Water authority takes precaution

Friday, Feb. 20, 1998 | 10:13 a.m.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority has increased security measures at its water treatment plant at Lake Mead as a precaution after two men were arrested with possible Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria that causes anthrax.

Although the water authority has no reason to believe that the local water supply is in jeopardy or that it ever was a target of biological warfare agents, extra precautions were taken after the arrests, Assistant Health Officer Dr. Donald Kwalick of the Clark County Health District said today.

"It is not feasible that our area's water supply would be used as a carrier for anthrax," Kwalick said. The bacteria needs a dry environment to breed and its lethal form spreads through the air from animals to humans.

Anthrax bacteria is not an infectious disease passed between humans.

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