More than a quarter million soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have been inoculated against anthrax since Defense Secretary William Cohen ordered the shots for all service members more than a year ago. Roughly 200 troops have actually refused the shots, in some cases facing discipline and even discharge from service as a result. The naysayers question the vaccine's safety and efficacy.
Anthrax is a naturally occurring bacterial disease.
Military officials say inhalation anthrax is at least 95 percent fatal if untreated, which is one reason it's so high on the list of biological warfare agents. The other is that it's easy to replicate. The Defense Department buys the anthrax vaccine from BioPort Corp., a Lansing, Mich., company formerly known as the Michigan Biologic Products Institute. BioPort is the only producer of the vaccine, and the company has been cited for quality control and manufacturing practices. The Food and Drug Administration, which licenses vaccines, threatened to revoke the company's manufacturing license two years ago, based on inspection of two vaccines unrelated to anthrax.