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A leading bioterror expert said on Tuesday
people who feel panicky about opening their mail amid the
anthrax scare can use a hot steam iron and a moist layer of
fabric to kill germs.
Ken Alibek, a top former Soviet germ warfare
scientist who is now a U.S.-based author and researcher trying
to develop defenses against bioterror, told a surprised congressional
briefing on nonproliferation that a
hot, moist steam iron and moist fabric could kill anthrax
spores.
Pressed by surprised lawmakers who were
not sure if they had heard him right, he repeated that several
times.
"Iron your letters," he said,
adding that a microwave oven was not as good as an iron and
that including moisture was essential because spores
could survive dry heat.
For large amounts of mail, in big cities
or postal distribution centers, he recommended setting up
portable gamma radiation units to sterilize letters. "This
problem could be solved," he said.
Alibek repeated the advice of many other
experts that people should not buy gas masks. But he said
that if his biotech company and two others doing similar work
got "significant funding," they probably could bring
to market new antiviral drugs that would work against several
potential bioterror weapons within two years. "We've
had interesting results with animals," he said.
Connecticut Republican Christopher Shays,
who convened the hearing, noted that the chances of anyone
getting anthrax-contaminated mail were extremely small.
Reuters Washington
October 17, 2001
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