Dear Homefront Guy:
I just opened a package at my office with a note inside telling me that the package has anthrax in it and that I am now infected. What should I do?
Don’t panic. Easy for me to say, I know, but the overwhelming majority of threats like that are hoaxes. The US Postal Service says that in 1999 and 2000, there were 178 anthrax threats by mail and that not one of them was real.
If you receive a package or letter containing a threat, immediately put it down, tell everyone to leave the vicinity of the package, and have someone call the police and the US Postal Inspection Service. You and anyone else who handled the package should wash your hands with soap and water. When police, Postal
Inspection and health department officials arrive, you may be asked to give them your clothing, further evidence that no matter what the circumstance, clean underwear is a must.
If an inspection of the package shows that you were in fact exposed to anthrax, you’ll have to take antibiotics. If treatment is begun promptly, anthrax is curable. And fortunately for the people around you, anthrax isn’t contagious. Smallpox, another alleged bioterror weapon of choice, is another story. Although the disease was declared “eradicated” in 1980, the former Soviet Union kept stockpiles of it for use as a biological weapon. There’s a vaccine to prevent it, but smallpox is incurable once it’s contracted. It’s also highly contagious and can be spread from person to person or via infected objects such as clothing. According to WebMD.com, 30 percent of people who contract smallpox die of it and survivors are often left with permanent scars.
The US Postal Service has a list of tips to help people identify and hopefully avoid “suspicious” parcels. First of all, if a package is unexpected or from someone with whom you are unfamiliar, don’t open it if you can avoid it. Also avoid opening packages or letters that have no return address or are of unusual weight given their size or appearance. I also suggest avoiding packages with the return address “O. bin Laden, c/o al Qaeda, Kandahar, Afghanistan.”
US Postal Inspection Service – http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/
Centers For Disease Control And Prevention: Health Topics A to Z –
http://www.cdc.gov/health/diseases.htm
This article appears in Oct 17-23, 2001.
