posted on October 14, 2001 08:26:48 AM
Greetings from Florida,
I am not concerned with someone mailing anthrax to my mail box unless they figured out how to do a mass mailing to residents...What I am curious about is mail that TOUCHES a contaminated letter in the postal bins and then gets delivered to my mailbox...It would seem that microscopic spores or even powder could penetrate paper envelopes and spread inconspiculously to "innocent" standby mail...am I losing it, too? or is there any validity to this obsure fear?
posted on October 14, 2001 08:42:00 AM
I don't know, I am one big ball of nerves. I know these things shouldn't worry us, and I keep trying to tell myself that - but it is only working part time.
It is not only the national crisis, the war, but personal things as well. I have a sick bird, nationlly that isn't important, but is is very important to me. I just feel so overwhelmed with everything, I feel like crying.
posted on October 14, 2001 09:03:02 AM
HAHA this is getting so silly, Createing false scares and threats that dont exist take time away from the real problems out there.
When the real serious threat happens all will miss it because 100% of everyone will be busy trying to avoid breathing around there mail..
99% of these anthrax scares have proven to be hoax thousand around the country just this weekend with one or two posible real problems..
there were dozzen of these threats in Albany upstate new york yesterday at radio tv stations hospitals and in boston and many other cities tieing up emergency service police FBI and others.
Frist few weekends it was teens and people who suposedly said the world trade center was comeing down before it happened.
a few weeks fallowing that it was bomb scares all over the place.
Then it was anthrax scares on news media people this weekend its anthrax scares every where from plane to hospitals.
in fact in one weekend anthrax scares have become more common and more costly to goverment states and business then false bomb threats..
whats next and how long before much of this crying wolf is ignored ???
with these kind of actions the USA will defeat its self..
Today MSNBC and other new agency put out the word that washington is putting out a call for bright educated people to inlist and help in this fight as over the past 10 years or so many bright and educated people in colleges around the country have been convieced not to inlist because they would be of more use here.
just more fire added to the agrument that soon if this goes on much longer the US will re instate the draft.
if you have reconcern and worry why not inlist to help the effort and become part of the solution ..
posted on October 14, 2001 09:09:43 AM
I think it's a perfectly normal human reaction to hear all this news and be fearful. You just can't let it get the better of you, let your common sense prevail.
posted on October 14, 2001 12:15:59 PM
"It would seem that microscopic spores or even powder could penetrate paper envelopes and spread inconspiculously to "innocent" standby mail"
If so, there would be a heck of a lot of dead postal workers on the east coast!
Anthrax IS NOT EASY TO CATCH if you are a human being! To get pulmonary anthrax you have to inhale several thousands of spores in a short time. Wool sorters in shearing sheds breathe in 500+ spores an hour all day long and they don't get it very often.
To have anough spores filter INTO mail addressed to others as it passes through the system, the source envelope would have to look like a powdered sugar donut.
posted on October 14, 2001 01:26:37 PM
I received one of my eBay items in the mail yesterday. Came home from the day out and the box was setting right at my door. I was so excited I tore right into it.
posted on October 14, 2001 02:29:38 PM
<<there were dozzen of these threats in Albany upstate new york yesterday at radio tv stations hospitals>>
Now who is getting carried away..dozens in Albany? Two different envies at one area radio station(this is my home area) in Albany..at WGY. So far no report of Anthrax..just a couple of strange envies, one with a with sticky substance, one with what appeared ot have something in it, and addressed wrong. They took the host (Gallagher) to the hospital for evaluation and released him. He actually opened the envy..another was found by another host but not opened. It had no return addy, was addressed wrong, and appeared to have something in it. It was a precaution...as they said, they have gotten strange things in the past in the mail (he is a controversial host)..so it's not all that unusual.
Our firefighters would rather be called and be tied up, than have the "scare" turn out to be true. We have had many people taken in in our area, some have not been released. We're nervous and their is nothing wrong with that.
