Posted on 09/12/2002 5:56:05 PM PDT by honway
Sen. Leahy: West Nile Outbreak Could Be Terrorism
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy, D-Vt., said Thursday that he suspects the recent outbreak of West Nile virus that has killed more than 30 Americans across the nation this summer is the work of terrorists.
"I think we have to ask ourselves, is it a coincidence that we're seeing such an increase in West Nile virus. Or is that something that is being tested as a biological weapon by the terrorists?" Leahy said in an interview with WKDR (Burlington, Vt.) radio host Mark Johnson.
"There are some people who, credibly, feel [the West Nile outbreak] is a test of our defenses and is a biological weapon."
Just as host Johnson attempted to grill the Vermont Democrat on his West Nile theory, the interview was interrupted by coverage of President Bush's address to the United Nations.
"I've never heard anybody mention West Nile virus as being a possible terrorist attack. What makes you say that?" the Vermont radio talker asked.
"It may be coincidence, the sudden increase [of West Nile cases]. Some of the same people who have ...," Leahy began to explain, just as WKDR broke in for coverage of the Bush speech.
Leahy unveiled his concerns about West Nile terrorism while recounting the anthrax attacks of last fall, when his Senate office was targeted by a weapons-grade sample of the deadly bioweapon.
West Nile virus confirmed in Chicago burbs
"The virus first appeared in New York in 1999 and has since been detected in 28 states, as far west as Iowa, Louisiana and Missouri."
Salman Pak: In 1985, the CDC sent three shipments of West Nile Fever virus to Iraq for use in medical research. Valerie Kuklenski, "Western Firms Supplied Iraq with Chemical Weapons," UPI, October 2, 1990.
"Guts" and "Senator Leaky" are words seldom found together in the same sentence or in close proximity in real life.
Could be terrorism, but more likely it's the result of open borders that is allowing unscreened visitors into the country who may be infected. If that's the reason, Leahy or anyone else in Congress will ever admit it.
Yup. (POS), piece of s---, is more common.
SADDAM HAS ALREADY ATTACKED US WITH BIOWEAPONS NEWSMAX ^ | 10/25/01 | DAVE EBERHART
Posted on 09/05/2002 12:10 PM Pacific by Al Simmons
Saddam Connection: West Nile Virus the First Bioweapon? Dave Eberhart Thursday, Oct. 25, 2001
Lost amidst the news about the bioterror use of anthrax is the growing menace of West Nile virus – and evidence it may have been the first bioweapon used by Iraq against the U.S.
In fact West Nile kills spotted owls and other "protected" species as well as humans....
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy, D-Vt., said Thursday that he suspects the recent rash of Judicial nomination blockades that have killed the chances of more than 30 highly qualified Americans across the nation to have their vote in the Senate is the work of terrorists and their supporters.
With winter coming on you'll at least catch a break for a while anyway. It's one of the few times people will be grateful for the cold weather.
But he'll need a lot more than that to make anything approaching a rational, intelligent case. Right now I see little more than the "AIDS was invented to kill off the blacks" level of thought leaking from the lips from Sen. Leaky.
West Nile virus was first isolated from a febrile adult woman in the West Nile District of Uganda in 1937. The ecology was characterized in Egypt in the 1950s. The virus became recognized as a cause of severe human meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the spinal cord and brain) in elderly patients during an outbreak in Israel in 1957. Equine disease was first noted in Egypt and France in the early 1960s. The first appearance of WN virus in North America in 1999, with encephalitis reported in humans and horses, and the subsequent spread in the United States may be an important milestone in the evolving history of this virus.
Starting the two-day effort on Sunday, an insecticide called Anvil will be sprayed by licensed mosquito abatement technicians using 18 trucks from the Roselle-based Clarke Mosquito Control. The spraying effort will cost the city $500,000, city Public Health Department Deputy Commissioner Dr. William Paul said Friday at a Department on Aging Facility, 2102 W. Ogden Ave.
Starting at dusk on Sunday to dawn on Monday, the area bounded by the city limits to the north, North Avenue on the south, Kimball Avenue on the east, and Kilpatrick Avenue on the south will be sprayed.
During that time, the area bordered by 87th Street on the north, the city limits on the south, Stony Island Avenue and Torrence Avenue on the east and the city limits on the south also will be sprayed.
On the second night, again from dusk on Monday to dawn on Tuesday, trucks will disperse the insecticide over the area bounded by Northwest Highway on the north, North Avenue on the south, Kilpatrick Avenue on the east, and the city limits on the west.
Also Monday night, spraying will occur on the land bordered by 55th Street on the north, 87th Street on the south, Stony Island Avenue on the east, and the city limits on the west.
The last time the city sprayed neighborhoods was in the mid-70s when the outbreak of St. Louis encephalitis occurred, Paul said.
If this gets picked up by the major media, the political ramifications could be AWESOME!
And yet, I'm confused I guess. It's one thing when some people chatter and speculate about things like this in a bar over a beer, or in a university class. Coming from a highly placed government official gives it a stamp of legitimacy.
Coming from a Democrat, just over a month before a major election, it's just shocking! If this is picked up by the wires, he's just handed the senate to the right! This country will turn into a nation of hawks with a capital H! They'll all be demanding Hussein's head on a platter and anyone who votes against it will be not elected/recalled.
This could REALLY stir up the pot!
I remember running, many times, with lots of other kids, in the fog that followed after the "mosquito sprayer man," in the 50's in suburban Chicago.
Bring back DDT.
In this area (SE Mass), we had a lot of WestNile virus in birds last year. Mosquito spraying is a regular event here when there's any disease danger, and that spraying kept it from being a huge human problem. This year, because of drought, we don't have a problem...no mosquitoes!
