THE BATTAU!
; can eas
weapons
kill or injure many
it police, firefighters and me:-
il personnel could be it
d when responding to
nek because “the devicem.
ictivate when it is
In January, the FBI i
lice to beware of
icks using ricin, a toxic si
nce derived from the cast!
in plant. That warning fc
/ed the arrests last yean
tain of 11 North Africann
terrorism charges
m an alleged
elop a ricin weapon.
The bulletin came as
tinues to interviewIr
in the United States at it
of about 1,000 a day,
1 of reaching 11,000 by it
of this week.
a
Little or no
training is required
to assemble and
leploy such a device
due to its
simplicity.
— FBI intelligence bulletin
released Wednesday
Scil Tech
TThe Battalion
otulinum toxin identified as College Station
plausible bioterrorism threat biotech firm
fined by Feds
By Laura Meckler
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
he interviews, focused ot
i who have recently
to Iraq or have ties to tie
military, are intende
>ver the identities of
rists and spies in
is and also to find any
Dn that might be
forces in Iraq,
lie bulletin also repeatedfe
s search for Adnan G, El
rijumah, a 27-yearJ
i-born man who maybeai
lida operative. El
rijumah left the f
lay 2001 for
ding to his family, but la'
cement officials say tie;
it know his whereabouts,
Shukrijumah was idem
n part by information col-
I after Mohammed's cag
n Pakistan.
lls Off
with U3
:e Strong said that I
i officials told him in meet-
Pyongyang last week that
‘reserved the right”
ess spent fuel rods
; say could yield eno
ium for several ato
within months. Sucl
would spike tension even
North’s Korea Pi
sent a telephone m
U.N. Command sa;
longer send its del
iaison-officers’ meeting at
r-Korean border village of
ijom.
is meaningless to
r with the U.S. forces side
iss any issue as long as il
; arrogant,” the Nt
news agency K
the North Korean
saying,
announcement came as
ers from across I
convened the country's
stamp parliament
ted tension over the corn-
state ’s suspected nt
s program.
U.N. Command, \
itored the armistice since
of the 1950-53 war, I
ediate comment. With
e treaty, the Kon
a is still technically in a
van
Meted for scam
Wednesday handed ups
-level Enron Corp. execu-
i generate Si 11 mi
ir's failed attempt to start
of securities fraud,
d March 12 against Kei
i free on S500,000 bond
t for July 1.
on and the video c
id business using broad-
Jraveheart." At the time,
‘fund Enron Broadband
romised profits from the
WASHINGTON — Federal
fficials fear the nation is vul
nerable to a bioterror attack
«th a little-known agent that is
asy to find and easy to pro-
iuce. Just a gram of botulinum
oxin — the weight of a single
aaper clip — could kill more
ban 1 million people.
Officials are working both to
lug vulnerabilities and to
mprove the ability to respond
hould an attack occur.
“We are making this the
lighest priority,” said Dr.
Anthony Fauci of the National
Institutes of Health, one of the
government’s top bioterrorism
officials. “We are really mar
shaling all available resources.”
The toxin, the most poisonous
found naturally on Earth, easily
infects those who eat it. Experts
fear terrorists could poison the
nation’s food supply and sicken
thousands, making the 2001
anthrax attacks-by-mail seem
minor by comparison.
The government has only
enough antitoxin available to treat
victims of a small attack — one
official put the inventory at more
1,000 doses. The special
treatment needed for children is
produced only by a California
trogram now in jeopardy because
of the state’s budget problems.
The issue takes on particular
urgency as the United States
wages war with Iraq. In 1995,
Iraq told the United Nations it
made more than 5,000 gal
lons of botulinum toxin and had
loaded much of it into bombs
and warheads. Inspectors believe
Iraq’s president, Saddam
Hussein, has materials capable
of producing twice as much
toxin, or enough to kill the
world’s human population three
times over.
Unlike smallpox, the most
widely publicized bioterror
threat, botulism is not contagious
and, with medical treatment,
most victims survive.
But while smallpox no longer
exists in the wild, botulism is
easily acquired. It is found in soil
and can contaminate poorly pre
pared food. About 120
Americans get botulism each
year. Roughly three in four are
infants, who can get it from trace
amounts in honey.
Disseminating botulinum
toxin would not be particularly
difficult, although basic microbi
ology skills would be necessary
to do it, experts say.
Heating food long enough at a
high enough temperature kills the
organism, but foods like fruits
and vegetables aren’t cooked.
Milk and other dairy products
aren’t heated long enough during
processing to kill the toxin.
