Bio-War in US, coming to Britain???
ABC Warrior | 11.10.2001 13:46
UK bio-war contingency plan 'in excessive secrecy': BMA.
Book Reviews: the Hot Zone (fact, Ebola), the Cobra Event (fiction?), by Paul Preston.
DIY biological warfare (farm animals, foot and mouth?) links
Doctors' representatives have asked the government to avoid excessive secrecy in preparing British plans to combat any bio-terrorism menace.
As fears of anthrax attacks grow, the government has refused to discuss details of extra protections for water supplies and other key installations.
The level and details of planning for a direct chemical or biological on an urban area are also largely unknown.
We have too much secrecy and too few people knowing our contingency plans
Professor Vivienne Nathanson
BMA
American police are investigating an outbreak of anthrax in Florida in which one person has died and two more are ill in hospital.
But Scotland Yard and British politicians have stressed there is no specific credible threat of a bio-terror attack on the UK.
Professor Vivienne Nathanson, head of science and ethics at the British Medical Association, said: "We are concerned secrecy can inhibit proper discussion.
"People need to be reassured.
"Planning in the UK is relatively secretive. It is a question that needs to be addressed.
"We have too much secrecy and too few people knowing our contingency plans, which is a problem."
Public health
Prof Nathanson cited the example of the senior New York fire officers whom she said were among the first killed in the September 11 terror attack and were among few who knew about the city's contingency plans.
This eventuality, she warned, should not happen in the UK.
She acknowledged: "It is difficult to say any public health system in the world is capable but we need to reassure the public we can spot the nature of an attack and deal with it.
"We must ensure our disease surveillance system is as well-established as possible and that information is shared. It is our best hope."
Incubation periods
Prof Nathanson said the BMA would be taking up the matter with government ministers and making representations to ensure the secrecy is "not overdone".
She went on: "People are still travelling all over the world and with the long incubation periods of some biological agents disease could be spread."
Her comments came soon after the World Medical Association urged doctors worldwide to be on the alert for unexplained clusters of illnesses amid escalating fears of bio-terrorism.
Prof Nathanson said the BMA supported that view.
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From the Paul Preston, author of 'The Hot Zone', which detailed what really happened when Ebola occured at a monkey quarantine facility in Reston, VA, 30 minutes drive from the White House. The Cobra Event is part fiction, and possibly part fact, detailing Iraqi Anthrax attempts in the gulf war, built into a plot of a mad-dog poisoner in New York. Read the first chapter then dare to claim a refund
ANYONE KNOW ABOUT ALLEGED RUMOURS OF BIOWEAPON ATTACKS LATER THIS YEAR, MENTIONED JUST BEFORE THE WAR BROKE???
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www.geocities.com/j18hellas/mag2.htm some guy's diy biowar
www.atcc.org Non-profit org selling mainly agricultural viruses and bacteria, allege to have sold Anthrax to the Iraqis, at some stage. Dooooh!
ABC Warrior
Homepage:
www.atcc.org
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