Word: anthrax
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...series of conference calls, officials from all federal agencies involved in the investigation--including the FBI, the Secret Service, U.S. Capitol Police, the Postal Inspection Service and the CDC--learned from Fort Detrick scientists what turned out to be the key facts: the Daschle letter contained "highly virulent" anthrax with a high "spore concentration," according to a participant in the briefings. And it was "aerosolized." The word "weaponized" was not used, but it didn't need to be, this official says. It was understood that these anthrax spores would hang...
...Postal Service finally took some concrete action last week, ordering a lot of gloves and masks and a few irradiation systems for key mail-sorting facilities in Washington, New York and New Jersey. But as anthrax mail continues to pile up, so too do questions about how to protect ourselves against it. Here are some answers...
...Does zapping letters and packages with radiation really kill anthrax spores...
According to their promoters, ion-beam (also known as electron-beam) devices are fairly safe and relatively fast, killing anthrax spores in a matter of minutes. Independent experts question whether they can do the job that quickly. The gamma rays in the competing systems penetrate more deeply into packages and piles of envelopes, but they can take hours to destroy any spores that may be in them. Also, each gamma-ray machine uses a small quantity of radioactive cobalt 60 as its energy source, posing safety and disposal risks that could make an already nervous public even more...
...Will surgical masks protect postal workers from inhaling anthrax spores...