“If it were added to the food
supply it could result in a signifi
cant number of very serious ill
nesses,” said Caroline Smith
DeWaal, director of food safety
for the Center for Science in the
Public Interest.
Botulism causes paralysis,
starting at the head and moving
down the body. Victims become
limp, and at the beginning they
can’t move their eyes, facial mus
cles or vocal cords. They have
trouble swallowing. Eventually,
the paralysis moves through the
Deadly toxin
In the United States, more than
100 people contract botulism
each year, after exposure to
minute amounts of botulinum
toxin. Officials fear the toxin,
which occurs naturally,
could fall into the hands
of terrorists. One gram
of purified toxin could
kill more than 1
million people.
Acetylcholine
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
How nerve cells
normally work
Neurons release a
chemical called
acetylcholine,
which transmits
signals to nearby
neurons.
How botulism
attacks the body
The toxin binds to
nerve endings and
stops the release
of acetylcholine,
leading to muscle
paralysis which
starts from the
head and moves
down the body.
Emily Brannan/AP
central nervous system, and
patients must be put on ventila
tors to keep their lungs pumping.
It’s the same paralysis that
makes Botox (short for botu
linum toxin) an effective tool
for smoothing wrinkles. A tiny,
purified amount injected into
people’s faces temporarily par
alyzes the muscles beneath the
skin. Botox is also used to treat
certain nerve disorders.
But in larger — though
still tiny — quantities, it can
be deadly.
Botulinum toxin has never
been used successfully as a
weapon, although the
Japanese cult-Aum Shinrikyo
tried and failed to disperse it
in aerosols at least three times
in the early 1990s.
Experts still fear both small-
and large-scale attacks.
They cite, as an example
of a small attack, cult follow
ers spreading salmonella on
salad bars at 10 Oregon
restaurants in 1984, sicken
ing about 750 people.
If even a few people were
exposed, “that could cause
panic and terror,” said Michael
Doyle, director of the Center
for Food Safety at the
University of Georgia, who is
advising federal officials on
this issue.
By Alex Dominguez
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The
United States Department of
Agriculture has given a $3.5
million no-interest loan to
ProdiGene Inc. after the
company said it could not
afford to pay cleanup costs
and fines for mixing soy
beans with a genetically
engineered corn.
The department had cited
the College Station, Texas-
based company for failing to
completely remove the corn
— designed to produce a pig
vaccine — before growing
soybeans in a Nebraska
field. As part of a settle
ment, ProdiGene agreed to
pay nearly $250,000 in fines
and $2.7 million to reim
burse the government for
burning the soybeans, held
in a Nebraska warehouse
until they were incinerated.
Agency officials had said
the expensive fines were a
warning to other potential
violators. At the time, they
did not mention the loan.
Department spokes
woman Alisa Harrison said,
“There was not an intent to
mislead anyone.”
The department came up
with the payment plan
because ProdiGene’s finan
cial statements showed it
lacked the money to pay the
fines, she said.
Russell K. Burbank, the
new president and chief
executive of ProdiGene,
declined comment.
The company does not
have to begin making pay
ments until next year. Also,
it can make quarterly install
ments without interest for
two years.
Gregory Jaffe, biotech
director at the Center for
Science in the Public
Interest, obtained copies of
the agreement, which he
said show the department
“gave the company a sweet
heart deal.”
“I think it sort of sends
the wrong message to the
industry,” Jaffe said.
Jaffe said the company is
saving about $600,000 in
interest because of the terms
of the loan. Taxpayers are
paying about $500,000, he
estimated.
The Nebraska incident in
November marked the sec
ond time that ProdiGene
was caught mixing test corn
with a crop headed for the
food supply. A similar
mishap occurred in Iowa
this September.
Join Us!
We Have Openings on
Our Team for Student
Bus Drivers
Now Accepting
Applications for
Fall 2003
Contact:
Transit at
845-1971
Deadline for
Applications:
Wednesday,
April 2
fl
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
Transportation Services
FLEET PARKING TRAFFIC TRANSIT
As an engineer in
the U.S. Air Force,
there’s no telling what
.you’ll work on.
(Seriously, we can’t tell you.)
United States Air Force applied technology is years ahead
of what you’ll touch in the private sector, and as a new
engineer you’ll likely be involved at the ground level of new
and sometimes classified developments. You’ll begin leading
and managing within this highly respected group from day
one. Find out what’s waiting behind the scenes for you in
the Air Force today. To request more information, call
1-800-423-USAF or log on to airforce.com.
V
U.S. AIR FORCE
CROSS INTO THE BLUE