Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Editorial: Anxiety stirred by confusion

Americans increasingly are becoming nervous when anthrax is mentioned. One reason why people are rattled is that this is a terrorist threat we haven't seen before on such a terrifying scale. There is no definitive evidence yet that the same terrorists behind the anthrax letters are also those who were behind the Sept. 11 hijackings, but they both have created considerable anxiety. The problem goes much deeper than the fear of the unknown, however. Quite simply, the federal government hasn't spoken with a clear voice as to the nature and extent of the threat that anthrax poses.

Often government officials can't even agree on the basic facts. On Wednesday House Speaker Dennis Hastert said that anthrax had gotten into the Senate's ventilation system. But a bioterrorism expert at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services dismissed Hastert's speculation, saying that anthrax has only been discovered in Daschle's office and in the Senate mailroom.

The difference in the accounts is significant, because if the anthrax got into the ventilation system it would increase the chances that many more people could have been exposed. If such high-ranking government officials are releasing contradictory information, then just what is the public supposed to believe? It also sends a mixed message when Hastert is shutting down the entire House until Tuesday as a precaution, but Daschle says the Senate, while closing three office buildings, still will convene and hold votes.

The confusion has been evident ever since it was confirmed two weeks ago that a Florida man had contracted anthrax. At that time federal government officials said it wasn't unusual and downplayed the likelihood that it might be linked to terrorism. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said that the anthrax in Florida "appeared to be an isolated case."

Thompson's statement at the time was premature in light of what was known then. The Florida man came down with respiratory anthrax, which is incredibly rare -- there only had been 18 documented cases in the past century and the last one was in 1976. Warning bells should have gone off immediately that there might be something more to this, especially after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the threat that biological agents might be part of the next wave of terrorism.

The initial assessment by Thompson eventually compounded the fears of Americans after they learned that this was anything but an isolated case. President Bush's Cabinet, members of Congress and self-appointed terrorism experts have tried to tell us what's going on. The public, though, can see that many of these individuals know little about medicine and that they often are just trying to bluff their way through the media's questions.

As all of this confusing information came tumbling out, no one from the federal government stepped forward and spoke with authority on the matter about not only the threats from anthrax, but also confidently knocking down some of the myths about this bacteria. But Tom Ridge, the new director of domestic security, hadn't been very visible, but that may be changing. Ridge now is trying to lead a coordinated response so that the public has better information about anthrax. Today Ridge sought to reassure Americans by holding a news conference with other key administration officials, the surgeon general and experts from the Centers for Disease Control.

It is essential that the facts get out, but at the same time, if an official simply doesn't know what's happening, he should just say so. Putting out wrong information during a crisis could irreparably harm the public's confidence that the government is leveling with them, a situation that also could unnecessarily heighten the fears that people have about anthrax.

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