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U.S. deploys monitors for germ attacks
From Jeanne Meserve
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Technicians began installing units Wednesday to monitor the release of biological weapons in the United States. The upgrades to the Environmental Protection Agency's air quality monitoring devices, which measure air pollution, will add the ability to detect anthrax, smallpox and other pathogens within 24 hours of their release. "The potential to save lives with this program is enormous" because authorities will be able to detect and respond to the use of biological weapons before people begin to get sick, said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. A Bush administration official said the first monitoring devices to be modified will be in New York, followed quickly by those in other major population centers. The administration has declined to say how many cities eventually will have germ warfare monitoring capabilities. But an official said the new program "will use many" of the 3,000 air quality monitoring devices that the EPA has across the country. U.S. officials said it will cost $1 million to set up the program, and the ongoing cost will be $1 million per city a year. The new monitors will not be able to spot the release of biological agents in closed areas such as subways nor would they have detected anthrax letters mailed in 2001 to the offices of congressional leaders on Capitol Hill. Officials would not say what additional pathogens the devices will be capable of monitoring besides smallpox and anthrax. The new monitors are derived from those used at the Salt Lake City Olympics, Johndroe said. They have undergone extensive testing and have a low rate of so-called false positives and false negatives, he said, adding that any positive results will be followed up with additional testing before a declaration is made of a biological weapons release. Development of the system was ramped up after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Johndroe said, and the installation under way is not linked to the possibility of hostilities with Iraq. "We prepare for all possibilities coming from all possible terrorist organizations or states," he said. While there is no credible information that indicates al Qaeda has been successful in obtaining biological weapons, "they clearly have designs on obtaining weapons of mass destruction, and we need to prepare for that," Johndroe said.
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