Russian Defence Ministry: Russian And American Military Officials Have No Mechanism To Exchange Information On Anthrax

The Russian Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Troops (RCBP) of the Russian Defence Ministry and its U.S. counterparts have no mechanism of anthrax-related information exchange, Head of RCBP Lieutenant General Viktor Kholstov told journalists on Tuesday. According to Mr. Kholstov, "anthrax can be regarded as a type of biological weapons, and every country should undertake all measures to prevent terrorist use of biological weapons." However, he thinks that a mass vaccination of a country's population against anthrax, which is very costly, is inexpedient. "There are varieties of haemorrhagic fever that are 3 to 4 times more hazardous than anthrax," Mr. Kholstov stressed.