Anthrax Vaccine May Have Been Thrown Overboard, Vets Say
By Mike Wendling
CNSNews.com London Bureau Chief
January 23, 2003

London (CNSNews.com) - A veterans' organization says a stockpile of anthrax vaccine found on a British beach may have been thrown overboard deliberately by sailors deploying to the Persian Gulf.

Jim Moore, a spokesman for the National Gulf Veterans and Families Association (NGVFA), said Thursday his organization has no conclusive proof that the vaccine vials that washed up in Dorset, southern England, were thrown overboard. But Moore noted that the circumstances surrounding the vaccine find are suspicious.

"For anything to be accidentally washed overboard on an aircraft carrier is highly unusual," he said. "This gives us cause for concern and there are a lot of questions that need to be asked."

The organization said it has heard anecdotal evidence of mistiming of vaccines from current service personnel. The NGVFA believes that improperly administered vaccines might be one of the causes behind "Gulf War Syndrome," a mysterious collection of symptoms that is thought to afflict 5,000 vets in Britain and 20,000 in the United States.

"People say you accept the risks when you sign up to join the forces," Moore said. "That's true, but the risk you accept is one of an enemy bullet or a landmine."

"You don't accept the risk of being a guinea pig for a vaccine," he said. "All the same mistakes made in the Gulf War are being made again."

Earlier this week, U.K. Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon announced that about 26,000 additional service personnel, or about a quarter of Britain's armed forces, would be deploying to the Middle East in anticipation of possible military action against Iraq.

Those numbers come on top of 5,000 British troops already dispatched to the region.

A Ministry of Defense spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that an internal investigation into the vaccine find was underway.

"We wouldn't like to speculate on where the vaccine might have come from at this stage," she said. "There has been a large amount of speculation in the press and this isn't helpful. The investigation will uncover the source of the vaccine."

The spokeswoman said that "hundreds, possibly thousands" of doses were found on the beach in Dorset, southern England.

"Clean up is being handled by local fire fighters," she said. "The vaccine poses no health risks to the public, as there is no live anthrax contained within the vaccine."

The spokeswoman said the vials containing the vaccine were numbered and that the MoD would eventually be able to trace the vaccine to a particular ship.

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