Army Says Mailed Anthrax Not Linked to Its Program

The Army acknowledged Wednesday that it had routinely produced small quantities of anthrax as part of biological warfare defense experiments in Utah, but it said it could account for all of the material.

“There is a rigorous tracking and inventory program to follow the production, receipt and destruction of all select agents,” the Army said. “The facility is well protected with robust physical and personnel security systems.”

The Army statement came in response to a report Wednesday in the Baltimore Sun that said anthrax produced at the Dugway Proving Ground, in a remote desert location in Utah, was “virtually identical” to the spores sent through the mail to several media outlets and Congress.

Five people have died from the inhaled form of anthrax since October, a rare occurrence in the United States. A connection to anthrax-tainted mail is suspected in all of the deaths.

The Army declined to comment about whether anthrax spores produced at Dugway were similar to those found in the tainted letters. But one biological weapons scientist said that, based on information released to the public so far, he believed that many individuals could have produced the bacteria used in the attacks.

“I remain open about whether anything’s been proven about where this stuff comes from,” said C.J. Peters, a former Army biological defense researcher who leads the Center for Biodefense at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

Law enforcement officials have said anthrax used in the mail attacks is a type known as the Ames strain, and that it had been turned into a fine and concentrated powder able to spread easily on air currents. But Peters said those characteristics are so general that they could describe any number of potential sources, including the bacteria produced at Dugway.

Neither Dugway nor its employees appear to be under active investigation by the FBI, several law enforcement officials said.

Dugway is the Army facility that tests equipment to protect U.S. troops against biological attack, including detection devices, protective clothing and decontamination materials.

The Army statement said that, in order to test the equipment, it often is necessary to create aerosols containing anthrax or other bacteria to simulate an enemy attack.

The Army said most of the tests involving anthrax have used an inactivated form of the bacteria that is not living and not dangerous. But at times, live bacteria are needed in tests, the Army said.

The Army also acknowledged that it had at times shipped live anthrax in paste form from Dugway to another Army biological defense unit at Ft. Detrick, Md. That facility inactivated the anthrax through irradiation, then returned it to Dugway for use in experiments.

The Army said the shipments met “stringent federal regulations governing transfer of hazardous materials,” and that no anthrax paste was lost.

“Anthrax in paste form cannot be the source of contamination for the anthrax letters mailed after Sept. 11, and Dugway has never shipped any dry anthrax by commercial carrier,” the Army statement said.

Separately, federal health officials said Wednesday that they plan to expedite research into the treatment and spread of anthrax.

Dr. Bradley Perkins, an anthrax expert for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said the agency has set new bioterrorism research priorities after a two-day conference of anthrax experts and officials from several federal agencies.

The research projects--all of which are scheduled to begin within the next year--include making antitoxin therapies readily available and learning how anthrax spores contained in an envelope can spread through the mail system. The CDC also wants to conduct additional tests on animals to determine the appropriate doses and duration of preventive treatments.

Perkins said scientists hope to learn more about what causes anthrax spores that already have settled to become airborne again.

And more information is needed about the danger posed by any item, such as a letter, that comes in contact with an anthrax-tainted source. However, he said, federal health officials continue to believe that such cross-contamination poses a very small risk.

Times staff writer Josh Meyer contributed to this report.