DATE=JUNE 24, 1998
      TYPE= ENGLISH PROGRAMS FEATURE
    NUMBER=7-
     TITLE=BIOTERRORISM
    BYLINE=JANE HUGHES
 TELEPHONE=619-3926
  DATELINE=WASHINGTON
    EDITOR=NANCY SMART

CONTENT=

              (INSERTS AVAILABLE IN AUDIO SERVICES)

INTRO:   A RECENT NOVEL BEGINS ONE SPRING MORNING IN NEW YORK 
         CITY.  SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD KATE MORAN WAKES UP, FEELING 
         SHE IS CATCHING A COLD.  HOURS LATER SHE IS HAVING 
         VIOLENT SEIZURES AND FITS OF SELF-CANNIBALIZATION.  SOON
         AFTER THAT, SHE DIES.  WHEN SIMILAR GRUESOME DEATHS 
         OCCUR, THE U-S CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND 
         PREVENTION SENDS A PATHOLOGIST TO INVESTIGATE.  A 
         FEDERAL CRISIS FOLLOWS.  

         SOON AFTER READING RICHARD PRESTON'S NOVEL, "THE COBRA 
         EVENT," A FEW WEEKS AGO, PRESIDENT CLINTON ASKED 
         CONGRESS TO ADD 300 MILLION DOLLARS TO NEXT YEAR'S 
         BUDGET TO FIGHT BIOTERRORISM.  THIS REPRESENTS THE 
         LARGEST SINGLE SUPPLEMENT TO THE FEDERAL BUDGET 
         SPECIFICALLY TO BOOST CIVILIAN AND MILITARY DEFENSES 
         AGAINST SUCH TERRORISM.

         THE MOVE DOES NOT COME TOO SOON FOR MANY BIOTERRORISM 
         EXPERTS, WHO, JANE HUGHES REPORTS, HAVE LONG URGED THE 
         GOVERNMENT TO STRENGTHEN THE COUNTRY'S CAPABILITY TO 
         FOIL ATTACKS OF SUCH INFECTIOUS AGENTS AS ANTHRAX, 
         PLAGUE, HEMORRHAGIC FEVER AND BOTULISM TOXINS.

TEXT:    FORMER U-N WEAPONS INSPECTOR DAVID KAY BELIEVES 
         BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS ARE MUCH DEADLIER THAN CHEMICAL ONES.

TAPE:    CUT ONE - KAY  :29

         "ROUGHLY A THOUSAND TIMES MORE DEADLY THAN THE SARIN, 
         USED IN THE TOKYO SUBWAY, IS ANTHRAX -- A VERY COMMON 
         BIOLOGICAL WEAPON THAT THE IRAQIS POSSESS.  ALSO, 
         PSYCHOLOGICALLY, I THINK THEY ARE SCARIER FOR MOST 
         PEOPLE.  YOU DON'T GET THE ONSET OF SYMPTOMS USUALLY 
         UNTIL A DAY OR TWO DAYS LATER.  SO YOU DON'T KNOW YOU 
         HAVE BEEN EXPOSED, AND THAT'S GENERALLY TOO LATE TO 
         BEGIN TREATMENT.  THEY ARE TRULY FRIGHTENING."

TEXT:    AS ARMS EXPERT DAVID KAY SUGGESTS, IRAQ IS BELIEVED TO 
         HAVE STOCKPILED ANTHRAX.  HE EXPLAINS WHY IT IS 
         SOMETIMES CALLED "THE POOR MAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPON."

