Poll shows Americans not overwrought over anthrax
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Most Americans are not gripped by anxiety over the anthrax attacks that have killed three people this month in the United States, according to an ABC News poll released on Thursday.
Seventy-two percent of those polled expressed concern but not fear about the danger of exposure to the potentially deadly bacteria that has turned up in letters mailed through the United States postal system. Eleven percent said they were not concerned at all.
An overwhelming 92 percent of respondents also said they think their own mail is safe, despite the discovery of anthrax at Postal Service facilities. However, about half said they were handling their mail with more caution.
Just under half of those polled by ABC expressed some concern that they or a relative or close friend might become an anthrax victim. That is compared to 54 percent in a survey conducted last week.
Anthrax-tainted letters sent through the mail killed two Washington postal workers and a Florida photo editor this month.
At least nine others have been infected from letters mailed since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
While authorities have taken some criticism for not seeing the threat to postal facilities sooner, the ABC News survey suggested that most Americans do not seem to be in the mood for finger-pointing.
Seventy-eight percent said they were satisfied with the government’s response to the anthrax scare and three-fourths also said they had confidence in the government’s ability to respond effectively to a large-scale chemical or biological attack. The response was about the same as a week ago.
The telephone poll of 508 adults, conducted on Wednesday, had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.