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Bio attack Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20020912/ap_on_re_us/leahy_west_nile_1 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20020912/ap_on_re_us/leahy_west_nile_1 Senator Seeks Terrorist-Virus Probe Thu Sep 12, 6:42 PM ET By DAVID GRAM, Associated Press Writer MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Sen. Patrick Leahy ( news, bio, voting record) urged Thursday that the government explore the possibility of a terrorist link to an outbreak of West Nile virus ( news - web sites) that has killed 54 people this year. "I think we have to ask ourselves: Is it coincidence that we're seeing such an increase in West Nile virus or is that something that's being tested as a biological weapon against us?" said Leahy, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee ( news - web sites) and was the target last year of an anthrax-laden envelope sent to his office. The Vermont Democrat made the remarks on a radio talk show broadcast on WKDR in Burlington and WDEV in Waterbury. In a statement issued later by his office, Leahy said he could point to no specific evidence that the outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus was linked to terrorism. A spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( news - web sites) said Thursday that there is no evidence to suggest an act of bioterrorism. According to the CDC, nationally, 1,295 people have contracted the disease and 54 have died. Leahy's office also released excerpts Thursday from previous news and congressional committee reports saying officials had downplayed the fear that the spread of West Nile virus might be the work of bioterrorists. "In the times in which we live, questions about our vulnerabilities are unavoidable, and finding all the answers we can is more important than ever," Leahy said in the statement. "I have no way of knowing what the answers are, but some legitimate questions have been asked, especially before September 11 last year, and no doubt they are being asked anew by the agencies that are working on this." West Nile first appeared in the United States in 1999 when an outbreak in New York killed seven people. That October, The New Yorker magazine published an article focusing on a book by an alleged Iraqi defector, who said Saddam Hussein ( news - web sites) may have developed a lethal strain of the virus to use as a biological weapon. A report issued in July 2000 by the minority staff of the Senate Government Affairs Committee said "law enforcement, public health, and intelligence officials have investigated the possibility that West Nile virus resulted from a bioterrorist attack but believe that this is very unlikely." Skinner, the CDC spokesman, said the cycle of the disease and its transmission — from mosquitoes to birds and to people — is what one would expect with West Nile. "All of that points to this being a naturally occurring outbreak," he said.

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