School Locked Down After Anthrax Scare

An anthrax scare at a New Hampshire high school forced officials Tuesday to lockdown the building after a mishap in the science lab.NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that the incident happened at the Wilton Lyndeborough Cooperative High School.

A student removed a protective cover off a slide during a science class, and the slide may have contained dead anthrax that was 25 years old, officials said. The school went into lockdown mode as a precautionary measure until officials determined it was safe to release the students.

Students were allowed to go home at 4 p.m., but many parents were upset with the way school officials handled the situation. Some said that they were upset because they were not notified about what was going on.

"I am concerned that we were not notified by the phone about what was going on with the students," one parent said. "I am upset. I am concerned because we should have been notified.""We have no idea what is going on. We have a child up there, and we know that she has been up there since 11:30 a.m. in lockdown," one mother said. "We are trying to get her out of there."

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/5384942/detail.html

I can see why parents would be concerned, but they need to calm themselves down so that the situation can be dealt with and methods can be established to see that this doesn't happen again.

Anthrax in a high school lab???

Allrighty then.

Can I pose a question: Why on earth would a high school have any type of deadly viurs or whatever anywhere near high school students.

As we all know, teenagers are a courious bunch and it takes just one mishap or mistake to possibly infect the entrie school and neighbourhood.

Just as this story goes...........

We collect antique microscopes & slides from the 1700-1800's

I'm sure we have anthrax slides, I know we have plague & all kinds of cancers - I will have to have a look see.

Most of our slides are gorgeous insects & botanicals though.

Nice to hear Casshew, but you do not take these things into a high school with 200-2000 students and are used on a regular basis by 14, 15, 16, 17 year olds.

I am sure you are responsible and keep these items safe and secure at home.

Can you imagine if this Anthrax was still active and a "mishap" occurred in a school in Toronto.

I think the same reaction would prevail, I know I would be bloodly fit to be tied and then some knowing that when I send my oldest to school he can be exposed to a potential deadly disease, when I am lead to beleive that he is in a safe and secure environment.

After all it was the "other" student who took the cover off the slide, but all of the students may have been potentially afffected and /or infected.

It just take one mistake to cost many, many lives.

If the virus was dead, then why the panic? I remember studying many different types of things under the microscope in high school biology. I really don't think that the school would have access to anything dangerous. I suppose we could ban all of these items for study at all levels of learning, then our doctors and vets would never know what to look for when trying to diagnose an illness.

I remember high school chemistry fondly. Our lab was directly under another chemistry lab with a teacher who was the nastiest, most ornery teacher in school. We were doing sulfer dioxide and one classmate let it loose just outside the open window so it drifted up. We really got a good laugh when he stormed down to complain to our teacher. No, we didn't get into trouble and they didn't close down the school because of our prank.

I guess when it comes to the safety of our children.......school MUST take the proper percautions. If if they "think" that the Anthrax was not active, the fact that it was open and exposed to students would make one err on the side of caution.

Especially when Anthrax is so deadly........