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"Finding out who got access to the anthrax could be  politically  explosive."

1. Investigators say anthrax strain was genetically modified
2. Huntingdon finds a new life in US

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1. Investigators say anthrax strain was modified
Cox News Service October 10, 2001
Sanjay Bhatt, Meghan Meyer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. BODY: Federal investigators believe the  strain of anthrax bacterium that killed Robert Stevens and  was found in the nasal passage of an American Media  co-worker was genetically modified, The Palm Beach Post has  learned. That doesn't necessarily mean the strain is more  lethal, because officials say it is sensitive to  penicillin. What remains unclear is how the strain was  modified. Although it could have been created in a  terrorist's bioweapons factory, it could also have been  produced in an academic or commercial laboratory for  research or be a natural mutation never seen. The strain's  name hasn't been made public. The FBI, which has opened a  criminal investigation, continued Tuesday to comb the  sealed-off Boca Raton headquarters of American Media Inc.  where Stevens worked as a photo assistant for The Sun, one  of the company's tabloid publications. Stevens died Friday  of inhalational anthrax, the first case in the United  States since 1978. Investigators found no evidence of the  germ Bacillus anthracis in Stevens' home, garden, fishing  spots, bicycle routes, social circle or two area grocery  stores where he shopped, officials said. His wife and  children have stopped taking antibiotics, are using his car  and are back in the family home. "What we have found at  this point in the investigation ... is that it is pointing  in the direction of something other than just a natural  exposure," said Barbara Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the  U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The data  is piling up for something else," she said, emphasizing the  agency is looking at every possibility. She said she had no  other details. The only spores found were on Stevens'  office keyboard and in the nasal passage of co-worker  Ernesto Blanco, who worked in the building's mailroom.

CDC's Reynolds confirmed it is the first known case in the  United States in which a person has been exposed to anthrax  in an office building. Most exposures have been in  laboratories or in factories containing contaminated wool  or animal hides. Anthrax cannot be passed from one person  to another. The strain of bacterium found in Stevens' body  matches the strain found on his keyboard and in Blanco's  nose, Dr. Jean Malecki, director of the Palm Beach County  Health Department, told a press conference. More than 770  employees, family members and construction contractors who  stood in line on Monday and Tuesday to have their noses  swabbed and to receive antiobiotics will have to return to  the county's health clinic for blood tests, officials said.  The blood drawing could take a week. A state lab in Miami  and a CDC lab in Atlanta each will test their blood to see  if they have elevated antibody levels _ a sign they may  have been exposed to anthrax or other germs. Dual testing  provides more confidence in the results. CDC's Reynolds  said its labs are working 24 hours a dayscreening the  samples. Results could be ready within days. Malecki told  reporters Tuesday that the anthrax strain found in Stevens  had been identified. When asked what it was, she replied,  "I'm not at liberty to say."

State health officials last week said the strain appeared  to be naturally occurring, but have backed away from that  statement. Blanco, whose condition has improved at Cedars  Medical Center in Miami, did not show anthrax's classic  symptoms, even though he was exposed, officials said. Tri  Rail told its riders that it was possible someone who had  anthrax had been on the train - Blanco rode it to work from  his North Miami home - and to call the county health  officials if they needed information. Pharmacies in Palm  Beach County reported increases in sales of antibiotics as  news of the anthrax scare spead. Ciprofloxacin, an oral  antibiotic that officials are using most to safeguard  against anthrax, was in greatest demand. "Whether we have  it in stock or not depends on when and where you go," said  Carol Hively, a Walgreens spokeswoman. "It seems to be  radiating from Boca Raton."

 The rush to buy Cipro wasn't noted in areas outside of  Palm Beach County, she said. The shortage is compounded  because physicians are prescribing up to 120 tablets for  patients when the normal request for a urinary tract  infection is about 20, Hively said. That troubles the  Florida Medical Association, which has formed a task force  to educate doctors about how to diagnose and treat  conditions caused by biochemical weapons. "We are concerned  that the indiscriminate use of antibiotics for such purpose  might cause adverse effects and can contribute to the  emergence of resistant strains of common infectious  diseases," said Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger, chair of the task  force. Officials told AMI employees they might have to take  antibiotics for up to 60 days. Experts weren't sure what to  make of investigators finding spores in the building. "I  think it's a biocrime, not bioterrorism," said Martin  Hugh-Jones, a Louisiana State Univesity epidemiologist who  heads a World Health Organization anthrax task force. "It's  like somebody went in with a pistol and shot up the office." Finding out who got access to the anthrax could be  politically explosive. "I study it all the time and we have  trouble getting cultures," Hugh-Jones said. "For Joe Blow  it would be very tricky."

