WAR ON TERRORISM - UMass expert seeks to allay anthrax fears

BYLINE: PAUL EDWARD PARKER
DATE: 10-23-2001
PUBLICATION: Providence Journal Company
EDITION: Massachuse
SECTION: NEWS
PAGE: C-01

Chemistry professor explains why he describes the bacteria as a very poor weapon.

As anthrax grabs scary headlines, a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth scientist has words of advice for residents of Southeastern Massachusetts:

There is no real reason to be afraid of it, said Bal Ram Singh, a UMass chemistry professor. Anthrax is a very poor weapon. It can scare people, but it cannot do much harm. As long as people are alert to the possibility of anthrax, the disease can be caught early and effectively treated with antibiotics, Singh said.

Other than being more careful with their mail, Singh said people do not need to take any special precautions in their everyday lives. I wouldn't be worried, he said. I'm not taking antibiotic. I haven't even bought it, neither for me nor for my family.

For opening mail, Singh advises the use of scissors. I don't use a finger to open envelopes any more. Singh said that he cuts two sides of an envelope so he can look inside before opening it.

The point of using scissors is to open the envelope gently; the violent tearing by running a finger along one side could stir up anthrax spores, in the unlikely event they are in the envelope, and make them airborne. When spores become airborne, they are more dangerous because they can be inhaled, leading to the potentially deadly inhaled form of anthrax, Singh said.

If a letter proves suspicious, either because of its markings or because a white powder is found inside, Singh advises immediately and gently placing it on a stable surface, such as a table, leaving the room and calling the police.

Singh said that the white powder that has come to be associated with the threat of anthrax in letters is actually a non-toxic substance, Singh said. Anthrax spores themselves are tiny particles that are whitish to brownish. It's like grain, but they are much, much tinier. The white powder, which Singh did not want to identify, is used because it makes the spores fluffy, allowing them to become airborne.

Even then, someone would need a large dose - 10,000 spores to contract the inhaled form of anthrax, said Singh.

The less serious cutaneous, or skin, form of anthrax requires a smaller dose, only several hundred spores, to find their way into a cut or broken skin, to cause disease, said Singh. But skin anthrax is easily treated and not much of threat, he said.

Anthrax spores are not unusual in the world around us, Singh said. They are commonly present in soil, he said, adding that they can probably be found in most houses, but in concentrations too small to pose a threat. One or two spores in a kitchen is nothing because it cannot do any damage.

Anthrax spores are very hardy and can survive conditions, such as heat and dryness, that would kill other bacteria, Singh said. That is what makes anthrax attractive as a bioweapon, despite its relatively low effectiveness.

Although advising calm, Singh said that no one should become complacent, especially when encountering flu-like illnesses. If people become too lax, they may just think the flu will go away.

It can be difficult to tell the difference between flu and anthrax until the anthrax is at a life-threatening stage, Singh said. But people do not need to be concerned unless they see other evidence of an athrax attack. Those could include opening a letter with a suspicious powder inside or a large group of people, such as coworkers, contracting a cold at the same time, rather than passing it around the office over the course of a week or two.

Singh added that spores are the only threat; no one can catch anthrax from someone else. The one thing we can take some solace in is this is not contagious.

KEYWORDS: CRIMES; TERRORISM; DISEASES