Tularemia Attack in Washington on September 24, 2005

[Apoptosis]

When I was talking with friends tonight they were talking about the recent Tularemia attack that took place in September. I had no clue what they were talking about! Did you guys hear about the biological scare in Washington last month?

Here is a quote from Salon.com

On Sept. 24, 2005, tens of thousands of protesters marched past the White House and flooded the National Mall near 17th Street and Constitution Avenue. They had arrived from all over the country for a day of speeches and concerts to protest the war in Iraq. It may have been the biggest antiwar rally since Vietnam. A light rain fell early in the day and most of the afternoon was cool and overcast.

Unknown to the crowd, biological-weapons sensors, scattered for miles across Washington by the Department of Homeland Security, were quietly doing their work. The machines are designed to detect killer pathogens. Sometime between 10 a.m. on Sept. 24 and 10 a.m. on Sept. 25, six of those machines sucked in trace amounts of deadly bacteria called Francisella tularensis. The government fears it is one of six biological weapons most likely to be used against the United States.

Many in the press and military are saying that this was nothing more than somebody testing U.S. biological weapons defenses. I just want to know what they figured out, because reports are coming in now that have many people sick.

I really doubt that it was Osama or any of his followers because this took place at an anti-Bush rally, which wouldn't make sense... unless he expects us to think like that and really was the mastermind behind it all.

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What F. tularensis really is:

F. tularensis is a small Gram-negative aerobic bacillus with two main serotypes: Jellison Type A and Type B. Type A is the more virulent form. The causative agent of the disease was named after Dr. Edward Francis and the location where the organism was discovered, Tulare County, California. Tularemia is frequently spread by direct contact with rabbits, leading to the term "rabbit fever." However, the disease can also be spread by other animals, typically rodents, and by arthropods. It is a primarily rural disease that is found in all 50 states, except Hawaii.

Pathogenesis

Historical commentaries reference the virulence of the disease, indicating that people have been aware of pathogenicity of Francisella for thousands of years. However, there is still much to be learned about this extremely virulent organism. The disease can be contracted by ingestion, inhalation, or by direct skin contact. Tularemia occurs in six different forms: typhoidal, pneumonic, oculoglandular, oropharyngeal, ulceroglandular, and glandular. Clinical diagnosis can be difficult since the disease mimics a slough of other illnesses. Pathogenesis varies greatly depending on mode of infection.

Manifestations

The incubation period is about 3-5 days but it can take as long as two weeks for symptoms to appear. Symptoms vary based on mode of infection, but generally include fever, chills, joint and muscle pain, headache, weakness, and sometimes pneumonia. People who develop pneumonic tularemia experience chest pain, bloody sputum, and difficultly breathing. The disease is easily cured by antibiotic treatment.

Infected individuals are normally placed on a regimen of streptomycin or gentamycin for 10-14 days, so it does have a fix if you figure it out in time.

[-mogwai]

i didn't hear anything about it...

eerily reminiscent of times beach...

i think that it's perfectly logical for an islamist terrorist to do some biological warfare shiznit in an anti-bush rally because that'd be the easiest way to get the most americans affected. where else would you find hundreds of thousands of americans in close proximity of each other besides an anti-bush rally?

conspiracy theorists would say that it was the american government releasing it in an anti-bush rally in order to turn the bush/war haters into bush/war supporters...

[killswitch83]

Well, it's been said the most deadliest weapons on the face of the earth are those that aren't easily detected right away (symptoms I mean), and those are bio-weapons. If say China wanted to wipe us from the face of the earth and save the land and infrastructures for themselves, all they would have to do is unleash one of those things, and we would cease to exist. Another thing I would be concerned about is that there is rumored to be a secret lab underneath Hershey, PA where the three deadliest viruses in the world- only known as 97, 98, and 99 (named as the percent of people that would be decimated if exposed)- are held. If someone overseas somehow got wind of this, it would provide for a compromising situation (btw, the info came from a fairly reliable source, a source I couldn't take with a grain of salt). Scary scary stuff those things are made of.

