Clinton Calls for Germ War Antidotes
By Bradley Graham
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 21, 1998; Page A01
President Clinton has decided to order the stockpiling of vaccines and
antibiotics to treat massive numbers of civilians in the event of an attack against the
United States using biological weapons, according to sources familiar with the plan.
While the Pentagon already has accumulated some medicines to shield American troops from a
handful of germ warfare agents, no similar reserves exist for civilians.
The prospect that an enemy state or terrorist group might unleash a deadly pathogen or
toxin, capable of killing tens of thousands of people in a U.S. city, has become an
increasing concern among national security specialists. Although experts differ on the
near-term likelihood of such a threat, Clinton's order is the latest and most ambitious of
several recent administration initiatives to improve the way military and civilian
authorities cope with domestic attacks through a latter-day civil defense.
Clinton's personal interest in the subject is said by aides to have deepened in recent
weeks, spurred by books and briefings. After listening in early April to an outside panel
of seven specialists discuss the poor condition of U.S. biological and chemical defenses,
Clinton sought the group's recommendations on how to deal with a biological attack. In a
subsequent 16-page report, the panel urged Clinton to begin the stockpile program and take
other steps to strengthen the ability of the nation's public health system to respond
rapidly.
Details about how fast to build the stockpiles and how to pay for them are still being
discussed by senior administration officials. Plans call for Clinton to announce the
initiative during a commencement address tomorrow at the Naval Academy in Annapolis that
will focus on the administration's stepped-up efforts to combat terrorism of various
kinds.
Establishing stockpiles for dozens of U.S. cities could easily cost billions of dollars
and require years before adequate levels are reached, according to experts. A Pentagon
program to develop and produce as many as 18 new vaccines to protect U.S. military forces
during wartime was initiated last year at an estimated cost of $320 million over five
years. A civilian stockpile program would cover a much larger population and require
millions more doses.
It also would require scientific innovations. Anthrax is the only potential germ weapon
for which a vaccine has been licensed by the Food and Drug Administration and is being
produced in the United States. Other vaccines are under development but have yet to prove
safe for human use. While it is unclear whether the administration is discussing
inoculations for civilians as a preventive measure, vaccines might be used in case of an
impending war or in uncontaminated communities in the event of attacks elsewhere in the
country.
A group of outside specialists, also commissioned by the administration but separate from
the one that briefed Clinton, has listed five agents that present the most immediate
menace -- anthrax, smallpox, plague, tuleremia and botulinum toxin.
"Having a national stockpile is an extremely important adjunct to any preparedness
program for any city, because no city could possibly stockpile the vaccines and
antibiotics necessary to deal with a bioterrorist incident," said Jerry Hauer, the
director of New York City's office of emergency management and one of those who advised
Clinton on the plan. "It's simply impractical and not financially feasible for many
cities."
The stockpile idea is not new. Frank Young, who headed the group that briefed Clinton and
formerly directed the Department of Health and Human Services' emergency preparedness
office, said the department had comprehensive plans for stockpiles. But the plans took a
backseat in recent years to other national health needs considered more pressing.
Some administration officials outside the White House expressed surprise at how fast the
president and his National Security Council staff had moved on the initiative this month,
noting with some concern that it had not gone through the customary deliberative planning
process. Even members of the advisory panel cautioned that stockpiling was just a part of
what needed to be a more systematic approach to bolstering U.S. preparedness, which would
include greater physician education about coping with a biological attack and more drug
and medical research.
Recent defense studies have warned of an increased risk of biological or chemical attack,
citing the spread of information about how to produce and deliver poisonous agents and
efforts by hostile states and terrorist groups to find less conventional means to
challenge the United States. While attention this year has focused on Iraqi efforts to
build an anthrax arsenal, as many as 10 countries are said by U.S. officials to have at
least the capability to load spores of anthrax into weapons.
In response, the Pentagon has taken steps in the past year to increase funding for better
protective gear, improved detectors and new vaccines. In December, Defense Secretary
William S. Cohen announced plans to vaccinate all U.S. military personnel against anthrax,
marking the first time that American troops will receive routine inoculations against a
germ warfare agent.
To bolster defenses on the home front, the Pentagon is also helping to train police, fire,
medical and other "first responders" in 120 cities over the next five years.
The FBI has reported only one case in the United States in which a group used biological
agents -- a 1984 Oregon incident in which the Rajneeshee, a religious cult, spread
salmonella bacteria over food in an effort to make voters sick and influence a county
election.
Staff writer John Harris contributed to this report.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company