Nation briefs 04/09/03

CDC getting record number of calls on SARS

WASHINGTON -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is receiving a record number of phone calls from members of the public concerning severe acute respiratory syndrome, the new contagious disease that has spread from Asia to the United States and elsewhere.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a Senate panel Tuesday the volume of daily calls sometimes exceeds 1,500. That's more than the CDC received even at the peak of the fall 2001 anthrax attacks, she said.

As of Monday, there were 148 suspected cases of SARS in the United States and more than 2,600 worldwide.

Testifying before the Senate appropriations health subcommittee, Gerberding said officials are working aggressively with airlines to determine appropriate procedures if a suspected SARS patient is on board a flight, including what protections are needed for workers on the plane and how the plane might be decontaminated.

Official warns against everyday chemical threats

WASHINGTON -- Nerve agents like VX and sarin gas are scary terrorist threats, but a top federal official is more worried about chemicals that travel the nation's highways every day.

"They are just as lethal," said Jerry Hauer, acting assistant secretary for public health preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services.

After the 1995 release of sarin gas in a Tokyo subway by the Aum Shinrikyo cult, government officials focused attention on nerve gases, but now they are realizing the threat posed by chemicals that have legitimate uses in American industry, Hauer said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press.

For instance, toxic industrial chemicals such as chlorine, phosgene and hydrogen cyanide are readily available. These are among the earliest chemical weapons and were used by troops in World War I. Today, they are commonly used in commercial manufacturing, and experts believe they could easily be used for terrorism.

Two dead in small plane crash in Delaware

DELAWARE CITY, Del. -- A small plane crashed nose-first Tuesday near an oil refinery, killing the two men on board, officials said.

Jim Salmon, a spokesman for the Delaware River and Bay Authority, said he did not know if the pilot reported any problems before the plane went down about five miles short of New Castle County Airport. The authority operates the airport.

The plane, a Beechcraft 35 Bonanza, crashed near the Motiva oil refinery around 10 a.m. Motiva spokesman Spiros Mantzavinos said the plane did not damage any of the refinery's operations.

-- From wire reports