I'm no expert, and have not done a lot of extensive research on this (I do have a life--intermittently), but isn't anthrax found a lot in nature, in dirt and things like this?

A number of people are being diagnosed as having been "exposed" to anthrax.

About six people have actually been infected.

There has been a single fatality.

It is very hard to get infected by this stuff.

Obviously, someone is actually trying to spread anthrax in the mail, but I wonder how many of these "positive exposure results" might have been there all along? How often does someone move through a large group and test them for anthrax exposure? Maybe if you pulled a large group from ANYWHERE and tested them for exposure, you would turn up a positive result or two, particularly near farms or other such areas.

I read this: Anthrax is not easy to catch: Years ago, researchers tested workers in a goat-hair mill in Pennsylvania and found that workers regularly inhaled low concentrations of anthrax spores, yet didn't get sick.

I'd like to think our scientists are smart enough to allow for this, but still...

Comments?