State prepared for anthrax, Davis claims

  NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Diane Zalba,
director of pharmacy at UCLA, talks with Gov. Gray
Davis about UCLA’s Cipro supply in the Medical Plaza
Friday after Davis’ speech.

By Robert Salonga
Daily Bruin Staff

Gov. Gray Davis visited the UCLA Medical Center on Friday to
assure Californians the state is well-prepared for an anthrax
attack.

Accompanied by state representatives, Davis set out to address
security, disease control and the need for citizens to resume their
normal lives.

“Since Sept. 11, ensuring the safety of Californians is my
No. 1 job,” Davis said.

Davis began his speech surrounded by police officers, members of
the Marines, firefighters and Medical Center physicians in a show
of solidarity among the state’s emergency rescue workers.

The governor outlined increased security measures taken since
the attacks.

For instance, before reaching state ports, ships are boarded by
the Coast Guard to prevent the vessels from being used as weapons
in the same way airplanes were used against the World Trade Center
and Pentagon.

Davis also said the state’s Department of Health Services
has one of the most up-to-date disease control systems in the
country, keeping in contact with the 61 state public health
officials almost daily.

In addition, Davis said that the water supply, including dams
and reservoirs, is checked on a regular basis.

The governor said Californians should not let recent anthrax
scares on the East Coast adversely affect their sense of
safety.

“The whole world changed on Sept. 11, and we need to have
the courage to live a normal life,” he said.

He added that California has experienced no confirmed cases of
anthrax infection.

Diana Bontá, director for the DHS, said the threat of an
anthrax is relatively low, and the public should concentrate on
diseases they’re more likely to contract.

“Get your flu shots,” she said to the crowd of about
200 people.

Los Angeles County Fire Captain David Buchanan said his
department is revisiting prior training in biological threats daily
and that overall awareness has increased.

“People need to calm down as much as possible, but healthy
paranoia is OK,” Buchanan said.

  NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Gov. Gray
Davis addresses a crowd of roughly 200 at the UCLA Medical
Plaza on Friday about the state’s preparedness against
bioterrorism. Audience members raised questions about the viability
of a biological attack with smallpox, a potentially fatal disease
characterized by a distinct rash and high fever. According to the
Center for Disease Control, the risk of naturally occurring
smallpox infection was eliminated in 1977.

Dr. David Pegues, who chairs the UCLA Task Force on Bioterrorism
Preparedness, said the risk of smallpox is not large enough to
warrant people immunizing themselves. Routine immunization against
smallpox ended in 1972.

Pegues also advised against using the antibiotic Cipro as a
preventative measure against anthrax.

Anthrax is a spore-forming bacterium that can occur in one of
three forms: inhalation, cutaneous and intestinal. The most
dangerous form is through inhalation, with symptoms that begin
similar to a common cold but can lead to severe breathing problems
and shock once it spreads to the lungs.

Pegues said people should not stockpile on Cipro and similar
drugs because there is no good indication at this point to take
it.

“How long do you take it for? The overuse of antibiotics
can lead to the bacteria developing an increased resistance,”
Pegues said.

He also advocated the prevention of more contractible diseases,
namely influenza, which kills an average of 20,000 people
nationwide each year, according to the CDC.

“Get your flu vaccine, to prevent a much more credible and
serious risk,” Pegues said.

Linda Rosenstock, dean of the School of Public Health, said the
medical community has known about the threat of anthrax as a
potential biological weapon for 80 years, and has been conducting
simulations of the disease for 30 years.

“We’re not as well-prepared as we should be, but
we’re getting better,” Rosenstock said, adding that
efforts in protecting against viral contamination of food, water
and air are improving.

One reason the Medical Center was chosen as the site of
Davis’ public address is that it is one of a handful of
institutes in the nation with the technology to identify the DNA
strains of anthrax, Bontá said.

Chancellor Albert Carnesale, who attended Davis’ speech,
said the Medical Center was a fitting choice for the address since
it is the highest-ranked hospital in the western United States.

According to a 2001 survey conducted by the U.S. News &
World Report, the Medical Center is the fifth-ranked hospital in
the nation, and the only West Coast institute in the top five.