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Anthrax and Biochemical Warfare |
Anthrax
and biochemical warfare is now a concern of the American people. As the
anthrax contamination spreads, health officials have changed the way they
are handling the investigation and treatment of the bacteria threat.
Thirteen
people have been infected with the anthrax bacteria across the United
States, and thirty two people have been exposed to it. Most of the cases
have been of inhalation anthrax, which is the deadliest kind.
Although
many people think that the anthrax scare has frightened people, polls
reveal the opposite. A CNN poll released indicated that most Americans are
not concerned about a biological threat. Two-thirds of the polled said
they are not worried about exposure to anthrax bacteria, and 77 percent
said they are confident that the United States government could
effectively handle the anthrax threat.
Ten
students from El Segundo High School were surveyed on their opinion about
anthrax, and 30 percent said they are worried about contracting anthrax,
and seventy percent said they are not worried about it at all. Seventy
percent of the students said that they are confident that the United
States government could effectively handle the anthrax threat, and thirty
percent said they are unconfident of the government’s handle on the
situation. Junior Krystle Samai said, “I think the government
likes to believe they have a handle on the situation but what are they
going to do if the masses contract anthrax?”
Following
the third case of a New Jersey postal worker contracting inhalation
anthrax, many postal workers have begun to wonder why more has not been
done in order to protect them from the potentially deadly bacteria.
Essentially, anthrax has been spreading through the mail.
New
York postal authorities plan to offer the antibiotic Cipro to postal
workers in at least six Manhattan facilities that might have handled
anthrax-laced mail. This plan resulted from the meeting of postal
authorities, angry postal union leaders, and a representative of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The
chief postal inspector said he has assigned 3,300 postal inspectors and
postal police officers to the anthrax mail investigation. The chief postal
inspector, Kenneth Weaver said, public confidence in the mail system is
essential to the survival of the Postal Service and the economy. He noted
that between eight and nine percent of the gross national product depends
on the mail system.
Many
people have gone to their doctors recently, because they think that they
might have contracted anthrax, and doctors have been prescribing
cyprofloxacin, also known as Cipro as the antibiotic of choice. More than
10,000 people in the Washington area are currently on Cipro.