This is a perfect example of why we need federal standards regarding
bio-terrorism and chemical terrorism.


 Is this sound advice? This the first time that I have heard of these
standards regarding the anthrax scare.


The following news story from a local paper contains a statement from a
health department official in Colorado that advises people to dispose of
suspicious mail by putting it into a plastic bag and throwing it away or
soaking it in bleach water. Concerns are as follows: What if the unopened
mail does contain powder or other substances that are not easily detected by
the citizen? What if this letter or package does contain anthrax and is
forced open by the pressure of the trash compacter and the substance is
released and distributed into the air? Our authorities should be the
judges of whether or not letters and packages need to be decontaminated, not
the citizen soaking it in bleach water. Shouldn't all suspicious mail be
reported and evaluated by the authorities in order to track criminal
activity?

Here is the quote and the complete story is below.

(If people receive mail they don't want to open and seems a little
unusual, they should put in a Ziploc bag and throw it away. If
suspicions over a letter or package involve no more than a strange
address, no stamps or an odd appearance, soak the items in a 1-to-10
solution of bleach and water, put them in a Ziploc bag and throw them
away. The bleach will decontaminate any organisms.)

Saturday October 13, 2001
What to do with suspect mail

By KAREN VIGIL
The Pueblo Chieftain




Reports of a New York anthrax case and a Denver anthrax scare Friday
triggered a deluge of calls to the Pueblo City-County Health Department
and sister agencies statewide, according to Dr. Chris Nevin-Woods.

Nevin-Woods, who heads the department, said callers want to know how to
protect themselves from anthrax believed to have been spread through
packages or letters sent by mail.

Nevin-Woods met with Sheriff Dan Corsentino and Police Chief Jim
Billings to come up with guidelines to help people cope with such
potential bioterrorism threats.

Law enforcement and health officials hope the public will take a
common-sense approach in gauging whether a letter or package is a little
unusual or warrants attention by health department and law enforcement
officials, she said. Officials want to be able to respond to
bioterrorism threats and regular calls without resources being
unnecessarily strained by what are obviously hoaxes.

Nevin-Woods said people should evaluate their junk mail in the context
of what they usually receive from nonprofit organizations and
businesses.

With help from Corsentino and Billings, she gave the following examples
of how people should deal with suspect letters or packages:


If people receive mail they don't want to open and seems a little
unusual, they should put in a Ziploc bag and throw it away. If
suspicions over a letter or package involve no more than a strange
address, no stamps or an odd appearance, soak the items in a 1-to-10
solution of bleach and water, put them in a Ziploc bag and throw them
away. The bleach will decontaminate any organisms.

If the letter or package "looks more suspicious” or one feels powder
inside the item, people should not open the item. Instead, they should
call the police or sheriff's office for item pick up. People also can
Ziploc the item and drop it off to law officers.

If people think they have been exposed to anthrax or think they have
received a package with suspected anthrax in it, they should immediately
contact their private physician, the health department and call 911.
People should wash their hands with soap and water and isolate the
suspicious letter or package so they have no further contact with it.

Other indicators of biological, chemical or bomb threats, according to
the FBI, include oil stains, discolorations or crystallizations on
wrappers, listing the wrong title with a name, a strange odor, a rigid
or bulk feel, a lopsided or uneven feel, protruding wires, misspelled
words, addressed to title only or an listing of an incorrect title, a
badly typed address and excessive tape or string.

If a bomb threat is suspected, call 911; for a possible radiological
threat, one should not handle the item and limit exposure to it and call
911 and the FBI.

In scenarios, Nevin-Woods said, when people simply are not sure how to
deal with suspicious mail, they should call police or sheriff's
deputies.

Nevin-Woods said she wants people to know that government agencies
across the state and nation are working together on bioterrorism
threats.

The agencies include local health departments, the Colorado Department
of Public Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control.

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