Anthrax impact: little harm, but a lot of fear

And so, while the chances that the average American will be exposed to anthrax are still "extremely unlikely," Stern says, "the whole country is feeling jittery - even though, mostly, we're talking about talcum powder."

Powder is by far the most effective way to distribute anthrax, according to experts, although there can be wide variation in what that powder looks like.

"You will typically see it in some sort of powder or dried-down form," says Calvin Chue, a research scientist at the Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "But whether it's white or clear or brown and smelly, depends on how good the group has been in trying to purify it."

This variation has made any and all granular substances suddenly seem like potential weapons to many Americans.

Last weekend, a United Airlines flight was grounded for three hours after a passenger opened a gift card that contained confetti. The man was escorted off the plane, stripped of his clothing, and sprayed with detergent.

A Denver post office was evacuated last week after an envelope broke open, spilling white powder. Four workers were decontaminated, and the substance was rushed to a lab - where it was found to be vanilla-pudding mix.

On a more serious note, the nation has become more vulnerable to hoaxes. On Monday, Planned Parenthood reported that 90 of its clinics and offices in 13 states had received threatening letters containing an unidentified powdery substance. Initial tests have come back negative for anthrax, although more are being conducted.

Anthrax hoaxes are nothing new, experts point out. "In the years preceding this, there were literally hundreds of hoaxes involving anthrax across the country," says Amy Smithson, director of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Project at the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington. About one-third of these hoaxes came from antiabortion groups.

But perhaps never before have they been so disruptive. During a recent 24-hour period, New York City officials responded to no fewer than 100 calls. In the worst-case scenario, says Stern, hoaxes are not only "extremely expensive to respond to, but they could actually result in lost lives."

Many are calling on law enforcement to crack down on hoaxes.

Yesterday, on ABC's "Good Morning America," New York's Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the FBI had arrested two people who had sent hoax anthrax letters, and that they would be prosecuted fully. "People doing that now really are creating enormous problems for the police and the FBI," he said.

Emergency responders will also have to develop better procedures for weeding out false alarms, say experts, although they warn that this could take some time.

"We're in a period of adjustment," says Stern. "What is happening in the United States is that we're having to learn to live with a level of risk that we're not accustomed to. And it's going to take a while before we figure out how to deal with this."

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