By WisPolitics.com staff

MADISON, WIS. (Oct. 18, 2001) -- HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, continuing his campaign to calm fears of bioterrorism, recommended Thursday against mandatory vaccinations to guard against anthrax and smallpox.

Thompson said the ``best form of therapy'' against anthrax is antibiotics. And he said Americans should ``absolutely not'' be innoculated with the old smallpox vaccine.

Smallpox has been eradicated, but samples of it remain locked up, ``and I have the key,'' Thompson said, adding that the old smallpox vaccine sometimes caused dangerous side affects. ``I don't think it pays'' given that there's no known threat of smallpox being released.

But he said the U.S. government is seeking to speed up production of a new smallpox vaccine by a British firm, Acambis. He suggested there could be opportunities for volunteer vaccinations ``sometime in the future.''

Thompson, the former Wisconsin governor, appeared at the Midwest Biotechnology Conference in the capital city of Wisconsin. He made the comments to Wisconsin reporters covering the event.

In his speech, Thompson repeated his pleas for calm. ``Don't buy a gas mask. You don't need one,'' he said. Don't hoard antibiotics, he said. Plus, using them now might lessen their effectiveness against an infection. ``The government's purchasing them, so save your money.''

Later, in response to questions, he said: ``There's lots of fears out there, and there doesn't need to be. ...`Americans should feel very safe. We still only have six cases.''

Asked about the criticism he was being pollyannish, Thompson said: ``I don't want to scare the American public. I'm trying to calm down the American public. We have nothing definitive at this point in time about any kind of major bioterrorism attack. This is a war that's going to have a long duration. We've got to make sure the terrorists don't take over our psyche. We will deal with it no matter how long it lasts.''

To his Wisconsin audience, the former governor said the stem cell research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison gives Wisconsin a head start in cultivating a thriving biotechnology industry.

``You individuals are in the catbird's seat here in Wisconsin,'' he said. ``We're out in front. We beat them to the punch.''

He also said the current lines available are sufficient and that he doubts more will be approved. ``There's a lot of diversity in these lines ... plenty of vitality in these lines,'' he said.