RE: Anthrax question

["Hidalgo, Dr Oscar" <OscarH@marybird.com>]

Suddenly I felt like writing a comment.  I wonder what happened to the guy

that prepared the anthrax envelopes.   He must be well versed in aseptic

techniques, or he is dead by now. 





Oscar Hidalgo-Salvatierra, Ph.D., DABR

Radiation Safety Officer

Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center

Baton Rouge, LA 70809



Oscarh@marybird.com <mailto:Oscarh@marybird.com> 

Hidalgo1@home.com <mailto:Hidalgo1@home.com> 







	-----Original Message-----

	From:	Chuck Cooper [SMTP:ccc@pp.pdx.edu]

	Sent:	Saturday, October 27, 2001 8:49 PM

	To:	maury; radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

	Subject:	Re: Anthrax question



	That is one of the problems, there is no baseline for detectable

anthrax in

	people because there has been no good reason to study it. In

metropolitan

	areas away from livestock one would expect it to be very very low.

In ranch

	country one might find a spore or two on a dry windy day. Much of

the

	livestock in the US is routinely vaccinated for Anthrax so even in

the cattle

	rustlin west it would be a rare find I would imagine.



	I asked the head of our biology department about the presence of

Anthrax

	spores in downtown Portland soil, he said sure, how hard do you

really want

	to look?



	maury wrote:



	> Radsafers knowledgeable about anthrax,

	>

	> Is there just a wee possibility that we are finding anthrax spores

	> "everywhere" because only now are we looking everywhere for them?

Given

	> that dormant spores commonly are in soil worldwide, does anyone

know the

	> likely result if a national random sample of 1000 nasal swabs were

	> checked for the presence of anthrax spores? (And please, we do

know that

	> the poor fellow who had his nose swabbed 1000 times will have an

awfully

	> sore nose.) When were mail rooms or post office handling units

last

	> checked for anthrax - or for any number of other organisms with

which we

	> are usually unconcerned ....?

	> Maury Siskel    maury@webtexas.com

	>

	>

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