A treatment designed to protect against anthrax, a livestock disease that is almost 100 percent fatal to humans. The Pentagon says vaccination of military personnel is necessary to guard against one of the world's top biological warfare threats.
Anthrax is considered the easiest germ weapon to make and use.
It can be produced in a dry form that can be ground into tiny particles and stored. When inhaled, the particles can cause severe pneumonia and death within a week. Critics question the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, saying a link may exist between diseases developed by Persian Gulf War veterans and anti-anthrax shots administered to 150,000 U.S. troops who served in the 1991 conflict. Their worries were reinforced when Food and Drug Administration inspectors said testing and record-keeping at the Michigan plant that produces the vaccine did not meet federal standards. Have Prompted Retaliation A U.S. congressman, the chairman of a committee investigating the health effects of the military's anthrax vaccine, is seriously concerned over the Air Force's push Friday to court-martial one of the committee's key witnesses, a spokeswoman said Saturday.