60 minute piece

[Guest guest]

>

>

Anthrax Over-Reaction?

<I class=smallGray>

One Expert Tells Rather That Americans Should 'Relax'

But Worries Persist

Oct. 17, 2001

>

AP

(CBS) A few weeks ago, America worried about airplanes, tall buildings and

box cutters. Now, Americans are worried that the next terrorist attack could

come in the next letter.

But bio-terror expert says the anthrax scare may be as

dangerous as the disease. Dan Rather reports.

Says : " We're all scared. I have people calling me up saying 'Should I

buy a gas mask, should I stock up on cipro?' The answer is no. "

A half-century ago, at Fort Detrick, land, and an army of

American scientists began studying how disease could be turned into weapons

of war. They worked with botulism, smallpox, and anthrax.

He offers his thoughts on the current incidents: " I'm happy when the CDC

reports that they found spores on surfaces. Whether it's on the floor or

tables or elsewhere. I'm happy because it means that this is heavy material,

it's big particle size and if you've got to have anthrax in the environment,

I'd rather have it on surfaces than up in the air. That could cause you some

real serious problems. "

says some people probably received anthrax letters without realizing

it - not getting sick because of the poor quality of the anthrax, and the

primitive way it has been delivered.

Anthrax spores have been found on at least one postal building, and jittery

workers have called for more anthrax testing to be done.

The idea that postal workers are that scared, scares the business world.

Guy was an economist with the Postal Service for 25 years. How would

it affect the economy?

" If one were to seriously disrupt mail flows, that would be just the

beginning. Because then you would seriously disrupt all of the entities that

use the mails. And that's every sector of the economy. If it were to continue

for any extended period of time, it would be just catastrophic. "

worries more about smallpox than anthrax. It is, he points out,

contagious. Much of the nation is susceptible, he says.

But counsels calm. He tells Americans " to relax about all these

anthrax letters that are going out. If you happen to be a recipient of a

letter and you see it bulging, for Lord's sake, don't open it up. Or if you

open it and you know that you've been exposed, seek immediate treatment. And

you’re gonna get cured. You're not gonna die. "

Is he worried about the current situation? " I have good days and bad days.

There's never been a weapons system that has been developed that hasn’t been

used at some point in time. And I'm sure that at some point in the future,

biological warfare will be used on a scale that's gonna be massive. And it's

gonna cause a lot of casualties. I don't think the world is at that point

right now. But this is my guess. It's nothing more than my guess. "

© MMI, CBS Worldwide Inc. .