Taft spokesman Orest Holubec said Smith will take the action he deems necessary. The governor knows that General Smith has had the vaccination. Anthrax is an infectious disease that normally affects animals, especially cattle and sheep. Anthrax spores can be produced in a dry form and used as a terrorist weapon when released into the air. When inhaled by humans, anthrax particles can cause severe pneumonia and death within a week.
Officials believe Iraq, North Korea and Russia are developing anthrax as a biological weapon.
Studies have revealed no ties between the Gulf War Syndrome and the anthrax inoculations, military officials say. There can be some side effects, but most have been a local reaction. Side effects can be similar to those experienced with flu and typhoid vaccinations, including soreness where the shot was administered and low-grade fevers. Within the next year, all members of the Ohio Air National Guard will be required to be immunized with the anthrax vaccine. By 2003, all members of the Ohio Army National Guard will be inoculated and, by 2005, all U.S. military will be vaccinated, Poklar and other military officials said.