Anthrax Fever

New report on germ research

In April 1979 Soviet citizens on the outskirts of Sverdlovsk in the Ural Mountains developed fevers and respiratory problems. Hundreds died. The Soviet Union identified the epidemic as intestinal anthrax, a bacterial disease spread to human beings by infected livestock.

But the symptoms strongly resembled those of pulmonary anthrax, which is far more deadly than intestinal anthrax. Also, Sverdlovsk is the site of a military facility that Western intelligence agencies have suspected of developing biological warfare weapons. Had something gone wrong during an experiment, accidentally releasing lethal spores into the atmosphere? The U.S. challenged the Soviet Union in March, seeking to determine whether the Sverdlovsk incident was a violation of the 119-nation Biological Weapons Convention. That treaty prohibits the production and stockpiling of killer bacteria, such as those that cause pulmonary anthrax, for military purposes. The Soviets stuck to their story that the outbreak was intestinal anthrax.

Since then a task force of U.S. Government experts has continued its detective work. There may never be a final verdict. Unlike the SALT agreements, which can be verified by spy satellites and other means, the Biological Weapons Convention is almost impossible to police. Moreover, the treaty is vague about what constitutes stockpiling. But TIME has learned that a draft of the task force's report, classified top secret, diagnoses the Sverdlovsk syndrome as almost certainly pulmonary rather than intestinal anthrax. No matter how the incident is resolved, the Soviets seem to have been caught engaging in some kind of nefarious activity and then lying about it, a revelation that is sure to contaminate further the atmosphere of detente and arms control.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.