- BAKU, Azerbaijan -- More
than 60 dangerous and deadly bacterial strains that are a legacy of the
former Soviet Union's elaborate biological weapons program were transferred
Friday to the United States from Azerbaijan as part of the two countries'
joint fight against the threat of biological terrorism.
-
- Copies of the strains, including bacteria that cause
plague and anthrax, left Baku aboard a U.S. military aircraft in a mission
cloaked in secrecy. The pathogens were scheduled to arrive at Dover Air
Force Base in Delaware by Saturday, officials said, and government scientists
will begin their analysis next week in Washington.
-
- Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Foreign
Relations Committee, who concluded the agreement here with Azerbaijan President
Ilham Aliyev, said the data would be "important in the war against
terror and combating biological warfare." The sharing, Lugar said,
also adds fresh and unique strains to a library of worldwide pathogens
to help swiftly diagnose an international plague or prevent a disease outbreak.
-
- The transfer of the strains is part of the Cooperative
Threat Reduction program, which the U.S. has used to forge relationships
with former Soviet republics to reduce nuclear, chemical or biological
threats.
-
- The U.S. formalized a biological agreement with Azerbaijan
in June. Under the deal, the United States provides money to help the country
improve security for its pathogens to prevent theft that could lead to
bioterrorism.
-
- In exchange for the aid, Azerbaijan agreed to share copies
of its strains with the U.S., which could prove helpful in the event of
anthrax attacks similar to the mail contamination nearly four years ago
in Washington and New York. Those cases remain unsolved.
-
- "I see this as proof that Azerbaijan is serious
about cooperating with the United States on combating global terrorism,"
said Andy Weber, adviser to the Cooperative Threat Reduction program at
the Defense Department.
-
- During the Cold War, the U.S. believes, thousands of
scientists were creating a huge Soviet biological weapons program. While
Russia has denied having such an extensive program, the country has declined
to share its biological strains and has urged former Soviet republics not
to share their pathogens.
-
- So the strains from Azerbaijan, along with an agreement
reached late last year with the government of nearby Georgia, allows U.S.
scientists to learn more about the Soviet-era biological weapons program.
Previously it could take scientists days to determine the origin of a strain,
officials said, but a growing global library of pathogens could reduce
that time considerably.
-
- Fearing the arrangement might collapse, U.S. officials
said the transfer of the pathogens was timed to coincide with Lugar's visit
so he could secure the support of President Aliyev. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.),
who was traveling with Lugar to learn about nuclear and biological threats,
also discussed the strains over dinner with Aliyev.
-
- Shortly after Lugar and Obama left Azerbaijan on Thursday,
the pathogens were packaged in a container about the size of a large camping
cooler. They were secretly taken to the airport, where a captain from the
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research was waiting to transport the strains
back to the U.S.
-
- Jennifer Brewer, the U.S. cooperative threat manager
for biological weapon programs in Azerbaijan, said the transfer was complicated
slightly when airport officials in Baku insisted the strains go through
the airport X-ray machine. But fearing the radiation could damage the pathogens,
Azerbaijan government ministers granted a special waiver.
-
- The pathogens were flown to a U.S. air base in Germany
before their scheduled arrival in Delaware. The materials will be analyzed
by the U.S. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington.
-
- Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
- First published 9-3-5
-
- http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509030224sep03
,1,7098534.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at: http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?
Cat=&Board=emergingdiseases
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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