Testing is being done, and there are no answers as to what it was, yet.
posted on October 14, 2001 02:52:30 PM
I have been watching the news way too much, so perhaps I can put your fears to rest. We come in contact with a few spores of anthrax everyday. It takes about 10,000 (according to one infectious disease expert) in order to get the systemic kind. In order to get the cutaneous kind, through the skin, you have to have an open sore that comes in direct contact with those spores. Any letter that came in contact with the letters that contained the white powder, would not have enough spores to infect anyone. These people are after the big companies and hope to cause chaos among the population.
Osama Bin Laden said in his video that America was fearful from the east to the west coast. Please don't prove him right. I intend to go about my daily business without fear otherwise, these murderers have won.
posted on October 14, 2001 03:10:35 PM
Pay attention everyone...
We ARE at WAR..!!!
The anthrax situation IS REAL...It is NOT a hoax...NONE of the mailings that tested negative had any anthrax in them and they were NOT supposed to have it in there...
Below is how the whole thing WILL play out and has up to this point...The below was posted on the 12th of October...
A MUST read...
-------------------------------------------
Anthrax and you..!!!
Chew on the below for a minute...
My Complete Whackjob Nutbag theory on white powders and anthrax
Your Opinion/Questions
Author: Fab
Posted on 10/12/01 12:31 PM Pacific by francisandbeans
OK, folks....I have posted this on a couple of threads....but someone suggested I make a thread of it...here it is:
The anthrax scares of the past 10 days has prompted many to ask questions.
Why would they target with an anthrax delivery device that won't kill a lot of people?
Why are they targeting the media?
Is this related to 9/11?
What's with all the white powder?
Let me lay out the theory:
The media is a target for a very specific reason. This prevents the government from covering up the details. This is why they went after the sensationalist media and why they went after a major broadcast network. The delivery system is designed not to maximize death, but to make us "anthrax aware"
Reportedly, the anthrax was mailed in a white powder. Along with the actual cases, we are finding cases of white powder mailings with no anthrax. Many have speculated that the white powder is done by sick pranksters. I think this is an impossibility. Let me explain...
We learned about the white powder on Monday evening (via Newsweek). Tuesday, we saw several packages and envelopes with white powder show up. It is nearly impossible for a prankster to gather themselves quickly enough to do it. There is a plan in action:
Part A mail out packages with anthrax contained in a white powder.
Part B mail out packages without anthrax, but with the white powder.
What does this do?
CDC has to investigate each of these powder instances. This will strecth thier resources. If enough actual anthrax envelopes are sent out, the US mail will be severly slowed or stop al together. This will have a massive effect on our psyche, our economy and our Law Enforcement community.
What they will do is play the Anthrax Russian Roulette with these packages until the fed decides to start issuing massive amounts of antibiotics to the populace...therfore reducing our supply.
Now, with antibiotics increasingly rare and the CDC and other departments stretched to thier limit...the terrorists are free to strike a full scale bio-attack and us unable to treat those infected.
..."If you keep doing what you've been doing....you'll just keep getting what you've been getting"...
posted on October 14, 2001 03:45:43 PM
Anthrax Scare..
Your comments are thought provoking MRBucks, and not to steal your horn, I, too, have thought that as well. Officials do have to check every case which will eventually dibilitate our resources. I expect the terrorists do utilize the real with the not real but I do hope any potential good ole USA pranksters realize this as well and cease & desist. False alarms perpetrated by pranksters goes beyond cruel and indecent behavior and the penalty for such should be as horrific as the crime. Way have enough terrorist BS to endure without feebleminded idiot pranks. Pranksters should use their energy for helping the cause, all Americans have been asked to help in so many ways..
Also, thanks for the answer to my initial question Daleeric, makes sense. and...please excuse the spelling typo in my topic heading everyone...
posted on October 14, 2001 03:48:30 PM
Well, I've read several different things about anthrax, and, while it can be deadly, I'm not really nervous about it. It is deadly only in about 5% of the time, and it is easily treated with antibiotics. With the first guy who contracted it, they didnt' know it was anthrax until it was too late. Now that we are "looking for it" it shouldn't be too deadly.
