Biological Agent-DC 9/24/05 -- Rabbit Fever

[nashvillebrook]

(this has been floating around since last nite. there's also a note in the DU thread that Bush was not in DC on the 24th, the day of the march, because he was doing a biological terror exercise. i haven't confirmed that, but thought it was interesting. -- brook)<br><br><br>UPDATE: Biological Agent-DC 9/24/05]<br><br>I have spoke with another source at the CDC. They have confirmed the<br>situation. I have updated list of symptoms and information as well as<br>the area it showed up in and the time frame of exposure. Health<br>officials are downplaying the risk but advise if anyone has the symptoms<br>to seek treatment immediately:<br><br>The agent Tularemia (that is the proper spelling) was detected in the<br>mall area of DC between the US Capital and the Lincoln Memorial (this is<br>per the Washington Post). Anyone in this area between 10am 9/24 and<br>10am 9/25 may have been exposed to low levels of the deadly bacteria.<br><br>The symptoms include: (per the CDC)<br>Headaches<br>Sudden Fever<br>Chills<br>Muscle and joint pain<br>increasing weakness<br>dry cough<br>swollen or painful lymph nodes<br>swelling around the eyes<br>ulcers on the skin or mouth<br>sour throat<br>trouble breathing or respiratory arrest<br>it can develop into pnemonia (bloody flem in that case) over time<br><br>Symptoms normally occur within 3-5 days of exposure but could occur all<br>the way up to 14. The CDC has advised October 5th as the day by which<br>if you have not developed symptoms you are in the clear and do not need<br>to be concerned.<br><br>It is not known to be transmittable from person to person, only through<br>direct exposure to the agent itself.<br><br>It is confirmed through blood or flem samples through laboratory tests<br>which may take up to 48 hours. In some cases it may be treated before<br>results are known.<br><br>It is treated through antibiotics, specifically tetrocycaline (may not<br>be spelled right).<br><br>Please be on the lookout for the symptoms and seek medical treatment if<br>you have them.<br><snip><br>==============================================<br><br><br><br>Here is the article the Washington Post has picked up about this<br>situation and information from the CDC on Tulameria. More than six<br>sensors in DC picked up the biological agent and only on the day we were<br>all there for the anti-war demonstration. This raises many questions<br>and we need a solid investigation into this incident.<br><br>From the Washington Post:<br><br>Biohazard Sensors Triggered<br><br>Mall Germ Levels Likely Not a Threat<br><br>By Martin Weil and Susan Levine<br><br>Washington Post Staff Writers<br>Saturday, October 1, 2005; Page B01<br><br><snip><br><br>Health authorities in the Washington area were notified yesterday that<br>the bacteria were found in and near the area between the U.S. Capitol<br>and the Lincoln Memorial, where crowds gathered Saturday for an antiwar<br>rally and a book festival. The notification, which came from federal<br>health officials, said that after the initial detection, subsequent<br>tests "supported the presence of low levels" of the bacteria. However,<br>officials also said they did not believe the findings posed a health<br>problem.<br><snip><br><br>Health officials said the usual incubation period for tularemia is less<br>than a week.<br><snip><br><br>Symptoms include fever, chills, headache, muscle ache, joint pain, dry<br>cough and conjunctivitis.<br><snip><br><br>But he said it was puzzling that the finding was from a day when the<br>Mall was packed with people.<br><br>"Why that day? That's what is not explained," Pane said. "It was just<br>this 24-hour period and none since."<br><snip><br><br>Tularemia is not spread from person to person. It can be contracted by<br>direct contact with the bacteria that cause it -- by swallowing them or,<br>if they have been suspended in air, through inhalation.<br><br>The germ that causes tularemia is considered a biohazard because it is<br>highly infectious and was tested in the 1960s by the United States as a<br>biological weapon. The disease is treatable with antibiotics but, if<br>left untreated, can be fatal. <snip><br><br>More than a half-dozen sensors operating from 10 a.m. Saturday to 10<br>a.m. Sunday -- at sites including the Lincoln Memorial, Fort McNair and<br>Judiciary Square -- detected the bacteria, Pane said he was told.<br><br>He said the CDC expected to notify hospitals nationwide as a precaution<br>because so many people came from out of town to the Mall last weekend.<br><br><snip><br><br>Authorities recommend that people who visited the Mall between 10 a.m.<br>Sept. 24 and 10 a.m. Sept. 25 should see a physician if they experience<br>symptoms.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4941928#4943536">www.democraticunderground...28#4943536</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[GDN01]

This is very disturbing. <p></p><i></i>

[glubglubglub]

Now that we know what the rules are, so to speak, regarding free speech and the likely actions taken against those who exercise it, telegraphing our moves in advance does seem pathetically stupid.<br><br>Of course, it only takes one or two infiltrators to ruin the surprise factor on a flash mob, but at least it leaves a shot at leaving the nasties 'knowing not the day or the hour'...<br><br>When them that make the rules break the rules there's no way to win playing by the rules unless there's an outside authority to appeal to, and I'm certainly not seeing that authority here.<br><br>----<br><br>GDN01: worst about this is if it's widespread amongst that crowd -- dunno what % came down with anything -- all the baddies have to do is comb the hospital intakes for tularemia to build a list pretty quick...and even those who don't have it are going to order bloodwork to make sure they weren't exposed. Wonder how many more severe but not really life-threatening illnesses could be used for 'tagging' the dissidents like this? <p></p><i></i>

