The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 7, 2001- 7
Health official on anthrax:'We're out of the woods'
WASHINGTON (AP) - Eight days after
the last anthrax diagnosis, a top federal health
official said yesterday the worst may be over.
* "For this episode, we're out of the woods,"
said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Insti-
tutes of Health.
But another attack, perhaps by some means
other than the mail, can't be ruled out. And
it's possible, although unlikely, that next
month when thousands of people end their
preventive antibiotics, a case or two might
still pop up.
Could lingering contamination from the
anthrax-tainted letters mailed to New York,
Florida and Washington cause more infections ?
Fauci told The Associated Press that's unlikely.
"However, another letter could come in
addressed to whomever, you or me, who
knows?" he added, saying doctors' vigilance
cannot wane.
But the most troublesome anthrax victim is
Kathy Nguyen, the Manhattan hospital worker
whose Oct. 31 death still has federal investiga-
tors baffled. No one knows how Nguyen could
have been infected - there's no sign she came
in contact with anthrax-tainted mail, nor has
any bacteria been found at her home or work-
place.
Police began using Nguyen's subway card to
trace her steps around New York City for the
two weeks prior to her death. "She somewhere,
somehow had an inhalation exposure," said Dr.
James Hughes of the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, and until that mystery is
solved, "vigilance is heightened around the
country."
The big fear is that she was the first victim
of a new anthrax attack by some means other
than mail.
But "every day that goes by without seeing
another unexplained inhalational case makes
it less and less likely" that happened, Fauci
said.
In Washington, thousands of pounds of
mail addressed to government agencies have
been piling up since an anthrax-tainted letter
arrived at Senate Majority Leader Tom
Daschle's office Oct. 15. The Postal Service
said yesterday it had begun sanitizing this
mail and would start delivering it within 24
to 48 hours.,
The Postal Service hired a second compa-
ny to cleanse the mail by irradiating it. Facil-
ities in Bridgeport, N.J. and Lima, Ohio, now
are tackling that massive effort. Each site is
expected to cleanse about 750,000 pieces of
mail a day, most coming from Washington,
New Jersey and New York, where anthrax
contamination was confirmed in some post
offices.
More post offices around the country were
being tested for possible contamination. Closed
post offices in New Jersey reopened yesterday,
as did the Manhattan hospital that was closed
when a worker died of inhaled anthrax.
Still facing cleanup is the Hart Senate Office
Building where Daschle's office is located.
Officials yesterday abandoned plans to pump
chlorine dioxide gas into the building amid
fears it may not work, and now say the building
will not reopen before Nov 21.
Four people have died of inhaled anthrax
since tainted letters were mailed in mid-Sep-
tember, and 13 others are fighting either the
inhaled or milder skin form of the disease.
But it has been eight days since the last con-
firmed diagnosis - a good sign that the worst
is over, Fauci said.
Indeed, other than the mysterious Nguyen
case, the other inhaled anthrax patients came
down with symptoms four to six days after
being exposed to the bacteria, said CDC's Dr.
Bradley Perkins.
Tens of thousands of Americans are taking
antibiotics for 60 days to prevent anthrax infec-
tion because they may have been exposed to
the bacteria, which can incubate for up to two
months before causing illness.
There's no guarantee that when all those
people finish their drugs, a case or two of
anthrax that the antibiotics didn't cure won't
appear, Fauci said.
"It is very unlikely, though not impossible,
that you will see late cases," he said. "Do I
think it will happen in significant numbers?
No. But if a case or two cropped up, I wouldn't
be surprised."
Thus, all of those people must be alert to
possible anthrax symptoms in the days after
they quit the antibiotics, he said - some-
thing their doctors should have warned them
about, and something the CDC is gearing up
to monitor.
Because whoever mailed the anthrax-tainted
letters clearly had a large amount of very
potent bacteria, "I think they could have done a
lot worse," Fauci said. "It's not unreasonable to
assume that the people who have this material
and have attacked us with letters might try a
different modality."
FBI: Warning of attack on
Calif. bridges not credible
WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI concluded yesterday
that the raw intelligence behind last week's warning that
terrorists might attack West Coast bridges was not credi-
ble.