[T-Shirt]

Seems most likely a 'natural' occurance.
since it is easily treated, with easily available drugs (CDC stockpiles large amounts of streptomycin and gentamycin, for this and other infectous outbreaks)
What it says more about, is that the monitoring system, and the response by homeland security is nearly worthless (I do realize the press is trying to make more out of this than it perhaps was)
Would the alert gone out more quickly (or even in time) had this been a agent more easily spread between humans? Were they (DHS) just waiting to see how severe it would be?
I don't want them spreading panic, but if they don't tell anyone (Doctors/health dept's) to watch for symtoms it's likely to be under diagnosed/treated.

Suppose it was some individual/group/agency (pro-bush) who wished to spread the rumor/feeling, that it was unsafe to protest in washington?
That is terrorism.

[killswitch83]

Yeah, almost like he's trying to form a dictatorship of totalitarian rule. Even his own party is imploding from within because of his antics. This would not surprise me, and the bad part is that we have 3 more years of him...I just hope there is something left of the US and our wallets after he's gone.

[LVCapo]

Back in the 50-60's the government would put flu strains and minor viruses into the food and water supply to test how things spread and what would happen.
I know i'd be pissed if someone was testing spread rates on me, but in the same breath I understand that these things can be necessary because a computer simulation isn't always going to tell you what will really happen.

[-mogwai]

Back in the 50-60's the government would put flu strains and minor viruses into the food and water supply to test how things spread and what would happen.
I know i'd be pissed if someone was testing spread rates on me, but in the same breath I understand that these things can be necessary because a computer simulation isn't always going to tell you what will really happen.

yup... they would do it in wells in remote areas. there's a ton of evidence to suggest that ebola AND aids (both the african and u.s. type... over time, they mutated and, now, there are 6 different types of the aids virus) are man-made (just like sars) and were tested in africa to see how effective they'd be if we needed to try biowarfare tactics. first, they (the world health organization and the cdc) spread it in africa by lacing it in a smallpox vaccine and then, a few years later, they got gay test subjects with hbv (hep b) in new york (i THINK it was in manhattan) and laced the hbv vaccine with a different form of aids. i'm pretty sure that the project was funded in 1969 and was implimented in, like, '72 or '76 or so. i can't remember.... it was in the '70s.

sars, on the other hand, wasn't made by us. sars, according to suggested evidence, was made by the chinese.... genetically engineered variation of orthomyxovirus (flu).

EDIT: i found this link... it explains the whole aids thing way better than i can http://www.rense.com/general67/viru.htm

even more recently, during the first gulf war, we used biological weapons that made thousands of our soldiers sick (gulf war syndrome). the government isn't owning up to the brilliant idea and doctors all over the world can't cure it. this was the basis for the made-for-tv movie, "thanks of a grateful nation" like 8 yers ago or so... i think it was on nbc or something.... i remember seeing commercials for it.

here's something on gulf war syndrome... http://www.biofact.com/gulf/

now that i think about it, it seems almost like gulf war syndrome could have been a man-made variation of L. pneumophilia (legionnaire's disease)...

my opinion? sars, aids, ebola, and gulf war syndrome are all as man-made as the keys on my keyboard. some of you might not agree, and that's fine we all have our opinions.

[LVCapo]

my belief is that Gulf War syndrome is a combination of all the crap they gave us before deployment. You wouldn't believe how much stuff our troops are given before being sent overseas.

[-mogwai]

hey, rich... i've been meaning to ask you... i've heard from a couple guys who were in the military that uncle sam puts a certain drug in the food in order for the soldiers not to start going around raping each other. i kinda thought it was bogus (based on the fact that women soldiers/marines/cadets are still raped from time to time... we just don't hear about it much.... also, because soldiers aren't exactly isolated as if it were prison), but i figured you might know.

i know that back in vietnam, merck medco manufactured and distributed ecstacy to the troops as an appetite supressant (it was called "MinD over MAtter"... mdma... even though mdma really stood for methylene dioxy methamphetamine) because we didn't have the food to send them after a while. but, this is different... they were saying that it's already premixed in with the food uncle sam sends to the chow line.... but, then again, these guys were from kentucky, so i take what they say with a grain of salt.

