Breaking news from St. Louis....

Fox News is reporting some breaking new out of St. Louis. Several people in two area emergency rooms have reported breathing a strange substance that has turned them blue and induced difficulty in breathing. The emergency rooms have been shut down and have gone into emergency mode. I can't find anything about this on the internet yet, not even Fox News has posted it at this time. I find this situation interesting since it is in the city in which my grad school is located and in one of my classes we are discussing emergency room disaster plans and responses to chemical/biological agents. So another interesting situation to watch....

post script

The anthrax 'scare' turned out to be a non-event. A threatening letter and some questionable crumbs were conflated into the idea that there was a danger of anthrax. The workers in New Hampshire, having heard about the first incident, saw a letter postmarked from the same city and immediately assumed they were being targeted also.

Talk about timing!

I was sitting at my desk printing off the syllabus for one of my classes in Biosecurity and looking at FEMA's website a little bit earlier when Fox News had a News Alert. What is known at this point is that a couple of John McCain's campaign workers were opening mail at an office in Denver when they came across an envelope that contained "white powder" and a threatening letter. Not long after that another campaign office in Manchester, New Hampshire reported the same thing.

So I'm sitting there with my jaw hanging open looking at some of the assignments on the syllabus while listening to the news. This is for my Public Health and Disasters class: For the final we are to write a paper in which we assume a scenario about a bioterrorism attack in an office building and describe the roles and responsibilities of various levels of Public Health authorities. I'm watching what could be the real thing playing out in real time. It seems likely that the white powder will turn out to be something innocuous and not anthrax as is feared but of course emergency personnel have to assume the worst. So I'm watching this whole thing unfold with an interest as to how officials go about investigating the area, taking care of those who came into contact with the powder, and how the building is cleared.

Is it just me or.....

is there an increase in reports about terrorism? Of course, since 9/11 terrorism has had a prominent place in the news, but lately it seems the news outlets are reporting on terrorism even more. Perhaps it's the upcoming presidential election and thoughts of who will be tougher on terrorism? Perhaps there is much more 'chatter' being detected? Or, perhaps I'm just paying more attention to the news.

At any rate, I'll be posting more on this blog. Next week I'll begin working on a Master's in Biosecurity and that means lots and lots of reading and writing! I love school. Really, I do. I'll use this blog to work out my thoughts and record ideas concerning bioterrorism.

See ya soon.