| Practical Advice for Biowarfare Response: Prepare & React Wisely |
| Quick Tips for Practical Response to Bio-warfare: 1) Stock at least two days worth of food for everyone in your household--non-perishable food and bottled water. Be prepared for two week contingencies if possible. 2) IF there is an outbreak of infectious disease, be prepared to stay in your home for a few days and only open the door to public health workers who may come to vaccinate or provide appropriate treatment. 3) ANTHRAX is currently the only known bioweapon which has been used against the American people (Oct01). For this reason, it may be wise to have ANTIBIOTICS on hand for your family since particular strains of bacteria respond well to treatment ESPECIALLY if antibiotics or penicillin are given promptly to prevent a systemic overload of toxins produced by the bacteria as the infection progresses. 4) Other possible bacterial weapons which respond to antibiotic treatment are Tularemia and Brucellosis. Also, the toxin of Botulinum and any other BACTERIAL infection MAY respond to antibiotics. 5) VIRAL diseases will NOT respond to antibiotics, though it might be considered in support of compromised tissue in a prolonged recovery. VIRAL threats include SMALLPOX, an ancient contagion which deliberate alterations may have rendered more or even less virulent. SMALLPOX HAS AN INITIAL PRESENTATION OF FEVER AND MALAISE WITH CHARACTERISTIC SEVERE BACKACHE. Though potentially disfiguring, the rash resolves to dry scabs, which should be celebrated as a successful immune response. Currently vaccinated adults, ages mid-thirties and up, may have some resistance based on their childhood immunization. No vaccine was given after 1972, leaving the public at risk for exposure to a virus thought to have been eradicated. Samples have since been in cryo-storage at two locations established by international agreement as emergency vaccine stock. VARICELLA, the smallpox virus, may have been actively manipulated in Soviet biowarfare programs as recently as ten years ago. 6) The FILO VIRUSES such as Ebola and Marburg, which are hemorrhagic, are assumed to be endemic to central Africa. Recognized over thirty years ago, the first official case was transported to Marburg, Germany for medical care, and thus named. Ken Alibek, a former bioweapons expert from Russia, has written that the Soviet germ warfare program attempted to harness the filo viruses as potential disease agents. The filo viruses are extremely contagious and deadly, and it is hard to imagine that any government would ever have condoned such research, said to have included attempts to combine attributes of one virus with another to create so-called "chimera" diseases. BIOSAFETY LEVEL IV containment and life support are only stopgap measures for filo viruses, a potential threat to human life far beyond the scope of a "targeted" attack. Release of filo virus into a population which is mobile would represent a risk to every part of the world involved in travel. Filo viruses are unstable unless supported by human blood and body tissue, but contagions emitted during a sneeze or cough may be viable for an unknown period of time if the moist droplets persist on surfaces. 7) Plague is another ancient human disease which has been exploited as a potential bio-warfare agent, despite having been largely eradicated in the modern world. Plague is a bacteria which should respond to antibiotic but PNEUMONIC PLAGUE, like the inhalation version of anthrax, can be rapidly overwhelming to the body. BUBONIC PLAGUE has a more focalized presentation, in the famous "buboles," products of immune response, presented as hard bumps under the skin. 8) These threats are actual "disease" agents and do not include the wide range of "chemical" agents which are also still in existance as remnants of the prolonged arms race of the superpowers during the previous two decades. Chemical agents which could be a threat to the modern populace include VX nerve gas, for which one would need IMMEDIATE administration of ATROPINE, preferably by injection. Sarin gas is another chemical weapon. In any setting where people suddenly faint, especially in large number, cover your face with your shirt, hold your breath and use what oxygen and presence of mind you have left to get out of the area immediately. DO NOT PANIC. Enter nearby buildings or unlocked vehicles to find fresh pockets of air. 9) Unless you are trained and fully engaged, such as military or Emergency Medical personnel who are "first responders," it is unlikely you would protect your life by having a gas mask or other protective bio-gear. Keep a battery radio available, with extra batteries. During a normal day, if you are isolated in your work, it may be a good idea to check radio or television for alerts. 10) Ask yourself what you can do to heighten respect for life and diminish the possibility that some terrible scenario will emerge. Simple kindness and love of living things may be more infectious than all these horrible poison cups together. We can only hope. Now relax and celebrate life! |
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| yodalayhey@yahoo.com 5 December 2001 Revised 15 Jan 03 (c) Etta B Dickerson 2003 |
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| ...see the movie, OUTBREAK |
| ...read the book...1947 classic fiction by Albert Camus, THE PLAGUE |
| ...pray... |
| Skin exposure to nerve agents is a bit less serious than inhaled gas, so don't let panic overwhelm you...expect muscle twitching as a minimal response to skin exposure...wash it off immediately! Pour any drink available over exposed skin to help neutralize...VX gas and other nerve agents will persist on exposed clothing, on surfaces, and in the general environment where released for up to several days. Remove exposed clothing carefully. Re-enter scene only in protective gear. |
| Quick Checklist: Non-perishable food Bottled water Antibiotics Radio with batteries Important papers & valuables organized Plan for your pets Leave medical instructions on your fridge |
| ...the most persistant viruses in human history, such as smallpox, have traveled well even on blankets... |
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| ANTHRAX spores are naturally rugged and persistant. |