Calling upon their own massive expertise in the field of 'germ warfare', the former Soviet Union says it is ready to assist the United States in coping with its Anthrax situation!

See article at:[url]http://www.globe.kz/eng/info/default.asp?news=598_19_wd[/url]

[b]Russia Offers [u]Calm[/u] Antidote to U.S. Anthrax Alarm[/b]

[i]Jon Boyle, MOSCOW (Reuters)[/i]

Russia is offering its anthrax antidotes and expertise to a United States gripped by anxiety over bioterrorism attacks, [b]but experts say Americans need more help coping with their fears rather than a mass vaccination program[/b].

For centuries Russia, where 15-20 people still contract anthrax each year, has lived with the bacteria that can cause skin rashes, flu-like symptoms, putrid sores and death in the most serious, but rare cases.

President Bush says there is as yet no evidence linking the U.S. anthrax outbreaks to Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born militant Washington blames for the devastating September 11 hijacked airliner attacks on the United States.

Experts and ordinary Russians have looked on the panic sweeping the United States — where one person has died after opening infected mail and a dozen others have been exposed to anthrax — with a mixture of consternation and some bemusement.

«We have big (vaccine) stocks, so if the Americans are short of them we will be able to help,» said Benjamin Cherkassky, a senior scientist at Moscow”s Central Institute of Epidemiology.

«But in my opinion we need to protect the Americans not from anthrax, but from the feeling of fear. I”m serious. Panic is even worse than the disease.

«In my opinion, there”s no point in launching a mass vaccination program,» added Cherkassky, one of Russia”s leading anthrax specialists.
A breakdown in veterinary procedures since the demise of the Soviet Union and a failure to vaccinate livestock in some parts of the Volga region and volatile North Caucasus has stymied efforts to eradicate the bacteria that cause anthrax.

Health Minister Yuri Shevchenko said on Monday Russia could help with medicines and vaccines, a know-how gleaned in part from Soviet-era germ warfare programs.

One institute in the Volga region city of Saratov has already offered help.

«We certainly welcome the spirit behind that offer, the spirit of solidarity,» U.S. ambassador Alexander Vershbow told a news conference. «And as the problem in the United States continues I wouldn”t exclude that we will be seeking assistance from our Russian friends.»

Eric The(SurfingTheMostEsotericSitesOnEarth)Hun[>]:)]

This brings something else to mind as well. The news reports that the CDC has done this or that, but they never say that the CDC is also home to one of America's Biological Warfare Labs.

Benjamin

Wonder if they had this antidote when they had their little weapons grade anthrax "mishap" in Sverdlovsk?!

DaMan

Take them up on their offer. They are not expecting it. Might get interesting.