Ga. We d like to see the threshold for receiving the vaccine reduced to 14 days, the amount of time our reservists typically spend on a deployment. That way we ll be providing protection for a maximum number of people. This first phase of the vaccination plan will run through December 1999. Phase two, which is scheduled to run from January 2000 to December 2002, will involve the vaccination of military members assigned to units that are subject to early deployment to high-threat areas. In phase three, which will run from January 2003 to December 2004, everyone not involved in the first two phases will be vaccinated.
Anthrax is an infectious disease that normally afflicts animals, especially cattle and sheep.
Anthrax spores can be produced in a dry form, stored and ground into particles. When inhaled by people who aren t protected by the vaccine, these particles can cause respiratory failure. For people who haven t been protected, anthrax can be treated successfully only if antibiotics are given immediately after exposure, said Brig. John Baldwin, AFRC command surgeon. If not treated in time, anthrax has a 99-percent death rate.