Web teeming with sobering info on germ warfare

By Oliver Ludwig

NEW YORK: When it comes to coping with "anthrax anxiety," there's good news, and there's bad news.

The good news is that if you're frustrated with sensationalistic news coverage on the spate of anthrax-laced letters mailed this month, the Internet is a great medium to get valuable information in your own way and at your own pace.

The bad news is that surfing on the Internet won't necessarily make you feel any better about the threat of germ warfare, even if the information is presented more soberly than, say, on television. It's an unfortunate truth that the new, and apparently less secure, world that seems to be taking shape after the hijacked airplane attacks of September 11, is hard to regard as anything but troubling.

Nearly 5,400 died in the September 11 attacks, which leveled New York's World Trade Center and destroyed part of the Pentagon near Washington, D.C. And now, three U.S. anthrax deaths point to the potential for a truly scary future.

With other microbes like the ones that cause small pox or plague looming as far more dangerous threats even than anthrax, the Internet -- the power of which is based on its depth, variety and less mediated content, is emerging as an indispensable tool.

"The Internet is emerging, and will continue to emerge, as an outstanding source of information," said John Corcoran, an Internet analyst with CIBC World Markets in Boston. Corcoran said the only caveat regarding the Internet is that, beyond well-traveled sites like AOL or top links you get from a search engine, it's sometimes hard to know what's credible. "Beyond those, it's buyer beware," he said.

All you need to know, and them some

Not surprisingly, anthrax is all over the Internet these days. The homepage of AOL (http://www.aol.com), the world's No. 1 Internet service provider, for example, has been plastered with anthrax information recently. Links to news stories, anthrax fact sheets and message boards querying Web surfers on subjects like how they are now handling their mail these days all speak to how much people are thinking about germ warfare.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Type in the keyword "anthrax," on a search engine like http://www.google.com and, prominently featured, you will find the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's Web site, http://www.cdc.gov. The CDC site is broad and credible, with sober and scientifically rigorous information. It's also available in Spanish. The CDC site is a trove for subjects like how to handle an anthrax-laced parcel, how to recognize anthrax symptoms as well as for learning potentially life-saving information on antibiotics and vaccines.

The official Web site on the anthrax vaccine, which you can get to easily from the CDC site or from Google, provides the high-tech bells and whistles only the Internet is capable of delivering. The site, http://www.anthrax.osd.mil, is run by the U.S. Department of Defense and comes in "flash" if you have a high-speed Internet connection. The flash version has music fit for a dance club and graphics worthy of Star Wars. It is informative, but you do have to dig a bit to learn that Bioport Inc., the only US company making the vaccine, has had problems that have kept vaccine production idle for two years.

Black plague, black humor

With military personnel the first in line to receive the anthrax vaccine, Bioport's production problems are not the kind of news you want to hear these days. But if what you want is bad news on germ warfare, it's easy enough to find it on the Internet. Small pox? Coming right up. Bubonic plague? Just a click away. Botulism? No problem. And the chills only start with the CDC site, which breaks down disease threats alphabetically.

For a concentrated dose of alarm, the site put together by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Civilian Biodefense packs a mean punch. The site, http://www.hopkins-biodefense.org/index.html, is logically organized, well written and worth a visit.

You may, perchance, also visit http://www.anthrax.com. Surprise, surprise! It's the homepage of Anthrax, the New York heavy metal band that is still plugging away after its heyday during the 1980s.

While the group has no plans to give up its name or its Web site address, it has posted a letter acknowledging the Sept. 11 tragedy and the alarming turn of events since then. It has also posted a long list of useful anthrax links on its site, including a few to the CDC.