TAPE:    CUT TWO  -  KAY   :13 OR 21 

         "IT'S BECAUSE OF THE LETHALITY AND THE EASE OF PRODUCING
         IT.  FOR EXAMPLE, ONE BACTERIUM OF ANTHRAX, EASILY 
         OBTAINED, IN 20 HOURS, WILL PRODUCE 1.1 MILLION IN A 
         FERMENTATION PROCESS.  (OPT) FOR EXAMPLE, IN NUCLEAR 
         WEAPONS, WHICH I HAVE SPENT FAR MORE OF MY LIFE WITH, 
         THAT EASE JUST DOESN'T EXIST, THANK GOODNESS."  (END 
         OPT)

TEXT:    BRAD ROBERTS HEADS AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE CHEMICAL
         AND BIOLOGICAL ARMS CONTROL INSTITUTE. HE SAYS, WHILE 
         HUNDREDS OF BACTERIA AND VIRUSES ARE HARMFUL OR FATAL TO
         HUMANS, ONLY A FEW OF THEM ARE ACTUALLY USABLE AS 
         WARFARE AGENTS. THIS, HE EXPLAINS, IS BECAUSE TO BE 
         "WEAPONIZED," THEY HAVE TO BE PLACED INTO AEROSOL 
         SPRAYS, SO THEY CAN BE TAKEN INTO THE LUNGS OF INTENDED 
         VICTIMS, WHERE THEY MUST RETAIN A HIGH LEVEL OF 
         LETHALITY. 

         MR. ROBERTS BELIEVES THAT, ALTHOUGH THE POSSIBILITY OF 
         LARGE-SCALE BIOLOGICAL ATTACK IS REAL, IT IS NOT VERY 
         LIKELY.

TAPE:    CUT THREE -  ROBERTS  :25

         "THE WORST CASE IS CONCEIVABLE, WHICH IS TO SAY, A 
         TERRORIST WHO UNLEASHES LARGE NUMBERS OF BIOLOGICAL 
         WEAPONS OVER A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME AND COULD KILL, 
         QUITE CONCEIVABLY, MILLIONS.  BUT THE MORE REALISTIC 
         PROSPECT IS OF LONE ACTORS THINKING THAT THIS IS 
         INTERESTING AND A LITTLE PERVERSE AND TRYING TO KILL ONE
         OR TWO OR A FEW."  

TEXT:    BRAD ROBERTS NOTES THAT IN BOTH CASES, THE INTENT IS TO 
         CAUSE DISEASE AND DEATH AND, FOR BOTH, THE APPROPRIATE 
         RESPONSE IS THE SAME.

TAPE:    CUT FOUR  - ROBERTS   :26

         "FOR BOTH THE HIGH END OF THE PROBLEM AND THE LOW END OF
         THE PROBLEM, THE FIRST LINE OF RESPONSE IS A GOOD PUBLIC
         HEALTH SYSTEM, A WELL-TRAINED EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSE
         TEAM, IN OUR CITIES AND COUNTIES, AND SOME AWARENESS 
         THAT DISEASES THAT ARE OCCURRING MIGHT BE CAUSED BY 
         MALEVOLENT HUMANS AND NOT JUST NATURAL SOURCES." 

TEXT:    BRAD ROBERTS SAYS THAT IRAQ IS THE ONLY NATION THAT 
         CURRENTLY ADMITS TO POSSESSING BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS.  
         RUSSIA -- HE SAYS -- ADMITS TO HAVING HAD THEM.  BUT HE 
         SAYS THERE IS REASON TO BELIEVE THAT AT LEAST 12 
         COUNTRIES HAVE BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS OR ARE WORKING TO GET 
         THEM. AS FOR THE U-S.

TAPE:    CUT FIVE  ROBERT - :26 

         "THE U-S HAD A PROGRAM TO PRODUCE BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS, 
         BEGINNING IN WORLD WAR TWO AND INTO THE EARLY YEARS OF 
         THE COLD WAR. AND IN 1969, THE U-S RENOUNCED BIOLOGICAL 
         WARFARE, UNILATERALLY DESTROYED ITS ARSENAL OF 
         BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS, AND, AT THAT POINT, SOUGHT A 
         BILATERAL DISARMAMENT TREATY WITH THE SOVIET UNION."

TEXT:    BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS EXPERT BRAD ROBERTS SAYS THE U-S AND 
         MANY OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE ALREADY STARTED TO BUILD THE 
         CAPABILITY TO DEAL WITH BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS. (SIGNED)

NEB/JH/NES

25-Jun-98 4:00 PM EDT (2000 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.