Nonetheless, the FBI wants law enforcement to remain
on high alert and guard against possible terrorist activities
in the United States and abroad, officials said.
Meanwhile, the assault on terrorists' money sources
also made progress as U.S. and foreign officials zeroed in,
on a handful of suspected financiers of terrorist activities,
officials said.
President Bush planned to announce today the freezing
of additional assets and some important law enforcement
activities on that front, the officials sad, declining to be
more specific.
The FBI received uncorroborated intelligence last week
suggesting terrorists might strike suspension bridges on the
West Coast between last Friday and today and issued a pri-
vate warning to law enforcement in eight states. The warn-
ing also went to many companies in the region through the
FBI's Infragard network that alerts industry to threats.
California Gov. Gray Davis then took the information
public the next day, suggesting federal officials had "cred-
ible evidence" of a possible terror attack on four bridges
in his state.
National Guard troops took up positions on the bridges,
and transportation officials beefed up security from the
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to the Holland Tun-
nel in New York.
But agents who looked further into the raw intelligence
found no evidence to corroborate the threat, officials said.
They issued an updated message to police nationwide
yesterday.
"Recipients should be advised that FBI investigation
has determined that the threat to suspension bridges is, not
deemed credible," the message said.
Davis defended his actions. "My No. 1 job is to keep
Californians safe," he said yesterday. "I believe I took the
correct steps."
State officials remained oh high alert, with California
National Guard troops and highway patrol officers contin-
uing to patrol the state's major bridges.
AP PHOTO
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig addresses the media after a team owners meeting yesterday in Rosemont, IIl, a suburb
outside Chicago. Without pinpointing which ones, baseball owners voted to eliminate two teams before next season.
BASEBALL
Continued from Page 1
the players' association, called the contraction announce-
ment "imprudent and unfortunate" in a statement issued
yesterday night. Fehr added that the union had no say in
the decision and predicted yesterday's action will not help
in negotiations.
Selig insisted the decision is "absolutely not a negotiat-
ing ploy," and promised the owners would not lock out
the players or institute a freeze on player signings.
"We're trying to move as peacefully as we can," Selig
said. "... This will not be an unpleasant process."
However, eliminating teams faces several obstacles,
including legal challenges from the cities involved and
the time element. Spring training camps are scheduled to
open in less than 3 1/2 months. The league had released a
tentative 30-team schedule but now must revise it for 28
teams. One team, possibly the World Series champion
Arizona Diamondbacks, could be shifted from the
National League to the American League as part of a
realignment, sources said.
"We'd like to do this as soon as possible," Selig said.
"There are so many moving parts to this puzzle. We're
breaking historic ground here. No professional sports
league (in the modem era) has done this."
Dems have 8-3 majority on council
the michigan daily
COUNCIL
Continued from Page 1.
final precinct to come in. But the net
two-vote gain she received in that
precinct was not enough to overcome
Reid's lead.
"A lot of other politicians have lost
elections and gone on to win other
ones," she said.
University of Michigan College
Der'ocrats Chair Eric Feldman said stu-
dents could have delivered the close
election to Lowenstein.
"A heavily Republican ward could
have turned Democratic if we had had
higher student turnout," he said.
In the 1st Ward, Johnson defeated
Republican challenger Scott Wojack, 77
percent to 22 percent.
Johnson pledged to "build relation-
ships with the surrounding townships"
and deal with the economics concerning
lower income housing. "We're going to
have to deal with the economic cli-
mate," he said. "This is not an issue peo-
ple are going to want to deal with."
ideas."
In the 4th Ward, challenger Michael
Nowak failed in his attempt to give the
Green Party its first council member,
losing by about 36 percent. Nowak had
hoped that without a Democrat running
in the race, he would have a better
chance at defeating Republican incum-
bent Higgins.
"I am very pleased to serve the con-
stituents of the 4th Ward," Higgins said
last night. She said she would work to
"remove barriers" to making housing in
the city more affordable.
"We're pleased that the Green Party is
making progress," Nowak said. "We've
tripled our numbers since the last elec-
tion."