[Starman]

Oh ...<br><br>My ...<br><br>God ...<br><br>What days we are living in, eh?<br>Would a hyperparanoid criminal insecurity state consider a very large, boisterous, disruptive, morally-outraged, rowdy group of anti-war demonstrators as a legitimate target of 'concern'?<br><br>The premise for-sure is damn chilling ...<br><br>That's not even considering the possibility that a hyper-vigilant private or rogue-member right-leaning fanatic self-declared 'defender' of America might be acting on their own initiative to take-care-of the 'liberal enemies' of the National Security State ...<br><br>Freaky.<br><br>THAT'S as much what the anti-war Peace and Justice movement is up against as the hurtful, hateful American warmongering profit machinerey-of-state of Global Imperialism that places concern for human lives waaaay after 'other' interests.<br><br>Too sad and tragic, even the possibility that outspoken American citizens calling for peace and accountability might be considered 'enemies' is yet another indication that 'democracy' is a collateral-damage victim of morally-contemptuous idealogues.<br><br>How many emotional, psychological 'hits' like this will the American Spirit have to weather?<br>Starman <p></p><i></i>

[glubglubglub]

if you haven't guessed I'm more of the 'the sheeple have saved their fate, but let's try to find a way to build a refuge for the 'awake' that will survive as things fall apart here' than the sort longing for a popular, masses-derived movement for social justice. That said, you do realize that the 'dirty hippies' meme is all it will take to quiet the cognitive dissonance in middle america over this: 'not only do those damn hippies still not wash, but they've got f*ing rabbit diseases too'...<br><br>I just can't see something obscure-but-useful-for-this like a rabbit virus falling into the hands of some halfassed 'patriot'...so assume either a state actor or a political agent with state connections, if that distinction's even worth making any more. <p></p><i></i>

[thumperton]

I'm not sure whether to believe that this is just a mechanism to corral us into taking the vaccines, or whether the flu is something we should really worry about. <p></p><i></i>

[Dreams End]

I'm sorry...I read the article and there seemed to be a little something missing...such as the:<br><br>ALARM THAT DC WAS APPARENTLY UNDER BIOLOGICAL ATTACK.<br><br>Did they offer any OTHER scenario that this organism could have been present in large enough amounts to trigger the alarms? Was there no quote from Homeland Security about how they are rushing into action to investigate?<br><br>I probably know the answer to those questions. <p></p><i></i>

[ZeroHaven]

Trace amounts of tulermia doesn't necessarily mean there was any kind of attack. Consider:<br><br>just how many people were there from the southwest? just how many of them brought stuff with them, possibly infected pets? <br>maybe somebody in the crowd had particles from rabbits, deer, squirrels, muskrat, or beaver on their clothes and hadn't washed them yet?<br><br>what I really want to know is...<br>Could a body who is a carrier sneezing cause it to be airborne?<br><br>I can't find the answer to this last question via searching. Considering how very little is said to have been detected, I'd say that any further reporting of the matter needs to be checked for 'panic attack' inducing verbiage.<br> <p><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a239/ZeroHaven/tinhat.gif"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--></p><i></i>

[thumperton]

what are you trying to say? <p></p><i></i>

[manxkat]

But, you know, Jeff Gannon was there.... so, shouldn't we expect he was given some sort of prophylactic? <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :eek --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eek.gif ALT=":eek"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br>Seriously, this is pretty damn worrisome....<br><br>Any connection between this and the stink in DC recently? And, I'm not talking about the usual stink from Capital Hill.<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[rocco322]

Thumperton and Zerohaven, both of you raised issues that are not relevant. First off this isn't a "flu". Secondly, the WP article states plainly that is NOT transferred person-to-person. It's contracted directly from the bio agent itself. <p></p><i></i>

[nashvillebrook]

sorry to post and run. saturday errands called.<br><br>from what i've read, this pathogen should not have been there. the sensors that scan for this stuff aren't looking for flu-bugs -- they look for weaponized bio-agents. six sensors detected the pathogen in trace amounts. wonder how much it takes to get sick? there's a lot more on the DU threads. people have found different projects that have been funded to study this agent. one was wiped out in new orleans. the university at austin texas was just funded for a study. there's some DU'ers who were at the march with sore throats. there's something to this story; what it is we aren't sure yet, but it doesn't look like doomsday, whatever it is. more like a signal in the noise. <p></p><i></i>

[Dreams End]

or a test run. <p></p><i></i>

[GDN01]

nashvillebrook - can you provide a link for that DU thread? It's impossible to find anything on that site!<br>I'd like to see what others are saying on the thread. <p></p><i></i>

[Starman]

Heyia GDNO1:<br><br>Check out:<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4941928#4943536">www.democraticunderground...28#4943536</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Starman <p></p><i></i>