I can't believe the spraying wasn't done much earlier in Chicago (and other places) when it was so effective in infected areas last year.
To call it terrorism is pretty silly. The virus has spread in a pretty predictable fashion from its start a few years ago.
Indexing for later ...
g
I am here to learn. To my knowledge, there has never been a completely foreign mosquito borne virus that has completely swept across the U.S. in three short years. Have there been any computer models exploring bird migratory patterns to substatiate the theroy that this was spread exclusively by birds? I know mosquitos remain generally within 300 yards from the location where they are hatched during their entire lifespan. How this spread so quickly concerns me.
If you could identify a similiar occurrence, I would appreciate it.
You have identified a concern I have. Mosquito control trucks and airplanes were a rare event prior to the West Nile virus, now it is common place in our population centers.
Either planes or trucks used in a biological weapons attack could easily pass as a mosquito control operation. Just as an airborne weapon of mass destruction flying down the Hudson River could pass as a passenger jet.
Please see my #27.
I may be the only one in America that is overestimating the diabolical capability of a man that engineered an operation that brought down two of the tallest man made structures on the planet with two hijacked passenger planes.
Ya know, I did run across this the other day in that Scotsman article (compilation really) of what Iraq has in the way of WMD. Pretty interesting I think.
Godspeed
I wasn't expressing any concern or fear of the mosquito control trucks and airplanes...I was writing that the spraying has been very effective.
As far as this virus goes...at first it was probably under-reported. Now, there is some speculation that it might spread through blood transfusions and organ transplants.
This isn't terrorism. Just don't let mosquitoes bite you. And if you see pools of stagnent water, or old tires and rusty things, clean it up.
Atta and Moussaoui spent a considerable amout of time investigating crop dusting operations.
Since Atta already had his mission, his research on crop dusters must have been for another terrorist operation.
Weapons inspectors in Iraq discovered Saddam Hussein had developed a means of distributing biological weapons using "crop duster" type dispensing equipment. In fact,of all his potential delivery methods, the inspectors determined this equipment used on helicopters was Saddam's most efficient method.
Iraqi lab evidence elusive
U.S. analysts try to prove rumors of weapons site
By Joby Warrick
The Washington Post
"Wednesday, July 31, 2002 - WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence analysts have been closely examining satellite images of the west bank of the Tigris River in Baghdad for signs of a laboratory rumored to exist there. Called Tahhaddy, or "Challenge," the lab is purported to have 85 employees and a top-secret mission: making biological weapons for Iraq's military.
Details about the lab have trickled out of Iraq in recent months in accounts from defectors and Iraqi exiles opposed to President Saddam Hussein. They tell of underground test chambers, heavy security and a viral strain code-named "Blue Nile," which sounds suspiciously like the Ebola virus."
-------------------------------------------------------
I accept that West Nile may not have been a trial run by the Iraqi biological weapons program. But evidence suggests he has a biological and chemical weapons arsenal at his disposal. Does anyone doubt that Saddam Hussein will use this arsenal if his regime is on the verge of being changed? Isn't it reasonable to assume if he spent billions developing the weapons, he spent some time considering a delivery system?
My view is that when we resettled over 15,000 Iraqi refugees in the U.S, including former Iraqi soldiers, at the conclusion of the last Gulf War, we also resettled Saddam's delivery system.
I hear you, and to be honest with you, the thought had crossed my mind until I learned a little more about West Nile
I am under the impression that the spread of this virus so quickly that was first identified in 1999, is unprecedented. Is that bad information? Do you know of a similiar case?
Also: "Skinner, the CDC spokesman, said the cycle of the disease and its transmission — from mosquitoes to birds and to people — is what one would expect with West Nile. "All of that points to this being a naturally occurring outbreak," he said."
Why wouldn't a bio terrorist weapon rely upon "natural" cycles? The terrorists couldn't come up with a better way to hide the act AND the cycle continues....."
It is said that WN can not be spread from person to person, we in Canada has however had some cases of WN in birds last year, this year we have had a few people diagnosed, but they are going to be fine, Manitoba has had 4 horses dying of WN.
Most at risk, are people with compromised immune systems, such as AIDS sufferers, older and frail people, and very young children........ DON'T FORGET TO USE MOSQUITO REPELLANTS.
Pigeons would be the most likely means of introducing the virus into the mosquito and bird population, IMO.
It is common for people to own pigeons. Anyone handling a sigificant number of crows, blue jays or any other species would draw attention from neighbors.
The 1999 Introduction of the West Nile Virus to North America
West Nile has been isolated from pigeons in Egypt, turtledoves in Turkey and wild bird species in Borneo, Cyprus, and Nigeria. Crows experimentially infected with WN showed high mortality. In nature, some crows must survive infection since antibody-positive individuals are often captured. A domestic pigeon infected with WN and showing clinical signs of illness was captured in Egypt. Domestic pigeons are abundant in urban settings and may prove to be particularly important in epidemics such as that observed in NYC during the summer of 1999
County says dead pigeon had West Nile
By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 14, 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hernando County's first case of West Nile virus -- in an animal, not a human -- was confirmed Thursday by the county Health Department.
On Aug. 17, a dead rock dove (a domestic pigeon) found near Mariner and Elgin boulevards in Spring Hill was sent to the Florida Department of Health laboratory for testing, and results came back positive for the West Nile virus.
I appreciate "news".
How many people?
How much territory was effected and in what time interval?
Your doubts are appreciated, and facts to support your doubts would be appreciated even more. For example, do you have any documented cases of a mosquito-borne virus that was completely unknown to exist in the U.S that in three years swept across the country.
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