All news on this page courtesy of the The Telegraph Newspaper, London, UK

04/March/1998

Minister tests anthrax jab for Gulf forces

By Tim Butcher, Defence Correspondent

BRITISH sailors, soldiers and airmen serving in the Gulf are to be offered vaccination against anthrax, the Ministry of Defence announced yesterday.

Although they will not be ordered to take the vaccine, each will receive a letter recommending the injection and explaining that research shows it is safe. The letter will also be sent to their families.

Vaccinations used in 1991 are claimed to be one of the possible causes of so-called Gulf War Syndrome and the MoD went to extraordinary lengths yesterday to show that the vaccine is not harmful.

George Robertson, the Defence Secretary, was injected as were John Reid, Armed Forces minister, and General Sir Charles Guthrie, the Chief of the Defence Staff.

There were said to be no adverse reactions. Nevertheless it is likely that many of the 3,500 personnel in the Gulf will chose not to be vaccinated. They will fear possible adverse health effects as the whole vaccination issue has become clouded in suspicion.

Mr Robertson said: "My new independent advisory group and the chiefs of staff have advised me that it would be sensible for everyone in the Gulf to be vaccinated against anthrax."

Defence sources said the vaccine has been used for 30 years by tannery workers. After 55,000 doses only 18 people have reported minor side-effects such as sore arms.

Senior defence sources admitted that mistakes were made in 1991 when British troops were ordered rather than encouraged to take a cocktail of three vaccines and thousands of important medical records went missing.

The MoD is determined not to make the same mistakes again and a new system of efficient record-keeping will accompany the new course of three anthrax injections over six weeks.

Even though London and Washington have been emphasising the threat of Saddam Hussein's biological and chemical weapons throughout the recent crisis, no medical counter-measures have been given to personnel in the Gulf.

Iraq is known to have produced 8,400kg of anthrax toxin. Just 100kg is enough to kill three million people if dispersed from a tower block in a crowded city.