-Caveat Lector- http://www.nandotimes.com/noframes/story/0,2107,500064078-500106042-50047933 7-0,00.html Delay in identifying virus raises security questions Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Scripps Howard News Service By LANCE GAY WASHINGTON (December 3, 1999 12:06 a.m. EST) - Prompted by delays in identifying an obscure Middle East virus that appeared in New York City this year, a debate has been touched off in Washington over how secure and effective are America's defenses against terrorists using biological weapons or exotic diseases. It took federal authorities almost three months to identify the West Nile virus, which first was reported when dead crows were found on New York City streets in June. On Sept. 3, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention misdiagnosed the outbreak as being caused by St. Louis encephalitis. It retracted that diagnosis three weeks later, saying the outbreak was caused by the West Nile virus. Though the federal government has spent millions of dollars developing defenses to detect such viruses, experts say the West Nile virus incident shows that the United States is vulnerable to terrorist use of biological weapons. "West Nile fever was a wake-up call for us," said Alan Zelicoff, a physician and senior scientist at the Federal Center for National Security and Arms Control at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. He said it is unacceptable that it takes several weeks for federal authorities to become aware of the appearance of a new pathogen. Unless steps are taken to improve the reporting and identifying of outbreaks, Zelicoff said more virulent viruses could be introduced into the United States and will spread before federal authorities know what is happening. If the relatively benign West Nile virus had been a more serious virus like smallpox, it would have "dispersed and spread across the country to hundreds of thousands of people before it was detected," Zelicoff said. In New York, 56 cases of the West Nile virus were diagnosed and seven deaths were reported. The virus also was found in Connecticut and New Jersey. David Siegrist, a senior analyst with the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, an Arlington, Va., think tank that studies threats posed by biological weapons, agreed that the difficulties in detecting the West Nile virus show the need for a serious look at the adequacy of America's defenses against biological weapons. He said Congress must enlist the assistance of physicians in reporting mysterious outbreaks of illnesses, and develop more laboratories for quicker testing and identification of mysterious pathogens. "We have to have more rapid identification when this happens," Siegrist said. In October, the Senate Armed Services Committee opened an investigation of the West Niles virus incident. Congress last month allocated $36 million to the Centers for Disease Control to conduct a study of what happened and to make recommendations for better identifications of unusual infectious agents. The Agriculture Department also is seeking to increase research into deadly pathogens. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., wants the early warning system expanded for quick identification of agricultural pathogens, noting that terrorists seeking to cripple America could attack with plant or animal diseases to create a famine, or devastate U.S. agriculture. John Wafeld, president of Kansas State University, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the West Nile virus incident exposed the weakness of U.S. defenses against pathogens that could be introduced deliberately, or naturally. "It's a fireball in the night, because it suggests a warning to the American people and our national security interests that these kinds of pathogens can enter America even when we don't want them to," he said. But Barbara Rosenberg, who heads the biological weapons programs for the Federation of American Scientists, said the government response to dealing with the West Nile virus shouldn't be used as a reason to launch expensive new biological weapons programs. "It's impossible to prepare for every possible pathogen in the world," she said. Rosenberg scoffed at the possibility that terrorists would use biological weapons. "You get a lot more bang for your buck with bombs than biological weapons," she said. She did agree that the United States has to do more to alert physicians to look out for unusual illnesses. "But that doesn't require millions of dollars, it just requires a memo," she said. Dr. Steve Ostroff, the CDC's associate director, said he also believes it's unlikely that terrorists would use viruses. "It's not that easy to do," he said. "I would play down a gaping hole in our defenses." But Ostroff added the West Nile virus incident does show the need to upgrade the capabilities of local laboratories to detect exotic pathogens. Ostroff said it is not known whether the West Nile virus got to the United States in the bloodstream of an infected tourist, or a migratory bird flying off its path. It is spread by mosquitoes. The Central Intelligence Agency investigated the possibility the West Nile virus was a terrorist attack, but ruled that out in October. The virus is not as virulent as its cousin, the St. Louis encephalitis, and is dangerous mostly to elderly people and those with compromised immune systems. The virus first appeared in New York in June, when residents of the Bronx and Queens reported dead crows on the sidewalks outside their homes. The first human cases were reported in August, when two elderly people were treated at a Queens hospital emergency room for fever, muscle aches and confusion. Lance Gay <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> is a reporter for Scripps Howard News Service. ======================= Robert F. Tatman Computer Help Desk Desktop & LAN Services Systems Department Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. [EMAIL PROTECTED] 215.854.2729 215.854.2788 The contents of this message represent the opinion only of the writer, and may not be construed to indicate the endorsement of Knight-Ridder, Inc.; Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc.; The Philadelphia Inquirer; or the Philadelphia Daily News. "Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity." DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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