- VIENNA - A substance that
can destroy anthrax within seconds and could revolutionise the fight
against
bio-terrorism has been discovered in Austria, scientists said here
Wednesday.
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- The spray acts as an anthrax "disinfectant",
killing anthrax spores in envelopes, on surfaces, on the skin and even
in the nose, scientist Apostolos Georgopolous of Vienna General Hospital
told AFP. If it passes tests by Austrian health authorities, the spray
could revolutionise the treatment of suspicious powders which have brought
government offices, media centres and airports across the world to a
standstill
since the terrorist attacks on the United States of September 11.
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- While anthrax scares currently mean whole buildings have
to be evacuated, the new spray could decontaminate the room where a
suspicious
powder is found without affecting the rest of the building, according to
Austrian state health office spokesman Martin Glier.
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- The new substance was used in Vienna General Hospital
as a disinfectant for some months before doctors decided to test it to
see if it killed anthrax bacteria as well last weekend, Georgopoulos
explained.
"We have found that in practice it is very easy to handle and that
it works very well on anthrax, you just spray it on a surface or an
envelope
and then it's gone. You can even spray it on skin or in the nose,"
he said.
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- Austrian health authorities are running tests on the
substance to see if it can be marketed to a wider audience to deal with
anthrax alerts. "We are doing our best to speed up the process,"
Glier said.
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- Since the anthrax scare started with the October 5 death
of a photo editor in Florida, two postal workers in Washington have died
and another 12 people have been infected with the disease.
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