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American Morning

Daschle Anthrax Strain Different from Others; Interview with Dr. Ivan Walks

Aired October 26, 2001 - 09:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Our reporters are working to keep the pieces of the anthrax puzzle together for you. Susan Candiotti has the latest on the anthrax discoveries at the CIA and Walter Reed. Andrea Koppel has the State Department angle, and Michael Okwu is in New Jersey where the anthrax story widens there, as well. Let's start with Susan this morning. Good morning Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Overnight another trace of anthrax, called "medically insignificant" traces of anthrax, discovered at a CIA mail sorting facility. That building, at the Langley, Virginia complex is now shut down for more testing and cleaning. Still another positive hit in a mail room at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland. Even more troubling, the latest case of inhalation anthrax, the most serious kind of infection, a State Department mail handler who works off site in Virginia is infected. Each new infection stepping up concern while government scientists reveal new details about the makeup of the anthrax mailed to the Senate majority leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

The first official acknowledgement: the anthrax in the letter to Senator Tom Daschle is decidedly different from the anthrax sent elsewhere.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: It is highly concentrated. It is pure. And the spores are smaller. Therefore they're more dangerous, because they can be more easily absorbed in a person's respiratory system.

CANDIOTTI: The announcement confirms what Daschle and other government sources have been saying for days.

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: There is a greater degree of concentration in some samples than there is in others. And, this particular sample, had a fairly significant degree of concentration of spores.

CANDIOTTI: In contrast, samples from a letter to the "New York Post" indicates spores of a different quality. Less concentrated, more coarse.

MAJ. GEN. JOHN PARKER, MED. RESEARCH AND MATERIAL COMMAND: It appeared the "New York Post" sample was clumpy and rugged, and the Daschle sample was fine and floaty. One of my scientists actually described the "New York Post" sample as looking like Purina Dog Chow.

CANDIOTTI: Samples from Florida and a letter to NBC's Tom Brokaw are not sufficient to allow a valid comparison of their strain but all samples had spores light enough to get around.

PARKER: If given some energy from, say, wind, or clapping, or motion of air in a room, they will drift in the air, and then fall to the ground.

CANDIOTTI: Military research at Fort Detrick, Maryland is far from over. Preliminary tests, government sources say, shows the anthrax from Senator Daschle's office contained chemical additives. Those additives, the sources say, designed to reduce electrostatic charge and free the spores to travel through the air more easily.

RIDGE: It is clear that the terrorists responsible for these attacks intended to use this anthrax as a weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Officials emphasize anthrax infections so far are responding to antibiotics, which indicates, scientists say, this strain has not been genetically altered. As for your mail, the postal service will not guarantee its safety, authorities are now testing 200 postal facilities up and down the east coast, and conducting random checks at post offices nationwide. Now for the latest on what's happening in involving the State Department employee who was infected with anthrax, let's go to my colleague, State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Susan thanks so much. That unidentified 59-year-old man who was a contract employee for the State Department, who works handling mail in Sterling, Virginia, is this morning said to be in guarded condition. He was believed to have been the dock supervisor at the facility that you are looking at right there in Sterling, Virginia which receives the majority of its mail from Brentwood Road facility. This is the same place where two postal workers recently died from inhalation anthrax. The same type of anthrax that this unidentified postal worker is believed to have. He is, of course, on a whole slew of antibiotics.

Also, this morning, State Department officials saying that another unidentified man who worked at that Sterling Road facility in Virginia is believed to have flu-like symptoms. He is being checked right now. They don't know whether or not he is sick from anthrax, or simply suffering from the flu. But as a precautionary measure all mail that would have been delivered here to the State Department or to U.S. Embassies overseas has been halted. The Sterling Road facility should be tested shortly, and all State Department postal workers are on Cipro, on that antibiotic, as a precautionary measure, and are also being tested right now.

Paula, I should tell you that at this moment, Secretary Powell is speaking here at the State Department to a group of nongovernmental employees. He is talking about counterterrorism and if he makes any news per se, some statements that we haven't already heard, we'll make sure to bring them to you, Paula.

ZAHN: We will be standing by waiting for that. Andrea Koppel, thanks so much, appreciate it. Just wanted to repeat for a moment again exactly where anthrax has been found at the Capitol. Of course at that off site White House mail facility, now a State Department facility in Virginia, the CIA, and a satellite building at Walter Reed that has left health officials of course in the nation's capitol scrambling. Chief among them, Dr. Ivan Walks, the health officer for the District of Columbia, who joins me from Washington. Thank you very much. We know how busy you are. We appreciate any minutes we can steal from you. Just give us your perspective on what is it like to come to work every day, basically, not knowing what the heck is going to smack you in the face.

