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Sorry about the problems...and wasn't trying to get anyone to join yahoo, or their groups...didn't realize it had been discussed previously...I just thought people should know...now hope I don't get in trouble with DU for this long post...
windbreeze...
Folks: Joseph Waymack has been a leader in getting voting procedure
reform here in NC--he is not a nut, nor an alarmist
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.
<snip>
==============================================
Fwd: UPDATE: Biological Agent-DC 9/24/05]
I have spoke with another source at the CDC. They have confirmed the
situation. I have updated list of symptoms and information as well as
the area it showed up in and the time frame of exposure. Health
officials are downplaying the risk but advise if anyone has the symptoms
to seek treatment immediately:
The agent Tularemia (that is the proper spelling) was detected in the
mall area of DC between the US Capital and the Lincoln Memorial (this is
per the Washington Post). Anyone in this area between 10am 9/24 and
10am 9/25 may have been exposed to low levels of the deadly bacteria.
The symptoms include: (per the CDC)
Headaches
Sudden Fever
Chills
Muscle and joint pain
increasing weakness
dry cough
swollen or painful lymph nodes
swelling around the eyes
ulcers on the skin or mouth
sour throat
trouble breathing or respiratory arrest
it can develop into pnemonia (bloody flem in that case) over time
Symptoms normally occur within 3-5 days of exposure but could occur all
the way up to 14. The CDC has advised October 5th as the day by which
if you have not developed symptoms you are in the clear and do not need
to be concerned.
It is not known to be transmittable from person to person, only through
direct exposure to the agent itself.
It is confirmed through blood or flem samples through laboratory tests
which may take up to 48 hours. In some cases it may be treated before
results are known.
It is treated through antibiotics, specifically tetrocycaline (may not
be spelled right).
Please be on the lookout for the symptoms and seek medical treatment if
you have them.
<snip>
==============================================
Here is the article the Washington Post has picked up about this
situation and information from the CDC on Tulameria. More than six
sensors in DC picked up the biological agent and only on the day we were
all there for the anti-war demonstration. This raises many questions
and we need a solid investigation into this incident.
From the Washington Post:
Biohazard Sensors Triggered
Mall Germ Levels Likely Not a Threat
By Martin Weil and Susan Levine
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 1, 2005; Page B01
<snip>
Health authorities in the Washington area were notified yesterday that
the bacteria were found in and near the area between the U.S. Capitol
and the Lincoln Memorial, where crowds gathered Saturday for an antiwar
rally and a book festival. The notification, which came from federal
health officials, said that after the initial detection, subsequent
tests "supported the presence of low levels" of the bacteria. However,
officials also said they did not believe the findings posed a health
problem.
<snip>
Health officials said the usual incubation period for tularemia is less
than a week.
<snip>
Symptoms include fever, chills, headache, muscle ache, joint pain, dry
cough and conjunctivitis.
<snip>
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."
<snip>
Tularemia is not spread from person to person. It can be contracted by
direct contact with the bacteria that cause it -- by swallowing them or,
if they have been suspended in air, through inhalation.
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 with antibiotics but, if
left untreated, can be fatal. <snip>
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.
He said the CDC expected to notify hospitals nationwide as a precaution
because so many people came from out of town to the Mall last weekend.
<snip>
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.
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