[LVCapo]

uh, never heard of that drug......seems like it would be put to good use in prison though.

The government used to do all kinds of research experiments on people.... some they fess up to, some they never will.
I think without a doubt the worst example is Agent Orange......of course it wasn't a drug, but it was sprayed on a lot of people and did cause a lot of damage

[-mogwai]

yeah, dioxin is some messed up stuff.... as times beach can attest.

[killswitch83]

my belief is that Gulf War syndrome is a combination of all the crap they gave us before deployment. You wouldn't believe how much stuff our troops are given before being sent overseas.

dude, you're right on the money with that one. My friend Ernie, who was in Desert Storm, was given the same round of crap you're talking about, and he has extremely high blood toxicity and severe nerve damage. I heard you guys were also given "shots" laced with components of Sarin and VX, and quite possibly trace amounts of Anthrax- I think those guys thought if you were exposed to it, the human body would adapt quickly enough to counteract the biological poisons and bacteria. I'm surprised my buddy didn't march himself into Fort Benning and blow it to smithereens. I don't know what got into the American govt then, but it really gets under my skin when I hear things like that......

[-mogwai]

what gets under my skin is when people fail to realize that governments do messed up stuff.... ALL of them.... that includes the united states. we're raised to believe that the united states government is our best friend all the time. it's all about power... and the breeding of hyperpatriotism is what keeps that structure standing.

[killswitch83]

Don't forget they have a massive control issue with its denizens. I see it as we're losing a lot of our rights that we shouldn't....really, the Founding Fathers would be rolling in their graves right now if they only knew the atrocities being mounted against our rights. People losing their property on a whim of a small business or any business for that manner. Trust me, if you've ever owned property or currently own property, you know what I'm talking about; it's a huge sense of freedom, and to think that's jeopardized by the ruling of an "activist" judge legislating from the bench (don't try to argue he wasn't because that's how the expansion of Eminent Domain happened, through the ruling of Kelo v. New London, where he ruled in favor of a business over a private property owner). I just don't understand why all this is happening: the gross inflation of fuel, groceries, and certain services- but it needs to stop, unless they want their people to rise up against them.

[Apoptosis]

When I was getting my B.S. Biology degree I did extensive research on serratia marcescens and what I found out about the history of it shocked me.

How do you like these facts:

In 1951 and 1952 the US Army conducted a study called "Operation Sea-Spray" to study wind currents that might carry biological weapons. They filled balloons with S. marcescens and burst them over San Francisco. However, shortly after the study area doctors noticed a significant increase in the cases of pneumonia and urinary tract infections. Since the 1960’s S. marcescens has been classified as an opportunistic human pathogen.

or

The U.S. Army did subject the New York City population to an experiment in the 1960s concerned with measuring saturation rates, or the amount of bacteria one would inhale at certain times, and in specific locations after the initial release. Light bulbs containing eighty-seven trillion bacilli each were dropped onto ventilation grates above the New York City subway system. It was deduced that within minutes exposed individuals were inhaling a million bacilli per minute, and were entirely unaware of it. Additionally, the subway trains created a vacuum of sorts that conveniently spread the bacilli throughout the system with little effort.

After this thread it almost makes me wonder if I got sick natuarally or if I am just part of some sick test for biological advancement.

[LVCapo]

I know why you are sick.... you are little girly man who lives on Sonic and parties with loose women!

[T-Shirt]

...... man who lives on Sonic and parties with loose women!

Sounds normal to me

[T-Shirt]

I am just part of some sick test for biological advancement.

Biological advancement.....No!
Military advancement....Most likely.
Sadly, "We, the people" are, but pawns in the game of politics.

[-mogwai]

Sadly, "We, the people" are, but pawns in the game of politics.

agree no matter what country we decide to live in, we'll run into the same damn thing... so, might as well stick with the one we know best, right?

[killswitch83]

I know why you are sick.... you are little girly man who lives on Sonic and parties with loose women!

yeah, and to quote ATHF (for those who watch Adult Swim, you know what I mean), "He eats his own farts" rofl ; j/k man, you're great Nate