Bioterror back, but panic is not

As the nation's capital once again responds to what may have been a bioterror attack, one element from the anthrax scare that surfaced two years ago is largely missing: panic.

True, the anthrax spores that were found in letters mailed to news outlets and to the Senate majority leader in 2001 surfaced just after the 9/11 attacks, when the nation was still on edge, and they did end up killing five people.

But this week's discovery of possible small amounts of ricin - a deadly poison - in the mailroom of Senate majority leader Bill Frist hasn't evoked the mass evacuations and national paroxysms of the earlier attacks. Though three Senate office buildings remained closed Tuesday while authorities awaited conclusive results that the white powder was, in fact, ricin, the capitol remained open and committee hearings proceeded. Other than an inhospitable sleet that slowed morning traffic, Washingtonians seemed largely unfazed.

One reason, in addition to ricin being less lethal and contagious than anthrax, is a better-educated public and now familiar emergency procedures. "The government tried to educate people about it," says Juliette Kayyem, an expert on terrorism at Harvard University's Kennedy School. "The consequences of that [education] could explain the lack of public hysteria."

For one thing, she says, the government explained to Americans how difficult it is to cause large-scale deaths through such attacks - and even illnesses. Moreover, it is likely, as in the anthrax case, that the attack was homegrown and not a result of international terrorism.

Still, just the presence of such a substance in a senator's office is cause for concern. After the anthrax investigation, procedures were established to prevent such attacks. All mail, for example, is radiated. But that would not affect ricin, which is a biotoxin, not a bacteria or virus.

Officials caution it is too early to draw conclusions. For instance, it isn't yet clear whether the substance was sent through the mail. And at presstime, officials were trying to confirm their initial findings that the powder is ricin. The tests were being performed at the US Army's Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMARIID) at Fort Detrick, Md.

Still, the episode has parallels with the 2001 anthrax attacks, which caused major disruptions on Capitol Hill, closing Senate mailrooms for extended periods.

There are also significant differences between the two events. For one thing, ricin is not considered as deadly as anthrax, although there is no antidote or vaccine. The US Centers for Disease Control ranks it as a "B" class weapon, a serious threat, but not as deadly as class "A" weapons such as anthrax.

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