Baffling Anthrax Contamination

Re “2 D.C. Postal Workers Die; Anthrax Likely,” Oct. 23: I wonder how the people who put anthrax in envelopes and deliver those envelopes to the nearest mailbox or post office protect themselves from becoming infected with anthrax. I have yet to see anyone walking down the street wearing a protective suit. So how in the world do the contaminated envelopes ever get mailed without causing any danger to the senders?

Arnie Keren

Los Angeles

Anthrax is a nonissue. Fewer than 10 Americans have died, and all indications show that fewer than 100 will die from anthrax this year.

Why are we so afraid of something that will never affect us? It’s because we love to be afraid. The newspapers and TV always try to scare us, and we love it.

To put this issue into perspective: 2,338,000 Americans die each year. This is 44,960 each week. Why do we love to be afraid?

Ella Jensen

El Cerrito

The news on anthrax makes for alarming headlines. The use of anthrax is not a recent thing. During World War II, 270,000 Chinese were killed by Japanese germ warfare troops, using anthrax and others. (For details, read “Factories of Death” by Sheldon Harris.) After the war, instead of prosecuting those responsible as war criminals, the U.S. government covered up this atrocity in exchange for the test results. The whole episode was classified secret until recently. If the information had been made public earlier, maybe we would be better prepared to handle it today.

Victor Chun

Los Angeles