IVAN WALKS, CHIEF HEALTH OFFICER, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Well, you -- when you're in that situation, you expect to be smacked in the face, and if you do that, you can tolerate the smacking and get your work done.

ZAHN: All right. But, there seems to be, to me, that there is an awful lot of finger pointing going on right now. Have you heard the wrath of postal workers many of whom thought they were treated like second class citizens. They thought that the representatives' health concerns, the senators', were take far more seriously. Who's to blame for that?

WALKS: I think the blame goes squarely on whoever is putting anthrax in our mail. Other than that, I'm focused on working very closely with everyone who wants to work with me. I'm responsible for protecting the health of the folks who live in and visit the District, the mayor has charged me with that, and that's where my focus is.

ZAHN: But as you know, even the CDC admitted it has made some mistakes, and the head of the CDC tried to describe that this is all new territory, and, basically, that they are learning things as time goes along. How does that compromise your credibility?

WALKS: I think we need to be comfortable with people who are honest enough to look us in the eye and say, you know, "if I knew last week what I know now, I would have acted differently." I think when people say that, you need to respect that. Hold us accountable for blunders, but not be so anxious to look for someone to blame, because this is brand new for everyone.

Now, in the District, we initially were not involved in what was going on with the Daschle letter. The Capitol Hill police were involved, the attending physicians office was involved, and CDC was there with them. Since CDC has focused more on the District, with the Brentwood facility, our Department of Health has been right there in lockstep with them, and when I get a recommendation from CDC I want to know two things: First of all, do I know everything you know. I don't have a high security clearance. I'm a state health officer. Do I know everything you know? Because if I know everything they know, I can make sure that the decision I make today is an appropriate one. And if I do that every time, then the people in the District can look at me and know that I am worrying appropriately and they don't have to worry as much. And that's my job.

ZAHN: And how much more complicated is your job, now that you had Tom Ridge confirming a fact that we had heard two weeks ago, that this anthrax found in the Daschle letter is extremely pure, extremely refined, and, also genetically altered -- or modified, so it can float longer in the air. What impact does that have on you and potentially the thousands of more people you got to reach out there?

WALKS: Mayor Williams and I have been pulled in to the White House, we've had a chance to talk directly with Governor Ridge, having that kind of access is critical for us. I have a contact very high in the federal government that I can call directly cell phone to cell phone. Those are the kinds of supportive measures the federal government is doing here in the District. They're also supplying us with the Cipro, they're supplying us with the experts. We have a strong partner in the federal government, and I think the American people should know that when something comes to a local jurisdiction, and a local guy like me is on the line, that the federal government has proven it will step up.

ZAHN: Can you give us an update on all the postal workers potentially affected by that? How many do we know in the District are on Cipro as we speak this morning?

WALKS: As of yesterday, at the District site, we had put about 7650 people on Cipro. And it's important to point out that not all of those people were tested. There has been a lot of controversy about, "you tested the Capitol Hill workers, you gave them 60 days of Cipro, you didn't test the folks in town." That is not true the way it's presented. The Capitol Hill folks all did not get 60 days of Cipro. And I think that somebody should check with Capitol Hill people to verify that. I was talking with them, that's not the case.

You don't give the full 60 days to everyone. You protect them right away with medication while do you your research. The swabs, really quickly, swabs do not tell you that you are not at risk for anthrax. An individual person swabbed, a negative swab is a false sense of security, once we had enough swabs initially to know who needed medication, we are treating everyone, but we are not swabbing, not because we are out of swabs, we don't want people to say, "Well I called in, my swab is negative, I can stop take my medication." Very dangerous.

ZAHN: Yes, that makes sense, we did have a postal worker on yesterday that interviewed who was very upset because he stood in line and waited for the tests at a local hospital, and when he got to the front of the line they said, no, we are not going to test you, we're just going to give you the pills, and he was...

WALKS: Can I just add...

ZAHN: ...quite upset by that. WALKS: Right, let me just add that our hospitals are being pushed. I had a chance to meet one of my heroes, Dr. Henfling, last night. He's the guy on the front line at Innova Fairfax Hospital proving that inhalation anthrax is not a death sentence. If people run to their hospitals for tests, and the doctors are busy with that, it detracts from the precious resources we need. We in the public health have to be accountable, we have to be trustworthy, so we look people in the eye and say, "As soon as we know we will tell you." If we haven't told you go take this very powerful antibiotic, please, don't start taking it on your own. Weigh the risks. It is not candy. You don't want to take this medication unless directed by a doctor. There's a reason these are prescription drugs.

ZAHN: Well, I wish everybody could hear you this morning because you're making an awful lot of sense, and I know how tough your job is, and I wish you tremendous luck, particularly as I know a curve ball is being thrown at you every morning.

WALKS: Thanks very much.

ZAHN: Thank you, Dr. Walks.

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