Nowak was satisfied with the turnout
after the Green Party's second year on
the ballet. He plans to work on increas-
ing voter turnout among students and
has not decided if he will run again.
"The University of Michigan is real
strong in terms of social justice," he
said. "The Green Party really fits in with
their views.'
Wojack, who also suffered a loss in
last year's 52nd District state House
election, said he did well for a heavily
Democratic ward. He hopes to work
with the city to increase student voter
turnout and promote renewable energy.
"I would like to see the city move to
half of the people using renewable ener-
gy," he said. "It may take time to work
with the community and share my
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PARKING
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Trudy Hughes, a former University faculty member and
resident of Oswego Street near Nichols Arboretum, said, "I
see it as a limitation more than a benefit. It would be very
difficult for us when we have many guests over."
Students parking in residential areas "was one of the con-
siderations when we moved here. But we really haven't had
too many problems;' she added.
In order for the new ordinance of odd-even parking to be
put into effect, each neighborhood association would need
to petition the city. Wheeler said none have requested it yet.
The University currently offers two day-parking lots, one
on Glazier Way on North Campus and the other near Crisler
Arena on South Campus. Permits for these lots are only
available to upperclassmen and graduate students, said
Patrick Cunningham, director of University Parking and
Transportation Services.
Although the University is in the process of expanding
parking for faculty and staff, it does not have any immediate
plans for the expansion of student parking lots, Cunning-
ham added.
Both the city and the University are hoping to encourage
more students, especially those who commute to campus, to
use the public transportation. Cunningham said all the Park
& Ride lots offered by the city are free to the users. The
State Street Commuter, Green Road, Pioneer High School
and Maple Village Shopping Center lots all have Ann Arbor
Transportation Authority buses with service to the Universi-
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AFGHANISTAN
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Rumsfeld said U.S. military plan-
ners hope that American help to the
opposition alliance - including
weapons and ammunition - will
unite its factions so "that we will see
more success" on the ground.
The Pentagon has said small num-
bers of American special forces teams
are working with northern alliance
forces to train and equip them, pro-
vide them. with additional ammuni-
tion and weaponry, and identify
targets for U.S. strike aircraft.
U.S. forces are playing similar roles
with other opposition groups in the
south and elsewhere, although the
closest coordination has been with the
northern alliance.
The Pentagon also intends to start
delivering cold-weather clothing to
the northern alliance, officials say.
President Bush launched airstrikes
against Afghanistan on Oct. 7 after
the ruling Taliban militia refused to
rorism, opening the way for the
nation's widest-ranging military
engagement since World War II.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said
there are no immediate plans to
deploy ground troops.
Rumsfeld said the United States
extracted Hamid Karzai, a southern
opposition leader, from Afghanistan
over the weekend. Taliban forces had
been chasing Karzai as he tried to
rally support among ethnic Pashtun
tribes for an alternative to the Taliban.
The Bush administration said it
will help Pakistan stop smugglers
from trucking 'weapons across its
porous border with Afghanistan, the
U.S. ambassador to Pakistan said.
The northern alliance, which
launched a three-pronged attack Sun-
day toward Mazar-e-Sharif, seized
Ogopruk and two other towns in a
pre-dawn assault, said Ashraf
Nadeem, an opposition spokesman.
The area is 45 miles south of Mazar-
e-Sharif.
"We attacked while the Americans
the opposition during yesterday's
fighting. Five opposition fighters
were killed and nine wounded, he
said. His account could not be inde-
pendently verified, and there was no
comment from the Taliban on the
claims.
The towns' capture allowed oppo-
sition forces to push yesterdays oward
Shol Ghar, and heavy fighting was
reported about 30 miles southeast of
Mazar-e-Sharif, Nadeem said.
Rumsfeld declined to confirm the
claims of an opposition advance.
"There are so many reports about this
village or that village," he said. "I
like to let the dust settle and see
where it is at the end of some period
of time after there has been a pause.
The United States wants the
Afghan opposition, a loose coalition
of fighters dominated by ethnic
minority Tajiks and Uzbeks, to make
significant grains ahead of winter.
Fighting traditionally tapers off then
because snow closes roads and ham-
pers the resupply of troops.
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