is pouring millions into the study of tularemia and other diseases that may have been turned into biological weapons by groups or governments hostile to the U.S.

"Sept. 11 and the anthrax scare really woke up the U.S. government as to how vulnerable we are," Klose said. "Anthrax got a lot of attention, but tularemia is just as dangerous as anthrax."

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/09/21/rabbitfe.htm

[converted_democrat]

56. I just finished reading all of the MSM articles, thanks 4 posting this.n/t

[rbajai]

58. Three thoughts....

1) That's why Bush was in Colorado
2) Someone did this to scare protestors so that they won't protest anymore

OR

3) It's a fraud to scare the public, remind them of terrorism, increase loyalty towards * (yeah right), and to scare protestors into not protesting anymore.

REMEMBER, this admin is ALL ABOUT creating fear and panic in order to lull the people into submission under * the King.

[shadowknows69]

63. so, anyone know the closest CDC office to New York?

can't afford to go tot he doctor so maybe they'll jet out and test me

[kestrel91316]

64. Talk to your county health dept.

[Generic Other]

65. Everyone who went to the march should call their local health dept

immediately. Raise a stink to high heaven. Call your senators, your reps. Make BIG ruckus. Call CDC.

Someone did this on purpose. Remember that the military was on heightened alert? Didn't they cancel all leaves for the end of September? Weren't they playing terror games?

We should not accept this crap from our government. They need to give us all answers NOW.

[MaggieSwanson]

66. Collecting names of those at the protest...

Wouldn't this be a great way to find out our names and personal info?

Just sayin'.

I was there, and now I'm sick with something. If it gets bad enough to go to the doctor I won't hesitate to bring up the possibility of contracting this, but until then...

Added on edit: And hey (hey, hey, ho, ho) I would go again in a heartbeat.

[shadowknows69]

70. I just talked to NYS dept of health

they're trying to put me in touch with local health people who will hopefully test me. Am i being paranoid. Fucking eh right but its just a little thing about me loving being alive.

[livvy]

72. Me, too. Wadowewant? When do we want it?.....

I'll go to my doc if this "cold" gets worse, and I've already alerted family, and have the articles printed out if I need them. I don't know if this was malicious or a fluke of nature. The fact that it was found at all makes me feel a bit like a guinea pig. Why do I feel this sudden urge to clean my litter...I mean house?
I really have gotten to the point that I wouldn't put anything past this administration (to use the term loosely). The very thought, though, that they would put 500,000+ people at risk for what ever purpose, is difficult to wrap my brain around. But then I think about all the casualties of the past 5 years, and it's hard not to keep the mind open to the possibility.
Hope you feel better soon.

[shadowknows69]

74. You too livvy

[shadowknows69]

69. and why wasn't there an alert that day when they discovered it

shouldn't homeland security ben on the streets handing out cippro or something? oh i forgot. bunch of expendable hippies.

[McCamy Taylor]

75. Military "Secret" exercises in DC 2 days before the March.....

Was the protest crowd the latest miltary guinea pig for a miltary weapons test?

[shadowknows69]

76. I have the overwhelming urge

to run in an exercise wheel and drink from a tube.

[YouthInAsia]

80. me too. I'll be right over. Bringing the chew sticks

[jpak]

77. How many repugs started taking Cipro before last Saturday????

:tinfoilhat:

[shadowknows69]

78. Sickness update

I may be saved. Found some black market (generous neighbor) anti-biotics so we shall see.

[MidnightWind]

79. I read in another thread on this that tetracycline is the drug of

choice for this. Don't know if that's correct though. Hope you feel better soon!

[YouthInAsia]

81. make sure its in the right family of antibiotics or they'll be worthless

[Laura PourMeADrink]

84. Don't forget: President Orders Evacuation of Parts of DC - 9/23

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2109584

Essentially, he has ordered the evacuation of a tract of federal government property located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. The mixed use residential/office tract houses mainly executive offices and living quarters associated with the Office of the President of the United States.

Occupants of the compound are reportedly heading for a brief stop in San Antonio, Texas, after which they will be in a secure Colorado military bunker.

No specific reason for the evacuation was cited by sources close to the government, but rumors of a shitstorm of political opposition set to strike the District Of Columbia later today have been rampant in some US media.

The same government sources deny knowing who Cindy Sheehan is.

[lonestarnot]

87. WTF? !!!!! I have a rash on the back of my ankles is this a symptom?

[maddezmom]

88. locking

If anyone is feeling ill from being in DC, please seek medical attention