From Foxnews.com, regarding :
The skin form of anthrax accounts for 95 percent of all anthrax cases in the United States. Nevertheless, it is very rare, usually causing only a case or two a year.
"Antibiotics and a clean gauze patch to cover it should take care of you," said Dr. Philip Hanna of the University of Michigan.
Left untreated, he said, perhaps 5 percent of cases progress to a dangerous bloodstream infection, which is almost always fatal.
I also read somewhere, recently, that the amount of spores one has to be exposed to for inhalation anthrax is an incredible amount, and it is also not easy to get.
Crop dusters would not work well for anthrax spores, because of weather variations, and as we have seen, envelopes, while effective for infecting/exposing a few people, only work to induce mass PANIC. (Although, I must add, If I receieved an envelope with white powder on it, YES, I would call the authorities).
posted on October 14, 2001 04:51:35 PM
Simply stay alert, vigilant, and observe your surroundings. Know what you are doing! You are the militia now. Post Office workers have been placed on awareness of packages as well so relax a little.
posted on October 14, 2001 05:02:08 PM
Includeing in albany in New york that is how it was ment to read..
********************
Dman...that reads a little better..although I still hadn't heard about that many even nation wide. Obviously the one at NBC wasn't just a scare. The letter that stated to stay alert is a wise letter. Not because I'm afraid that other nations will send antrax, but becasue I'm afraid copy cats and sick people are now getting ideas, just like with the tylenol scare.
posted on October 14, 2001 08:28:28 PM
The one way this could come in to this country and never be discovered until its too late,is in drugs such as cocaine.Believe me some dope dealer isn't going to worry about whats in the stuff and the user isn't going to care.And they should aren't going to have it tested for Antrax!Quess where most of the dope comes from that is used in Britain? My point is what we should be worried about,nobody is giving a thought to.What a better way to spread an outbreak of a deadly disease not just Antrax.
posted on October 14, 2001 08:38:40 PM
Thanks to those who have provided so much information as, honestly, I didn't know much at all about anthrax...Perhaps education is the direction that needs to be taken to preclude the hysteria.
posted on October 14, 2001 09:31:27 PM
Buy any Leather Clothing made in Pakistan lately ? We used to carry lots in our retail shop prior to 911 - now Im afraid because of all the protesters and flag stompers we see on TV in that country. Im very worried about shipments bound for US :How could I know if things had been tampered with ?
posted on October 14, 2001 09:54:44 PM
Heaven forbid if the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes came in the mail with little ant sized tracks on it(antrax for short). I'm so scared I will just throw that Publishers Clearinghouse letter away just like I always do.
posted on October 15, 2001 09:47:07 AM
The anthrax scare has really become more of a problem than anthrax itself. Our own government is partially to blame for the spread of rumors and false information.
Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, the director of the Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was on Larry King's show last night and said there are only TWO cases in our entire country where someone actually contracted anthrax. The first case is in Florida and the second one is in New York. There are a number of folks who have become exposed to the disease because they were in direct contact with the postal item that infected these two individuals BUT none of them have tested positive for anthrax!!
Anthrax is very difficult for human beings to contract because it takes thousands of spores to cause infection. The first case in Florida was contracted through inhalation which is a rather rare form of anthrax and the New York victim became infected through a skin lesion.
The FBI is currently in the process of tracking the person/persons responsible through various leads and I'm sure they will find the guilty party but we have no viable evidence to support the theory that this is related to Bin Laden. It may be the act of one wacko person or a few isolated Islamic extremist supporters but, so far, it isn't a huge threat to our country. We would be seeing thousands of cases of anthrax if this situation was directly related to Bin Laden and his Afghan jihad terrorist network, not just TWO.
Caution is a good thing and we should be alert to the situation but there is no reason for panic. We all need to take a deep breath, calm down and try to continue with our daily lives as much as that's possible after the events of September 11.
