 |
| Related News |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Poll Shows Most Americans Concerned About Anthrax |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
WED, OCT 17, 2001
|
|
|
Most Americans are concerned about the discovery of anthrax in five places in the country, but the public remains divided on whether the incidents signal the start of a new terrorist offensive or are merely isolated events, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News survey.
The poll found that 65 percent were at least somewhat concerned about reports that letters containing anthrax bacteria had been sent through the mail. And a little more than half said they feared that they, a family member or a personal friend could become a victim of anthrax.
Forty-five percent said they believed the letters were merely isolated incidents, while half marked the start of an ongoing series of cases that could affect large numbers of people.
The poll also found that the large majority of Americans, 85 percent, were satisfied with the way the government was handling the situation. And seven out of 10 were confident that authorities could deal effectively with a large-scale biological or chemical attack.
Slightly more than three in four said they were at least somewhat concerned about another major terrorist strike, a proportion that has remained roughly unchanged in recent weeks.
Totally, 509 random selected adults were interviewed Monday night for the survey. The margin of sampling error for the overall results is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
|
|
|