 Bioterrorism experts have long worried about nations like  Iraq using anthrax on American civilians. U.S. intelligence  knew Saddam Hussein had anthrax weapons in 1995. And  Mohamed Atta, who lived in South Florida and is believed to  have crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the World  Trade Center on Sept. 11, met with an Iraqi intelligence  official. He also looked at cropdusters in Belle Glade days  before the Sept. 11 attacks. The case has sparked fear  across parts of Florida. Emergency officials responded to  calls around the state about suspicious powders being  mailed or delivered to homes and businesses. Firefighters  in suburban Fort Lauderdale were quarantined for 12 hours,  and officials closed a bank and law firm in Naples. Dozens  of people were sent to hospitals for tests, but there were  no reports of anyone becoming sick. "I could probably drop  a package of Sweet n' Low and evacuate this building,"  Collier County Emergency Management Director Ken Pineau  said. FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said there was no proof  that a letter mailed to AMI several weeks ago was the  source of the bacteria. The love letter to singer Jennifer  Lopez reportedly contained a powdery substance. Outside the  sealed-off AMI headquarters, Boca Raton Fire Rescue workers  who handle hazardous materials scrubbed down the hooded  white jumpsuits of health investigators and FBI agents  Tuesday as they exited. Lt. Frank Montilli said Fire-Rescue  expected to continue aiding the FBI at least until noon  today. Delray Beach police officers also helped guard the  periphery, which was cordoned off by police tape. In  Tallahassee, Gov. Jeb Bush again acknowledged concerns  about the anthrax problem and a terrorist backlash. "I know  our people are scared. There is an apprehension," Bush  said. "Times like this require leaders with a strong, yet  reasoned, sense of duty and responsibility."

 At a luncheon meeting of House Democrats, Florida  Secretary of Health Dr. John Agwunobi tried to reassure a  handful of worried legislators that health officials were  doing all they could. "How do you know if it's running  around this building or any building?" Rep. Irv Slosberg,  D-Boca Raton, demanded. "At this point in time, we don't  know," Agwunobi said. "We need to prepare the population  for what may happen in the future."

Sanjay Bhatt, Meghan Meyer and Jim Ash work for The Palm Beach  Post. E-mail: sanjaybhatt(at)pbpost.com;  meghanmeyer(at)pbpost.com; JimAsh(at)pbpost.com Staff  Writers Jim Ash, Antigone Barton, Noah Bierman, Dani  Davies, Kim Folstad, Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Mary McLachlin  and John Murawski, and Palm Beach Post wire services  contributed to this story.

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2. Huntingdon finds a new life in US
By DAVID FIRN and PATRICK JENKINS
Financial Times (London) October 10, 2001 

Huntingdon Life Sciences' decision to seek domicile in the US is a  high- profile loss for the UK life science sector, which  faces increasing hostility despite strong government  support. It is one of many that are finding the US more  welcoming to medical research. Many inside the industry say  the UK public has a schizophrenic attitude to  biotechnology. Most people want the benefits of new  medicines - even cures based on controversial stem cell  research - but there is widespread opposition to the animal  testing needed to ensure treatments are safe. Grahame  Bulfield, head of the Roslin Institute in Scotland that  created Dolly the cloned sheep, recently said Britain had  become "a hostile environment" for its agricultural  biotechnology work, although there was great enthusiasm for  medical research. He said the institute could be forced to  drop its agricultural research, even though it could have  addressed many of the food safety problems that concerned  consumers. An enlightened legal framework has made the UK  the best place to do cloning and stem cell research, which  uses cells from human embryos, but pharmaceutical companies  are increasingly shifting research to the US. Public  opinion is not the only factor. Pharmaceutical companies  are being drawn across the Atlantic because of increasingly  tight government controls on prices in Europe. The US  accounts for 40 per cent of the global pharmaceuticals  market by sales, but 60 per cent of profits. That has  created a bigger market for contract research organisations  such as HLS. Indeed, HLS itself says one of the main  reasons for its relocation is that it wants to be  considered more seriously. Its peer group of contract  research organisations - particularly those with animal  testing expertise - are all in the US. However, it does not  necessarily follow, analysts argue, that the outlook for UK  biotechnology as a whole is bleak. Julie Simmonds at Beeson  Gregory says: "Huntingdon is a bit of an oddball really.  

Its contract work in animal testing puts it in a different  ballpark from most other UK companies."

 If that fails to hearten UK company directors and  shareholders exposed to protestor action, regulatory reform  is at hand. Last week the Department of Trade and Industry  launched an accelerated consultation proposing that  directors' home addresses need not be published in company  registration documents. Stockbrokers and regulators at the  Financial Services Authority are examining a scheme -  likely to be in place this year - to make nominee  shareholdings independent of stockbrokers and thus entirely  anonymous.