Death in an envelope

The recent suicide of Bruce E. Ivins, the man the FBI suspects to have been behind the anthrax attacks...

What is anthrax?

Anthrax is an infectious, often lethal, disease caused by a spore-forming bacterium, Bacillus anthracis. The bacteria form spores that can live on for decades, sometimes centuries. Anthrax usually infects wild and domestic herbivorous animals which ingest or inhale the spores while grazing. It infects humans who come in contact with anthrax-infected animals or anthrax-contaminated animal products.

What were the 8216;anthrax attacks8217; all about?

Starting September 18, 2001, a few envelopes with teaspoons of anthrax-contaminated powder were mailed to several media organisations and to Senators Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, both Democrats. The envelopes eventually killed five people, sickened 17 others.

How did the US react to the letters?

Demand for Cipro, the antibiotic that is the standard treatment for the often-fatal disease, soared. The panic spread rapidly as more postal workers grew sick or tested positive for exposure to anthrax. The attacks temporarily crippled mail services and forced the evacuation of federal buildings, including Senate offices and the Supreme Court.

How did the investigation progress?

For seven years, the FBI conducted what became the largest investigation in its history, dubbed 8220;Amerithrax8217;8217;. The initial reaction was that the Al Qaeda was involved. But the anthrax in the envelopes was the Ames strain, most commonly used in American bio-defence research. But from then on, the FBI went on a completely wrong track. It wasn8217;t before 2008 that the FBI narrowed in on Bruce E. Ivins, a scientist who worked at the government8217;s bio-defence labs at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland. Ironically, Ivins was working on how the US would react in case of a bio-terror attack. Investigators began focusing on Ivins last year, after new forensic science allowed them to trace the anthrax back to him. But in July, Ivins took his own life as authorities were preparing to charge him with perpetrating the attacks.

What was Bruce Ivins8217;s motive, assuming he was responsible for the attacks?

Dr Ivins spent much of his career working on a vaccine against anthrax. Last week, federal prosecutor Jeffrey Taylor said Dr. Ivins might have mailed the letters out of concern for the future of an anthrax vaccination programme for the military that he was part of. He probably did it to create 8220;a scenario where people all of a sudden realise the need to have this vaccine.8221;

Is the case closed?

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US federal agents are convinced that Ivins was the lone culprit. But his attorneys say the government had got the wrong person.