BBC News Online: World: Americas

Anthrax: Vehicle for spreading fear

The Tokyo gas attack killed 12 and injured thousands

The US authorities have sought to reassure the public that measures are in place to combat the threat of anthrax poisoning.

The message for worried citizens is that they are right to be worried - every suspicious envelope instantly becomes more suspicious.

But the reality is that, so far, this supposed weapon of mass destruction has killed one person.

In fact, for all the hype, terrorist attacks with chemical and biological weapons have a history of causing remarkably little damage.

The release of sarin nerve gas in a Tokyo subway in 1995 by members of the Aum sect killed only 12 people.

The sect had already tried spraying anthrax and concluded that it did not work.

Panic and disruption

But as a vehicle for spreading fear, the weapons are unsurpassed.

News reports indicate that scares involving innocent white powder have shut down offices and sent worried people to hospital in Brazil, Australia, South Africa, Japan and several European countries.

None of these countries has yet had a single case of anthrax linked to bio terrorism.

If whoever sent the envelopes in the US intended to cause mass deaths, they have picked an extremely inefficient method.

If they wanted to cause widespread panic and disruption, they have succeeded remarkably well, and all for the price of a few stamps.