by Ken King

I don't know about you, but for me this past month has been very solemn. After the direct attack on September 11th and with the new biological attack I have reflected more about what is important for me and my family than I have in a long while. For years I have not had to think of anything other than normal security, but that is different know. Tragically it has been proven that we are susceptible to a variety of techniques by cowardice scum that seek to inflict pain and suffering upon Americans.

The recent and expanding use of anthrax as a weapon caused an initial stir of concern for me. That was of course until I did some research on the topic. What I have found has both eased some fears and escalated others. First I think it is important to understand the forms of infection one faces. Anthrax infection can occur in three forms: cutaneous (skin), inhalation, and gastrointestinal. Anthrax spores can live in the soil for many years, and humans can become infected with anthrax by handling products from infected animals or by inhaling anthrax spores from contaminated animal products. Anthrax can also be spread by eating undercooked meat from infected animals. It is rare to find infected animals in the United States. We are also discovering that it can be easily concealed within a letter or package. Other methods of use could include the use of those crop dusters that have been grounded. 

The various forms of infection have differing mortality expectations. Cutaneous: Most (about 95%) anthrax infections occur when the bacterium enters a cut or abrasion on the skin, such as when handling contaminated wool, hides, leather or hair products (especially goat hair) of infected animals. Skin infection begins as a raised itchy bump that resembles an insect bite but within 1-2 days develops into a vesicle and then a painless ulcer, usually 1-3 cm in diameter, with a characteristic black necrotic (dying) area in the center. Lymph glands in the adjacent area may swell. About 20% of untreated cases of cutaneous anthrax will result in death. Deaths are rare with appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Inhalation: Initial symptoms may resemble a common cold. After several days, the symptoms may progress to severe breathing problems and shock. Inhalation anthrax is usually fatal if not treated expeditiously. Intestinal: The intestinal disease form of anthrax may follow the consumption of contaminated meat and is characterized by an acute inflammation of the intestinal tract. Initial signs of nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, fever are followed by abdominal pain, vomiting of blood, and severe diarrhea. Intestinal anthrax results in death in 25% to 60% of cases unless treated rapidly. So it seems that the form of infection you should avoid most is the inhalation variety. Makes our mail system the perfect delivery mechanism to attack the innocent. 

Or is it perfect? If one exercises some due caution with handling of the mail you can reduce the potential for infection. Also if exposed there are some new and improved antibiotics that have been reported to be very affective against anthrax regardless of form of infection. I'm sure you have all heard about the methods of helping safeguard oneself while opening the mail or deciding if you will open a particular item at all. Use the method you are comfortable with but if you detect a powdery substance protect it as recommended, just in case. Personally I feel that I can determine if an item is suspicious or from an unknown sender so this doesn't really worry me that much. Most importantly wash with hot water and soap after handling the mail. 

What had me afraid the most was the use of a crop duster type method for massive delivery. This would probably be the most catastrophic of all exposure methods. At least that is what I thought initially. I listened to a few people talking about obtaining a gas mask and while my first thoughts were that these guys were going overboard I gave their idea some consideration. I looked for information about a major anthrax release and the only thing I could find was about an accident at a Russian bio-lab back in 1979. The site was near a city called Sverdlovsk, which has since been renamed to Ekaterinburg. Ever notice how the Russians do that name changing thing, I wonder what that is all about. Do they think changing a name makes what happened there go away? Anyway, it seems that the lab had either improperly installed a filter or failed to install it at all. Weapons grade inhalation anthrax flowed with the winds towards the city that had a population of 1 million. There were only 66 deaths attributed to the anthrax from a population that was kept in the dark by their government. The Russians didn't bother to notify the citizens that they were in harm's way. So those infected didn't seek prompt care or treatment, so how many of those could have been saved? How lethal of a threat is this really?

A gas masks might have spared even more of these folks, but then I thought more about the gas chambers at basic training and the chemical warfare training one gets once at an operational unit and I wondered if it would be worth the effort. The only way to be 100% safe from an air attack would be to wear the mask 24/7, to make sure that you had an unending supply of filters, that the mask was fitted properly and you were trained to use it. The more I thought about it the more I realized that to do that would not only be one major pain in the butt, it would be surrendering to these pieces of excrement that dare assault our innocent citizens by such despicable means.

With the above in mind my family and I have decided that we should respond with the same spirit as what FDR said almost seven decades ago, that being, "You have nothing to fear but fear itself". We plan to and will go on as we always have. We will not get gas masks nor will we cower to these terrorists. We won't hoard antibiotics in shameless fear and we won't hide indoors like a scared rabbit. We, unlike most of mainstream media, will wear our red, white, and blue proudly and fly our flag with pride. We have no problem saying "In God We Trust" for we are Americans. Americans that might now be more aware of the threats around us but not hindered by the what-ifs or fear of what might happen. Each of you is left to decide how you adapt to what has happened. I recommend that you change as little as possible if any at all, we shouldn't give into these threats. After all isn't that the goal of the terrorists?