US team to destroy Uzbek anthrax

Experts say the likelihood of infection is low

By Catherine Davis BBC Central Asia correspondent

An American-led team is to begin destroying anthrax bacteria at what was the former Soviet Union's main open air biological testing site.

Shrinkage of the Aral Sea is a major environmental concern

It will be the first time the US Government has carried out a pathogen destruction operation like this overseas, and the attacks on the United States last September have given the project added impetus.

Specialist equipment has been transported to the remote Vozrozhdeniye island in northwest Uzbekistan.

The Vozrozhdeniye Pathogen Destruction Operation, as it is known, is expected to take about 30 days to complete.

The project is being carried out under the US Co-operative Threat Reduction Programme (CTR).

Tight security

Vozrozhdeniye island is situated in the Aral Sea which is shrinking rapidly, causing concern that one day it will become part of the mainland.

The anthrax is buried in 11 pits there. The plan is to soak the area in a chlorine bleach solution first, then excavate the pits.

Samples from each one will be analysed at a specially built on site laboratory.

When it is clear no material remains, the dirt will be returned to the pits, which will be capped.

Once the excavation starts, it will be an exhaustive, round-the-clock operation until the process is completed.

Security will be tight, with not only armed guards but helicopter patrols too.

Little danger

Experts consider the anthrax in the pits to be highly dangerous, but the likelihood of it spreading infection is said to be low.

An engineer working on the project said the equipment on the island had deteriorated due to years of neglect and could not be used for proliferation purposes.

Since the Soviets left in 1992, scavengers have stripped the original test site bare.

The island is now becoming more accessible as the surrounding sea recedes.

But soil samples taken from the island earlier this year - according to American specialists - showed no contamination.

They say anthrax does not last well in the sandy soil and hot dry climate, where temperatures reach 60 degrees in the summer.